News and Views: Controversies crop up during opening week
When the TSN interviewer asked Burke what would happen if he had to make a deal with Edmonton at some point in the season, the Anaheim GM said his assistant would make the call.
News: Senators beat deadline to re-sign scoring star.
Views: Dany Heatley agreed to a six-year contract extension with Ottawa just hours before the new season began, and probably left some money he could have earned as an unrestricted free agent next summer on the table. Still, $45 million is nothing to sneeze at, even for someone who has scored 50 goals in each of the past two seasons and appears headed in that direction again.
Heatley tried to downplay the urgency of making a deal before the season began, saying he was only looking to avoid a season-long distraction for a team with real Stanley Cup aspirations. Ongoing questions about his contract status certainly would have followed Heatley all season.
For the Senators, the issue was not only about sideshows, but about the very real chance of losing a great player had they not managed to lock him up. Northeast rival Buffalo learned that lesson the hard way after gambling and then losing Chris Drury and Daniel Briere in similar circumstances.
News: Goalie questions face Maple Leafs as they raise the curtain on a new season.
Views: It didn't take long for the season's first controversy to hit, and naturally it emanated from Toronto, where everyone seems to be in a tizzy because no one has staked a claim to the starting job.
That hasn't done anything to cool the hot seat embattled Leafs GM John Ferguson Jr. finds himself on again. Ferguson figured he had the quality No. 1 goalie he lacked last season with Andrew Raycroft when he gave up three draft picks and had to take headache Mark Bell off San Jose's hands to get Vesa Toskala from the Sharks.
Toskala didn't distinguish himself in training camp, and wasn't between the pipes when his team opened Wednesday against Ottawa. Toskala got his chance the following night in the rematch, but the key problem facing the Leafs hasn't been resolved and it looks like it will make for a long season for Ferguson and the team.
News: Empty seats in Detroit blamed on lack of North American stars.
Views: The invisible bodies scattered throughout Joe Louis Arena became an ongoing story line in "Hockeytown" during last season's playoffs and a similar phenomenon at opening night resulted in local media speculation.
No one talked about it when the Red Wings were winning or challenging for the Stanley Cup earlier in the decade and the lineup had a distinctively Russian flavor to it.
The issue in Detroit isn't the makeup of the roster, but a more fundamental problem relating to the economic situation of a region that relies heavily on the hard-pressed auto industry. Businesses have cut back on discretionary spending. More importantly, the area lost about 130,000 jobs this year, which makes it hard for people to think about buying hockey tickets -- which haven't been reduced in price -- when it costs about $300 to take a family of four to a game.
