An Open Invitation to Jim Kelley

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I have been involved with the NHL as an owner for 11 years.

I think I am actually getting up there in years as to seniority in ownership as there has been a lot of turnover in ownership in the NHL.

I am on the Executive Committee of the League.

I am probably one of the most transparent and interactive owners in the league. I embrace the media and the blogosphere. I respect all of the people that cover our great sport. I went to my first hockey game with my father as a birthday gift he gave me in 1961. I still remember that day. I actually did see many of the great old great players play as a child at Madison Square Garden and The Boston Garden. My favorite player was Bobby Orr.

In all of that time and all of those interactions, I honestly can’t ever remember meeting Jim Kelley or seeing him at a Caps game here in DC. If I am incorrect in that statement I apologize in advance.

I would like to invite Jim to a Caps game here in DC where we can meet, discuss and exchange ideas. We can talk about the game and history. He can come and Rock the Red. He can put a human face on the name that he writes about. We certainly didn’t connect or talk about what he was writing in this piece. He certainly didn’t call me to talk or send me an email to discuss.

So Jim, consider this an open invitation to come on down to Washington DC to talk some hockey. You can get out of the office, have some fun and meet some people. I think that would be a terrific idea. What do you think? Thank you.

59 thoughts on “An Open Invitation to Jim Kelley”

  2. Unfortunately Jim will not accept the invitation as he is now fighting cancer & is on hiatus from his co-hosting duties on Prime Time Sports with host Bob McCown on the Fan590 & Sportsnet.ca

  3. Yet more proof I was right. Shortly after I discovered hockey was the greatest sport on the planet (25+ years ago) I simultaneously discovered how woefully inadequate SI was to my hockey coverage needs.

    I canceled my subscription to SI almost on the spot and have never looked back. “Coverage” like this pretty much ensures I never will.

  4. Even though I don’t think that Jim Kelley deserves the invitation since the column is written just to garner attention, I applaud Ted for taking the high road and making lemonade out of the incident. Bravo.

  5. Just gotta say, a poorly factually backed-up article by Kelley followed up by a poorly factually backed-up response by Ted.

    It doesn’t surprise me that those who are not Caps fans would say “right on, Jim!” and those who are Caps fans would say “right on, Ted!”

    We’re all homers and/or haters. The main thing is this is an opinion piece on a website that (someone already said it) is not primarily a hockey booster.

    I would encourage everyone not to slam Mr. Kelley for one article they disagree with. Just as we would not want people to slam Mr. Leonsis for one thing he says.

    Again – opinion piece. Not everyone will agree with it.

    Just my humble opinion…

  6. I am a journalist and I can safely say that Jim Kelly really did a poor job writing this story. Any time a reporter makes such accusations against someone (Leonsis), it’s his duty to at least call the subject and offer him a chance to respond.

  7. Maybe if Kelly come by you can show him the correct spelling of your name Ted, since he misspells it at one point in the article :D

  8. I admit I didn’t know who Kelley was at first either. I don’t read SI. But after discovering that he’s a highly credentialed and honored hockey journalist and commentator, I find myself even more baffled by his poorly researched, tabloid-style of writing, and reputation destroying cant. If he does know the rules of hockey and the way the game is played, why would he make such a gross factual errors, such as misrepresenting Ovi’s “rap” sheet and misleading comparison such as the Ovi/Kaleta boarding call to the Bertuzzi/Moore notorious fighting incident. Even If he does have bias because he covers the Sabres and columnists are not reporting news but write opinion pieces, he should be held to appropriate journalist standards and show a degree of fairness and objectivity to his topic. I guess even the best journalists can turn into hack writers at the twilight of their career.

    BTW–I commend you Ted on inviting him to our barn. I hope he does accept your invitation.

  9. Ovechkin is dirty in his knee to knee hits. Just because your Capitals rose colored glasses don’t allow you to see it, doesn’t mean it’s not true. On the other hand, Jim Kelley is a hack journalist who gets many facts wrong. I’m a big Ovie fan, but stop sticking your knee out!

  10. Teddy, A great response. This is a guy who has FADED into woodwork. He is kicking and screaming for some attention. “FREE ALEX” Rock the Red, Lets Go Caps!!

  13. Comparing Ovie’s hit to the utter brutality and intent to injure shown by Bertuzzi and McSorley? Seriously? Kelley is way off the mark, and if he needs to use such ludicrous comparisons and hyperbole, he destroys any credibility that he may have had. A terrible piece of sports journalism.

  16. A ridiculous article based on armchair coverage and a Google search. This is a disgrace to real journalism; have Mr. Kelley talk to Tarik el Bashir or Corey Masisak about how to cover the sport. It isn’t from your couch…

  17. His piece makes it pretty obvious he hasn’t watched Ovechkin play much, and certainly not in person, and definitely not regularly. Good luck eliciting some sense from someone who’s obviously staked out an ideological position. Doesn’t happen much in this town!

  18. Some random guy at SI who twisted just about every word spoken by Ted, Alex, and Bruce… a poor journalist to say the least.

  19. What an unbelievably uninformed article this is Ted; it’s so interesting when there’s a bad incident in hockey journalists think it’s alright to impugn the entire sport. To compare Ovie’s style of play to what happened with McSorley, Bertuzzi, etc. demonstrates his stupidity. Just another example of why I don’t read SI – a glorified gossip magazine that just tries to stir the pot and create controversy.

  20. I don’t think he will be able to find the rink. What a weak story. Calls Ovie classless. I say he is feeble minded. I can say that even though I know nothing about him right?

  21. Never heard of him either. Ted you are a better person than I am, because I sure wouldn’t welcome him into my ‘home’.

  22. Yesterday I sent the following letter to Jim Kelley at SI.com in response to his article “Mad Alex gets a dangerous pass.”

    Mr. Kelley,
    To compare Ovechkin’s actions to those of McSorely, Simon, and Bertuzzi is not only inaccurate and undermines your credibility, but is also extremely irresponsible journalism. It is articles like yours that perpetuate the popular misguided notion that “hockey players are dangerous.” Perhaps your the kind of reporter who would cover boxing, except you don’t think they ought to hit one another. A certain amount of violence exists in the sport inherently, which you obviously aren’t prepared to handle as a reporter.Also, about this so called hockey attitude you narrow-mindedly generalize applies to all players: you’ve never heard of a player calling another player to apologize for an accidental injury? Well, then you either haven’t covered the sport for longer than a couple of months, or you must be one of the most out of touch reporters covering the NHL. The sad thing is that non-fans of hockey might be reading the stuff that you write and take it for actual journalism.
    Let me put it to you this way: When I watch an NFL game, it seems like some player is injured on every play. However, I never read about how dangerous those football players are. Rather, I might read about how football is a dangerous sport. The same applies to boxing, nascar, or any other sport where danger is part of the equation.
    Hockey is a dangerous sport, played by people who carry clubs and have razor blades strapped to their feet, who must be covered in armor for protection. These guys risk injury every time they step out onto the ice. Sometimes injuries happen. If you can’t handle that, then go cover golf or bowling…or baseball–something without any element of danger and much less risk of injury. I’m so sick and tired of all the whining, crying, babies on the blog message boards and in the media who get all bent out of shape because something dangerous happened in a dangerous sport.
    When I was in high school, I played water polo (amongst other sports). My mother was so happy it wasn’t football, since she was afraid I would get hurt. Guess what happened? I was guarding a player to took a backhand and on the follow-through his fist drove right into my nose. I heard a crack, and thought “great, now I’ll have to leave the game.” So I asked the guy, “hey, did you just break my nose?” I think he took it as a threat because he quickly swam away, but I just wanted to know. The ref saw blood, blew the whistle, and when I looked into the mirror, my nose was on the other side of my face. I could see it obstructing my vision, that’s how far over it was. Did that other player get a penalty? No! Should he have? No! It was part of the game (and, by the way, so are kicks and elbows and occasional punches, by every player at some time or another). And that’s water-polo. Not what you’d call a dangerous sport, right?
    Get over it. In the game of hockey, danger is part of the deal, and that includes legal plays and accidents and cheap shots and dirty plays…all of these things are always going to be there. Hate to beak it to you. If you don’t like the deal, then shut up, walk away, and find another sport. If you insist on sticking around, however, one of the worst things you can do as a journalist is to perpetuate the myth that “hockey players are dangerous” by generally demonizing the danger in the sport rather than 1) accepting it as a natural and inevitable part of the sport, like the NFL, and 2) differentiating between types of dangerous plays that occur.
    Begging for journalistic integrity,
    (signed)

    Then when I realized it was the Jim Kelly to whom I had just written, I sent him another message pointing out that Hasek apologized to him, after all, and that since he is a three time former president of the Professional Hockey Writers Association and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, his article was even more irresponsible and demonstrates an even greater example of the lack journalistic integrity than I originally thought.

  25. From Wikipedia:

    Jim Kelley is a professional sports news columnist whose 30-year career has focused primarily on the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League, and the greater Buffalo area.

    Hmmmm. Biased against the Great Eight perhaps?

  26. Hate=Jealousy in my book…

    GO CAPS!!!

    and don’t change who you are (except for Q. Laing, don’t lead with the jaw next time cause players like you are worth the price of admission just as much as an OV!)

  28. Mr. Leonsis, Thanks for being nothing but CLASS. I heard Kelley on The Mike Wise show today and he didn’t sound like an unbiased reporter.

    But to look on the bright side, they’ve been talking hockey on the Fan for almost 2 hours now.. THAT is a first…

    Jenn/ Irish

  29. Great respinse Ted.

    While you’re at it, invite Jim to use a spell checker/grammar checker next time he writes. I don’t think there is an automated “fact checker” available just yet, but if so he should look into one of those as well.

  30. Further to my previous point – never heard of Jim Kelley prior to this. Looks as if he got what he wanted.

  31. Wow. Ted, I think you have handled this extremely well. I hope you also called SI and attempted to speak with Mr. Kelley directly. I am not sure what to make of his article. Either he is delusional or doing anything he can to generate web hits to his articles. I’m sure the hockey department at SI.com isn’t a rising star or a cash cow for that publication and he needs all the buzz he can muster. I suspect this is indeed a misguided attempt to generate some interest – which almost makes me wish that you had ignored it entirely. Unfortunately, this was an unconscionable attack based on half truths not only on Ovechkin, but on yourself and the organization. If Mr. Kelley does accept your invitation – how about setting him up for a chalk talk with STHs? I’d love to get some insight into his thought process.

    Regards.

  32. Ted,

    As always a class act. Best owner in the league and makes me proud to be a fan. Hopefully he takes you up on your offer. Clearly he is a bit out of touch with the kind of player Alex is and the kind of organization you run.

  33. Ted, I followed your link and read the SI piece–yuch! But then I decided to post to his mailbag. Let’s see if he does have the courage to accept.

    To Kelley: “I avoided reading this at first. i knew it was going to be factually baseless from the comparisons you of the incidents of this season to the some of the most notorious incidents in hockey–to death even. Such hyperbole. And it was evident that you really hadn’t actually watched Ovechkin’s video clips as well as comparable clips of similar hits, including Kaleta’s own boarding call just days later. Rather you chose to compare Ovechkin’s body checks to a player wielding his stick as a weapon at the head of a player or using fists to punch a player down on the ice. But when I read Ted Leonsis’ open invitation to you i decided to contact you to suggest that you accept his invitation. Go to our barn at Verizon Center, meet Ted, watch one of our games and see Ovechkin and the rest of the Washington Capitals, and then reconsider how you feel about Ovechkin. The degree to which Ovechkin and his fellow teammates have caught the imagination of this town, never before know for its hockeyness if you will, is beyond belief. Ovechkin and the Capitals have transformed how hockey is viewed in our Nation’s Capital. So come and experience firsthand how we “rock the red.” Come see the Washington Capitals play. You won’t feel the same.”

    I’ll let you know if he responds to me.

  34. Ted… once again you handle this with more class than most ever would. I look forward to seeing if Jim Kelley takes you up on the offer to attend a caps game and to discuss the state of hockey, the caps and likely some of the article he wrote with you face-to-face. -CR

  35. Seems he didn’t do a whole lot of talking to ANYONE for this article, Ted. Nobody has said that an ounce of his article is worth the web space it is taking up. Unfortunately he’s getting a lot of hits from it.

    Seems that he was waiting for something like this to happen and it certainly did not come out well on his behalf.

  37. Ted,

    Time to own all major sports franchises in DC … Please get some investors together and buy the Redskins before they completely collapse.

  38. Great letter Ted. I am certain tomorrow post will be about how great a time he had in DC for the Friday night game!

  39. Jim Kelley writes for Sports Illustrated. He wrote an article about Ovechkin and Mr. Leonsis which is full of errors. (Ted has the link to said article in the blog above)

  40. I hope he accepts your invitation Ted. To speak from such ignorance and to make such factually baseless comparisons truly astounds me. He knows not of what he speaks–”for sure.”

  42. Wow Ted. This is some really strongly biased stuff here from Jim Kelley. I sent him an email as follows:

    “Jim, putting Ove in the same article (let alone the same player comparison) with McSorley, Simon, Brashear is recklessly sensationalist, bordering on personal vendetta territory. The league should give the same punishments to Alex as any other player, but he’s not an animal like Simon and Brashear. Gordie Howe or Ted Lindsay would be much more appropriate comparisons to Ovechkin, doing whatever it takes to win, going hard every shift. My two cents, Josh”

    I find it convenient that there is no way to leave comments on SI’s articles. I am a Red Wings fan Ted, but you and the Caps are doing an incredible job making (and keeping) hockey the greatest sport on earth. Cheers,
    Josh

  43. Ted you are a class act! :) Thank you for all you have done for the CAPS and hockey. Hopefully Mr. Kelley will take you up on your offer and see things first hand instead of some youtube clips.

  44. Ted, no offense, but Kelley, right or wrong, was presenting the flipside of your 100% defense of Ovechkin and his actions. Kelley was certainly portaying the extreme view that Ovechkin is a dirty player. I don’t think too many people really buy into that. But, you have to admit, your defense of him (in my view a mix of total fan adoration, blind faith in him and denial that he has done anything reckless or wrong)is going to incite the other side. Both you and Kelley are not grounded in reality. You both lose credibility if you can’t see or admit to the whole truth.

  47. Translation for those who didn’t get this piece:

    “You’ve never been here, you’ve never watched Ovi. You have no idea what the hell kind of nonsense you’re spouting. Get out here and watch a game before you spout that kind of crap again.”

    Which is entirely appropriate.

  48. Always a class act, Mr. Leonsis. This is why we Caps fans are the luckiest in the league. :)

    Really, Mr. Kelley should know better. This is DC, good sir… we know how to fact-check.

  49. Jim Kelley has been writing about hockey for probably longer than a lot of people reading this blog have been alive. He’s definitely got the credentials to write about hockey.

    I can only suspect that Mr. Leonsis’ comments about not meeting him or seeing him at a caps game (of which, writing for the Buffalo News as a sportswriter for decades, I can only suspect he’s been to many many games in DC) is an attempt to downplay Mr. Kelley’s credentials, which is unfortunate.

    That being said, I think providing an opportunity for the two of them to discuss this situation (for lack of better term) in person is a good idea. I hope, if they do meet, that we, the public, can all have a chance to hear what was discussed…

  51. Right on, Ted! No way he watched the Buffalo hit with his misrepresentation of the facts. I hope he accepts your invitation and all the fans are afforded the opportunity to give him the welcome he deserves.

  53. You’re way too kind and measured in this response, Ted. That piece had me cursing at my computer screen and I like to think I’m a pretty tolerant kind of guy. I admire your calm.

  55. A writer for Sports Illustrated and the Buffalo News (Sabres beat) who did what amounted to a hit piece on Ovechkin.

  57. Joe – he’s an SI writer who just did a hit piece on Ovechkin, and just followed it up with a radio appearance where he lied quite a bit to support his own preconceived storyline. You can go on Twitter and follow @nateewell for the scoop, or go check the DC Sports Bog later today.

  58. LOL. AWESOME TED! GREAT ENTRY! I wrote an e mail to this guy. He obviously has a bias against Ovechkin for whatever reason. He had no mention of the Orpik hit on Cole a few years back that netted him only 3 games. If he really thinks Ovie is a dirty player, then he should be calling out all the players he thinks are “dirty”, not just a select few. He accused the league of going “easy” on Ovechkin because of who he is; however, Kelley is going against Ovechkin simply because he is a name and a superstar, calling for harsher punishment due to the name on his sweater.

    I won’t say what I really feel about his article because kids may read this page. But Kelley needs to learn what constitutes a good and bad hit, and be fair across the board in his analysis.