Chances are those glued to their television sets for the stirring NBA Finals missed it, but life has been pretty busy around the National Hockey League over the last few days. Here's a look behind some of the things that have been going on.
News: R & R still big in Buffalo as Sabres bring back Regier and Ruff.
Views: This wasn't a big surprise, although the Sabres did take their time working out new contracts with GM Darcy Regier and coach Lindy Ruff. They are the longest-tenured tandem currently working in the NHL, and the stability they've brought through some difficult years has been critical. Signaling continuity is important for the franchise, which has moved into the league's elite class in recent years but still has to operate prudently in fiscal matters. It makes for a challenge in re-signing key players or bringing in new ones, but the big thing the Sabres still have going for them is a track record of recent success and the guys who engineered it still in place.
News: Canadian predator turns up heat in bid for Predators.
Views: Jim Balsillie's brazen way of doing things bothers a lot of NHL owners, but that might not be enough to keep the man who brought Blackberries to the world from joining their club. Balsillie, whose over-the-top offer of $238 million has yet to be approved by the league's Board of Governors, went on offense this week, announcing an arena management deal with the city of Hamilton, Ontario, and taking deposits on tickets. That violated at least the spirit of Balsillie's offer, in which the possibility of relocation was not mentioned, and it could backfire on him because it didn't sit well with league executives and governors. Moreover, there are still several obstacles facing Balsillie if he attempts to move the franchise, including satisfying the conditions for breaking the arena lease in Nashville and dealing with the Toronto Maple Leafs' and Buffalo Sabres' territorial rights in Southern Ontario. Still, the maverick billionaire seems to have created a wave of momentum for a move that might be unstoppable. No matter how much the NHL and many of its governors would prefer a team anywhere in the U.S. to one in Canada, Nashville has always faced an uphill battle selling hockey, and there's no guarantee things will ever change. In effect, Balsillie did the owners a favor by raising the value of franchises as much as he did. The new price tag will be the bar used if the league does go ahead and add two expansion teams, a nice pile of non-hockey-related revenue, which under the CBA can be divvied up among owners while excluding players. And Hamilton is a no-brainer as a market, one that will likely contribute to, rather than draw from, the league's revenue-sharing plans. When the owners get down to thinking about Balsillie from that point of view -- practically, in other words -- they'll open the door for him.
News: Columbus hires rookie general manager.
Views: The Blue Jackets were looking for an "anti-Doug MacLean," the often bombastic former GM who ran the team from its inception, and they got one in Scott Howson. He's part of the new breed of NHL executive, those who have staid legal backgrounds and rose through the ranks of hockey operations departments. Howson paid his dues for more than a decade with the Oilers as assistant GM, so he has earned a shot at the top job, but he's not beginning his new career in an ideal situation. No doubt the relative anonymity and lesser expectations of being in Columbus will help the transition for someone who spent all those years in a hockey hotbed like Edmonton, but the new job has limitations because Howson will have to adapt to a staff already in place. That's most notably coach Ken Hitchcock, who was hired by the owner without MacLean's input. Columbus reportedly had Anaheim assistant GM Bob Murray as their first choice, but he balked because there were limits to the overall control he would have. Howson was willing to make that sacrifice to get his first GM job, and now he'll have to deal with it.
News: Mats Sundin re-signs for one year with Toronto
Views: A one-year deal worth $5.5 million for a 36-year-old superstar with hip issues might be considered relatively normal, but in Toronto it simply provides ammunition for speculating about the captain's future. Sundin and the team were apparently working on a two-year deal before agreeing on this, but the Maple Leafs are am organization in transition after missing the past two playoffs, and this makes more sense for both sides. Sundin, of course, has spent enough years in Toronto to harbor hopes of winning a championship there, but his playing days are numbered enough to make him open to other options. Those will come around the trade deadline if the Leafs are out of contention and Sundin decides to waive his no-trade clause for rental purposes. His price tag, without any long-term commitment, will be reasonable for any contender, and if the Leafs are in a seller's position by then, they'll also be in rebuilding mode.
News: Teen wins $7,500 lawsuit after being cut from team.
Views: Does anybody else think there are just too many lawyers? One of them up in Montreal must have been a pretty slick talker, because he wrangled a settlement for Alexandre Di Ruocco after the 16-year-old goalie was dropped by his midget-level team last year. The kid wasn't under contract, and he didn't actually make the team in his first try. But a series of injuries got him back in the mix with an apparent promise that he would stick around for the entire season. Things changed when he gave up 12 goals in two games and was dropped. Naturally, the dad sued the team from ruining his son's chance of making it to the pros one day. I just wonder how much he would have gotten had he actually been good.
