A SPORTING CHANCE: Why The Great One Isn’t Always Wrong

The Great Resumé: all-star, hall-of-famer, owner, general manager … and soothsayer?

Wayne Gretzky has made all the headlines: amazing rookie, captain of a Cup dynasty, owner of a new team, general manager of an Olympic club and, most recently, the man on the soapbox.

Gretzky may not have been entirely appropriate when he commented, “No one wants us to win except the guys in our room and our loyal fans,” but he was surely right-on about Roman Hamrlik’s highly dangerous and dirty cross-check from behind on Theo Fleury with six seconds left in Monday’s Canada vs. Czech Republic game. His frustration with Hamrlik’s non-suspension didn’t surprise me. I always understood Gretzky’s disdain for violence from having read his autobiography.

I decided to read-up on his position by blowing the dust off of my copy of the 1990 book he wrote with Sports Illustrated’s Rick Reilly. In his chapter, “Bloody Shame,” he lists 10 things he’d like to change about the NHL. Add soothsayer to his list of accomplishments, because a lot has changed in the last 12 years.

His suggestions:

1. End Fighting

Gretz pointed out how illogical it is that “you can accidentally high-stick a guy and get thrown out of a game, but two guys can stand there and beat each other dizzy and not be thrown out of the game.” And it is.

In fact, a player has to do it multiple times before being thrown out. This part of his revamping scheme hasn’t been introduced, but there have been steps to decrease violence. NHL commisioner Gary Bettman is sticking to harsh suspensions as the rule for over-the-top penalties.

Rules that prohibit fighters from pulling each other’s jerseys over their heads are at least steps to clean up the ritual. Other steps, such as not allowing linesmen to interfere until the fighters deadlock or fall to the ground, still encourage fighting. Sure, there are valid arguments that fighting gives the P.J. Stocks of the world a job and that fighting keeps people watching, but Gretzky appropriately asks the question: what about those who are staying away from the sport?

A ton of people who don’t ordinarily watch hockey have commented on the Olympic games and asked me why hockey isn’t always like this. It doesn’t seem like the NHL is going to budge and eliminate fighting altogether any time soon, but the Great One’s other changes were instituted, so maybe we shouldn’t question the possibility.

2. Expand

Gretz suggested Seattle, Houston and Milwaukee. We got Atlanta, Anaheim, Tampa Bay, Phoenix, San Jose, Florida, Columbus, Nashville and Dallas. The NHL has 30 teams compared to 1990’s 21. It’s nice to see these hot-spots turn into hockey-towns. It’s unfortunate to see small Canadian markets not being able to handle NHL teams, but at least the sport is spreading.

3. Rename the Conferences

Is this guy good or what? He writes, “We have enough trouble trying to explain the blue line to people” to keep with the Wales and Campbell Conferences made up of the Adams, Norris, Smyth and Patrick divisions. “Just call them East and West.” And that’s what the NHL did starting with the 1993-94 season.

4. Realign the conferences

The NHL hasn’t done away with divisions, like Gretz suggested, but because of expansion, each team doesn’t play another conference rival eight times a year, as it was when he wrote.

5. Bring on free agency

What do Brett Hull, Alexander Mogilny, Alexei Yashin and Martin Lapointe have in common? They are all big-time players who shuffled squads this season due to free agency. Free agency has changed the entire complexion of the league.

6. Institute a “week off” plan

Gretz suggested every team should have a five-day break in their schedule, and only two teams at a time will have the break so the league keeps running smoothly. Players being overworked may actually be a problem this year. Some players took right off from the first half of the season to the All-Star game to the Olympics. The NHL canceled the All-Star game both in ’79 for the Challenge Cup Series and in ’87 for the Rendezvous Cup. The All-Star game should have been cut this year, too. Either that, or Gretzky’s break plan should have been instituted.

7. Let the players help make the rules

The NHL Board of Commissioners hasn’t really given the players a vote on rules, but players have been fairly vocal in the last few years. When players, such as Mario Lemieux and Brett Hull, spoke out about unfair obstruction, the NHL made it a point to toughen-up on obstruction calls. Hopefully, the league will continue to at least try to make decisions from the viewpoint of an actual player.

8. Pay the refs more

He says “you’ve got to pay the price” if you want the best officiating. Compared to 1990, when the top official was bagging $85,000 and a typical linesman earned $30,000, the NHL salary for officials has skyrocketed. Now, referees start with a $115,000 salary. No officials in any of the four major sports make more than NHL officials.

9. Bring back ESPN

The Great One thought the NHL’s move to sign with Sports Channel over ESPN was a move that sacrificed exposure for the quick buck. According to Gretzky, ESPN went into 51 million homes compared to SC’s one-in-10 homes back in 1990.

According to a Jim Lehrer report, on ESPN’s 20th birthday in 1999, ESPN was reaching 76 million homes in the United States and is broadcasting in 21 languages abroad. Its profit comfortably exceeds that of all three major networks combined.

The NHL didn’t last too long on the Sports Channel, and I’m sure Gretz is happy with its return to ESPN (in addition to network coverage). Hockey on ESPN has certainly been healthy for the NHL. Let’s hope the new NBA contract, which eliminates ESPN’s Wednesday Night Hockey, won’t be too much of a step back.

10. Let us play in the Olympics

Ahhhh … Wayne “Soothsayer” Gretzky pushes for Olympic play to stimulate hockey interest in other markets. Twelve years later, the Great One finds himself the executive director of Team Canada, boasting a lineup captained by Mario Lemieux that many hail as the most star-packed in Olympic history.

Interest in Olympic hockey is huge, and that means a lot for the sport, yet Bettman and NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow say they cannot commit NHLers to the 2006 games in Italy until they can entirely evaluate this year’s games.

I hope they are willing to commit regardless of whether a North American team nabs the gold. The league doesn’t want to shutdown for prelims, so Bettman wants the International Ice Hockey Federation to either shorten the tournament or hold qualifying games during the summer. Sure, some changes are due (some players were prohibited from leaving their NHL teams until after Olympic play began), but the NHL should keep sending its players to the Olympics. Exposure is extremely important. Just ask Wayne.