Blueshirt Boggle

Rod Gilbert Art Auction

Just got this and thought it might be of interest to Ranger fans, as the auction includes two original pieces of art work by Rod Gilbert (the one seen at left, plus another), as well as a couple of Knicks-related items, and of course whole lot of music-related works. If you think this is a good cause and would like to own original Ranger art work, here's your chance:

"FUSE, the all-music, viewer driven television network is giving viewers a once in a lifetime opportunity to bid on original works from the most cutting edge artists in the music and design communities. The Paint it Fuse auction will run from May 23 – June 2 on eBay and can be accessed by following this link. It will benefit the MusiCares foundation, which assists members of the music community in times of need."

End Game ... ... ... CBA talks resume tomorrow, with one day of small group meetings scheduled for Wednesday before the whole group gets together Thursday for broader discussions. Belief is nearly universal that resolution is near, though the excrutiating details may yet take a few weeks to work out. Spector discusses the inevitability in the context of the article Larry Brooks wrote for the Post last Sunday and the ESPN decision to forego its TV option on NHL hockey for next season. Bob McKenzie analyzes the factions that divide the PA between those who want to complete a deal quickly an those who want to wait out the owners. Mike Ulmer reviews the current state of affairs, noting that a new breed of billionaire owners is more than capable of waiting the players out. He also expects Bettman and Goodenow to get their walking papers soon after the ink is dry on a new deal.

Speak of the Larry Brooks article, Eklundemort's post accusing it of being a PA plant has mysteriously disappeared from his blog without even a how do you do or who's your daddy -- or more to the point, an apology.

The NHL is holding an experimental camp next week to test out many of the new rule proposals, including the proposed new curved-post nets, according to a CP report. The article also mentions that teams are plowing ahead with interviews and physical test of draft-eligible players in spite of the continuing lockout. The AP has a long story on the one draft-eligible player who will not need to be interviewed or tested -- certain first overall pick Sidney Crosby.

Is the Rangers' rebuilding program working? Jaded Ranger fans probably still think the organization has a lot of work to do, but Hockey's Future has published the first half of its Spring 2005 team prospect rankings, the lower half, and the Rangers are not on it (the Isles and Devils are). Then again, they weren't in the lower half in the Fall 2004 rankings either -- they were #7. So we'll have to wait for the remainder of the spring report before seeing if the passing of the lockout season has helped or hurt (at least in the eyes of this one watchdog, which some observers no longer view as highly as they once did).

We may not be here to link you to the second half of the report when it comes out, as we will be away for a week. We will try to stay in touch and hopefully be able to post briefly and/or sporadically, but it will be a busy week for us, so there may very well be nothing new until a week from today. If the NHL and PA settle their differences earlier than expected, we feel confident you'll hear of it elsewhere even if we're not on top of the news. We'll catch up with all developments next week -- including putting the June issue of Blueshirt Bulletin to bed in time for a mid-month press run.

Where is Marshall McLuhan When You Need Him?

Absolutely no news to report on this Memorial Day other than Sidney Crosby being beaten by the London Knights in the Memorial Cup final. So let's turn our attention instead to the opposite of news, the proverbial "Man Bites Dog" story. In the biggest laugh we've had in a long time, Eklund challenges the journalistic integrity of a real journalist, accusing Larry Brooks's article from Sunday's Post of being a PA plant. Excuse me a moment while I ROTFLMAO.

OK, I've recovered now. We all knew Eklund did not know how to write worth a lick, but now it becomes apparent he doesn't know how to read either. He says Brooks was "basically outlining the terms of the new CBA," overlooking the fact that most of what Brooks wrote about were issues that remain unresolved. He says "the details in Brook's article are skewed towards the negative," overlooking how many of them demonstrate a softening of the NHL's hard stance toward PA versions more acceptable to players. He wonders if the article, as a Goodenow plant, "is Bob trying to get the players to re-think their decision to just get this done," overlooking Brooks's clear statement that "the NHL lockout is drawing to a conclusion -- only an unforeseen intervention by extremist elements of either party can now prevent an agreement."

He says, "Larry's loyalty to Bob [Goodenow] has gotten him this scoop. 'If you get a scoop, and it is on the record, you are always being used.'" Notwithstanding Eklund allowing himself to be blatantly used in this way a gazillion times (talk about the pot calling the kettle black!), Eklund's utter obliviousness to journalistic methods overlooks how Brooks double-checked his information with both sides -- " According to reliable sources on both sides of the table... According to a source on one side of the table, agreement on the issue is both 'expressed and implied.' A source on the other side confirmed the assertion... Both sides have confirmed that..."

After accusing the mainstream media of systematically suppressing news, he now includes himself in that very suppression in admitting that "we have all basically made an agreement not to release any details." This overlooks a) the utter absurdity of news reporters agreeing to forego any scoops they might get, and b) the fact that he himself releases details when he gets them (e.g. lowering the age of free agency).

And in the height of hypocrisy and gall, Eklund has the temerity to boast that "it is not my place to start a negative energy running through a situation that is so close to completion" in the middle of a post that takes Brooks's positive report that "the NHL lockout is drawing to a conclusion" and recasts it as "details that Larry put out obviously given him by Goodenow in an attempt to make this deal look like a bad one" (a quote from an Eklund source that is an unverified non-newsworthy opinion within an article that berates Brooks for publishing hard verified news). Forget about trying to figure out what "temerity" means, Eklund -- go look up the meaning of "negative" first.

Eklund criticizes Brooks from getting information directly from Goodenow (as he supposes). But he has no problem publishing information he gets from Goodenow via double-hearsay -- "One of my sources put it this way, 'I talked to a player today who said that Goodenow has told everyone...'"). I heard a radio interview where Eklund said he talks to people at the "highest" levels in both the NHL and PA. That means Bettman and Goodenow. So why can't he call Bob up and get information directly from him? Why doesn't he call Bob up and ask him if he planted that story with Brooks? Or has Eklund re-defined for himself the meaning of "highest"?

It's official: if Larry Brooks says the lockout is nearing its end, then it must really be nearing its end. Unlike those broken records who have proclaimed its end on a regular basis (and who will now take credit for predicting it despite being just broken clocks telling the correct time twice a day), Brooks has had his finger on the pulse of the CBA war for years and has rarely been wrong. "Only an unforeseen intervention by extremists can now prevent an agreement by the end of June," he writes.

Furthermore, unlike those who protest that they are just fans concerned about those who've lost their jobs, but who leak their true intent with statements like, "The exact words they are saying are for the book about the lockout," Brooks offers up details -- no definitive agreement yet on whether the cap will be the league's hard 54% or the PA's floating range, or the exact definition of payroll and revenue, or how revenue will be shared, or whether 2004-05 contracts will lapse by a year, but agreement on incorporating the 24% salary rollback and the PA's version of qualifying offers (100-110%) and salary arbitration.

Brooks expects the cap limit to be between $36-38 million next year. With the 24% rollback, he pegs the Rangers' six contracted players at nearly $22 million, with four (Jagr, Holik, Nylander, Kasparaitis) consuming nearly $21 million. That would mean 55-60% of the Rangers' likely payroll has already been spoken for, with 17 players still needed to fill out the roster. Brooks lists the top expected free agents -- which includes ex-Rangers Brian Leetch, Alexei Kovalev, Sergei Zubov, and Eric Lindros, as well as a number of superstars. He also lists Tom Poti among RFAs whom we can expect to become UFAs rather than be qualified at 100% of their most recent salaries (zie gezundt, as my Yetta used to say).

He reports too that Sidney Crosby will come to New York June 26th for an entry draft teleconference. Whether Crosby will simply remain in New York, as a Ranger, remains to be seen.

ESPN declining to pick up its $60 million option on another season of NHL hockey came as no surprise to anyone -- the cable network had made it abundantly clear that it would want to pay a much smaller rights fee (if any) if it were to resume broadcasting games when the league returns from its ruinous lockout. Big market teams with payrolls far above the cap expected to be in place next year will not miss the extra $2 million in revenue from ESPN -- small market teams who will have to meet a minimum payroll that in some cases may be higher than their payroll under the old CBA will have to do so without that revenue stream, one of the few shared equally throughout the league.

Ottawa's Memorial Cup run is over without Jakub Petruzalek having ever made it back from a knee injury suffered early in the tournament. The 67s fell to a Rimouski attack that included three goals and two assists by Sidney Crosby, who meets London for the Cup today. As various playoffs come to an end across North America, the end to Petruzalek's season marks the end of the season for all Ranger-related players. Look for a complete recap of playoff action in the upcoming issue of Blueshirt Bulletin, due out in mid-June.

Of all the puns describing some fundamentalist Jersey politician's misbegotten attempt to change the Devils' satanic moniker, the best is on the home page of USA Today: "Devils to get a new jersey?" The Devils' answer is emphatically, "No!" For those who don't know, the team did not take its name from the lord of the underworld, but from an apocryphal creature rumored to live in the wild Pine Barrens of South Jersey. No, we don't mean Eklund, we mean the Jersey Devil. Perhaps the misguided politician should instead turn his efforts to trying to stop production of "The Jersey Devil", an awful-sounding movie about the real devil, rather than the legendary dragon-like creature or a hockey logo with an arrow at the end -- for a better movie on the subject, see the Blair Witch-like mock documentary "The Last Broadcast", or the X-Files episode from 1993.

Delay of Game

Another day of talks concluded with little more than agreement to hold another day of talks. In the context of recent reports that the PA is dragging its heels, Ted Saskin's post-meeting message -- "We just completed two days of meetings focused on revenue measurement and reporting issues. There is a lot more information to be exchanged between the parties." -- sends out a clear signal of the union's two-pronged strategy:

a) Having capitulated on a linkage-based cap, the PA's new game is based on moving the revenue line they will be linked to as high as possible, with as many loopholes as possible.

b) Knowing the NHL faces deadline pressure from TV networks, sponsors, and season subscibers, the PA will be most successful in getting that revenue where they want it to be by dragging the process out right up to the eleventh hour.

In an alternate universe, agreement was supposed to be announced yesterday, the two sides pulling a rabbit out of their collective hat. In the real world, games are still being played, negotiations still take forver, and a lot of I's and T's need to be dotted and crossed -- no easy feat when one side wants to dot I's while the other side is intent on crossing T's.

Jakub Petruzalek did not play last night as the Round Robin portion of the Memorial Cup tournament came to an end with his Ottawa 67s losing 5-2 to the favorites, hometown London Knights. Ottawa nevertheless advances to the semifinal single elimination game vs. Sidney Crosby's Rimouski. The winner of that game will play London for the Cup, the Knights having earned a bye to the final by sweeping its round robin games.

Which Way Is Up?

No official word from anyone within the NHL or PA after yesterday's first day of meetings in Chicago. Unofficially, the messages emerging under the radar are conflicting. Both Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun and Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun are reporting the same thing, culled from the same unnamed source, that a 54% linkage deal is near, with the players thrown a lower age of free agency as a bone. Garrioch writes: "Sources say for the first time in these discussions, the two sides are talking about 'the same concepts', which means all they have to do is 'work out the numbers' to get an agreement in place." Hornby quotes what he calls a "hopeful NHL team executive": "If they're talking about the colour of the car, it usually means they're close to buying the car." Both also carried notes of caution from these very same sources.

On the other side of the ledger, two columnists usually directly at odds with each other have both posted messages of pessimism -- the two being Spector and Stan Fischler (both at FoxSports.com, though both write primarily for other web sites, Spector for his own site and Fischler for MSGN.com). Spector notes that legitimate media outlets have been carrying reports that backtrack from last week's cautious optimisim, and lists a number of possibly unaddressed issues that still need working out before a deal can be struck. Fischler quotes some inside sources who continue to see something far from enthusiasm in the way the PA is pursuing what is now on the table. Both agree that Bob Goodenow still has a strong hand in the process, though they have opposite views of him.

Spector also has some choice words of reproach for rumormongers, obliquely aimed at a particularly notorious one who has become increasingly successful in parlaying his fictions into fame. A fly on the wall tells me who this rumormonger is, but the fly has asked me to withhold the information for now so as not to jeopardize the ongoing discussions -- discussions on obscure hockey forums over whether his charitable contributions are an illegal fraud. Scintillating stuff!

Grist

Optimism abounds in the NHL today as talks resume amid widespread rumors that a deal is near. Both the National Post and Philadephia Inquirer refer to an unnamed "New York-based sports website" as quoting Bill Daly as saying it could "get done by early June." Stan Fischler reports that a prognosticator with "a .750 batting average" says, “It will be done by June 10th.” Even the usually rumor-averse Scott at Hockeybird.com has heard from someone on the inside that the NHL is re-hiring as it gears up to resume play in the fall.

Then there's you-know-who, he who should not be named, Lord Eklundemort, who -- when he can't get out of his own way trying to figure out if Bob Goodenow is sending out a good message or a bad one, or whether he doesn't want to access the players-only website for ethical reasons (cough! cough!) vs. whether he even has access to it -- is reporting every rumor under the sun, and then some. And if that's not enough, you can pay $10 for even more fabri-- er, prognostications. As a commentor told Andrew's Dallas Stars and NHL Blog, "I subscribed to the $10 deal and the extra info he sends is tidbits that can’t go public yet" -- as if sending it via E-mail to people who pay for it is somehow not going "public" (LOL).

Jakub Petruzalek did not return for last night's 4-3 Ottawa loss to Sidney Crosby and the Rimouski Oceanic. But, according to an Ottawa Sun article, he "skated yesterday morning and said he would be available for tomorrow's game against London." That game will complete the round-robin portion of the tournament and set the match-ups for the final single-game elimination round.

Lundqvist Repeats

Henrik Lundqvist was named EuroHockey.net's European Player of the Month for April, making it two months in a row that he took that honor. The period in question covers his near-perfect playoff run in the Swedish Elite League, but not the World Championships, which started April 30th (he will not make it three months straight based on his performance for Sweden in the WC's, which though not bad was not world beating material either). The accompanying article, including quotes from Glen Sather and Christer Rockstrom, is heavily slanted toward what Lundqvist will be doing next year, which is almost surely making the move to North America as part of the Ranger organization.

The reports of Jakub Petruzalek's early exit from Memorial Cup play may have been somewhat exaggerated -- his knee injury is not as bad as first suspected, and he may yet play in the tournament.

CBA talks resume tomorrow in Chicago. The focus will once again be on league finances, with the two sides meeting without their leaders, Gary Bettman and Bob Goodenow. We heard last night from a player close to the negotiations that he believes the two sides are nearing an agreement -- that player is a guy on our recreational team who has nothing to do with the NHL, but he works less than a block away from NHL headquarters (a lot closer to the negotiations than almost all of the rest of us) and really does believe that an agreement is imminent.

Not Much to Report

The end came quickly for the last remaining Ranger-related player in postseason play. Jakub Petruzalek suffered a sprained knee early in his team's Memorial Cup opener and is expected to miss the remainder of the tournament. Ottawa went on to beat Kelowna in double overtime.

Bain Capital, the group that made an offer to buy out the entire NHL lock, stock, and barrel, has reportedly upped its offer to more than $4 billion. The NHL is not apparently negotiating with Bain.

They will however be negotiating with the PA again later this week. Reputable sources in the blogosphere have published credible rumors that the two sides will in fact get together again at some point, at which time they may or may not achieve progress, depending on whether Bob Goodenow is an evil Svengali with hypnotic control over hundreds of players, or whether he is on his way out due to a mutiny among a constituency unhappy with how little he has done for them.

Pressure Points

CBA negotiations are getting down to the wire. It may yet take weeks to hammer out an agreement, but for the first time in forever, hammering out an agreement seems to be what the two sides are doing rather than hammering each other. Larry Brooks reports that "there does seem a sincere willingness to move off previously well-established positions to reach an accord — most notably in matters involving revenue-sharing and a salary cap linked to a percentage of the gross." Brooks dwells on the pressure on owners to make a deal now, pressure from sponsors. The players want to make a deal now too, but, he says, "It is not true that [they] are exerting pressure on Goodenow to make a bad deal."

Stan Fischler acknowledges the pressure on owners as well, but sees a contradiction to Brooks's point about player pressure on the PA. Sadly, though, his information seems to come from "Eklund's Hockey Report, a daily blog with allegedly close player affiliations." Allegedly is all one can say about Eklund, widely discredited as a rumormonger, even by he himself (see the fine print below the title of his blog, Stan). Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun has a different angle on the pressure the NHL is experiencing: "Two league sources [said] that Bettman has warned Goodenow the league wants a new deal by mid-June or there 'may be no point in having a season.'"

The AP asks the question about Ranger owner Jimmy Dolan: "Most hated man in NY sports?" Among the reasons: "The Rangers haven't made the playoffs in seven seasons, a string broken only by the ongoing NHL lockout. (Cablevision took over control of the Garden and its tenants in 1997.)"

The Ottawa 67s begin Memorial Cup play tomorrow. Coach Brian Kilrea wants his two Czech players to be more consistent, one of those players being Ranger property Jakub Petruzalek. "Both rookies have played well at times, but Kilrea would like to see more consistency," says the Ottawa Sun. "In other words, he wants the Czechs to check in. 'They can turn it off and on,' said Kilrea. 'One night they're our best players, and the next night they're not our best players.'"

Ranger broadcaster Sal "Red Light" Messina, who retired a couple of years ago, will be honored by the Hockey Hall of Fame for more than three decades of service covering the Rangers.