We have a new Stanley Cup winner, the Detroit Red Wings. This is a great team with the best record in the league in the regular season and winner of the Cup. Congratulations to everyone in the Red Wings family.
The Pittsburgh Penguins also have a lot to be proud of. They have gone from a team in bankruptcy with really bad attendance mired in the bottom of the standings to being a great team with lots of young stars playing in the Stanley Cup Finals before sold out crowds every night. And they will move into a new mega building in two years. What a great turnaround story for the Penguins.
The NHL had a great year. Can you name me one other media oriented company that can say they grew and grew fast across the board in terms of:
Ratings – both nationally and locally;
Season ticket renewals and season ticket sales;
Overall ticket sales;
Overall ticket pricing;
Merchandising sales;
Sponsorship sales;
And revenues?
The salary cap will move up again as the players share in more than half of the revenues so the players are happy.
For the most part, the product has improved.
Great stars including our own players on the Washington Capitals have emerged as the new face of the NHL.
The future looks bright. Embrace these times.
And now we go to the NHL Awards ceremony in Toronto next week; then to the NHL draft; then to rookie camp; then to training camp; and then a new season will be upon us before we know it!
Let’s PLEASE be the ones to bury the Penguins next year. Glad someone finally did it.
Counting down the days until the puck hits the ice. Until then, I will be watching the NHL awards next Thursday.
Ted,
Scott Burnside wrote an interesting article on the Wings on espn.com which talks about the family environment, reaching out to people like McCarty/Drake and others.
Something the Capitals as an organization could learn a lot from. Suggest you send the link to everyone in your organization.
yes, thanks Ted for all you do. You are awesomwe!
Is it September yet?
The Caps will have a slightly different look next year (some tough decisions await as the Caps can’t carry 28 NHL players), but I have full confidence in the upper management, coaching, etc. to know that the team will be strong.
The Caps will have to get used to not being a “surprise” team anymore, they’re not going to sneak up on anybody. They will be expected to win the division (which should happen, the 2nd place Hurricanes are going in the wrong direction and should focus on jettisonning veterans to acquire youth, prospects and picks…but they won’t, Jim Rutherford’s ego won’t allow it despite 2 straight seasons without playoffs).
The team that concerns me the most in the division is Florida…they started coming around at the end of the season, and they have strong goaltending with Vokoun and Anderson. Tampa will be better, although by firing Tortorella, they’re going to take a step back for a couple of months at the start. Atlanta is a shambles and may be the worst team in the east…
Outside the divsion, Montreal is a young team like the Caps, and is coming off a season where they had the best regular season record in the conference. They’re strong in a lot of positions. Pittsburgh will likely take a step back from this year since they will almost certainly lose Hossa, and likely will lose some veterans (Sykora, Gonchar, etc. are all getting older, and Roberts is likely to retire.) Boston may be better, too. Ottawa and Toronto are going the wrong way, ditto for the Rangers. The Devils may not score a lot, but they still have Marty Brodeur. Buffalo will be better.
Still and all, the Caps have as good a shot as anyone to win the Eastern Conference in 2008-09. As for winning the Cup…that could happen too.
“For the most part, the product has improved.”
Now vote for modifying or abolishing the instigator rule, ala your Chicago Blackhawks’ counterparts, at the BOGs meeting and you’ll see a major improvement in the game. Hecht, even CBS is putting MMA on prime time t.v. While I am not interested in anything that extreme, you can’t ignore it. The hockey fence sitting fan awaits!
My better nature wants to congratulate the Pens on a very successful season; they are what the Caps are hopefully on their way to becoming (except for actually winning the Cup, of course). However, the nature brought out in me by the yellow and black clad mouthbreathers who all to often inhabit Verizon Center wants me to say, “Suck it, Pittsburgh.”
Next season can’t come fast enought. We had a great run, the playoffs had outstanding hockey, Ovie picked up hs hardware, and hopefully there will be a few more awards next week. Thanks, Ted for all you do!