WTF is wrong with Gary Bettman anyway?

So, Gary Bettman has announced that the teams for the 2011 Winter Classic will be...the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals.

Whaaaaaaaaaat??

Last time I counted, there were 30 teams in the NHL. Why is Bettman choosing two teams who have already played? Its only the 4th Winter Classic. We have already seen the Penguins and the Capitals play outside. And its going to be held in Pittsburgh. Really.

Do we need any more evidence that Gary Bettman has a bias towards the Penguins? Or, more specifically, to Sidney (Cindy) Crosby? Unless you had your head in a TV and radio-less hole last season, the commissioner's love for the Penguins is fairly obvious. Barely second to that is his foisting of Alex Ovechkin on American fans. If you watched NBC at all for hockey last season, what did you see? A shitload of Ovechkin and Crosby, and pretty much nothing from West of the Mississippi River, because we all know that there are no hockey fans there, right?

Come on Gary, get a grip. Every fan saw what you did last year to avoid another Red Wings/Penguins Final (or at least a Red Wings Final), and you certainly clammed up when the Penguins got eliminated. What? You missed that too? Well far be it from me to believe in a conspiracy. There are several other people who have that covered, like these people. Of course, the only thing that could possibly have diverted attention from the dismal officiating of the Cup Finals is the "almost as bad" officiating of the World Cup. But, since nobody actually watched the World Cup, it went unnoticed.

There is also evidence that 99% of hockey fans across North America are of the opinion that Gary Bettman couldn't properly set up a game of checkers, let alone run the NHL. He preaches about parity, then promotes a grand total of TWO players to the entire fan base. Any takers on when he is going to declare a "league realignment" and somehow wrangle Pittsburgh into the Western Conference, JUST so that he has a shot at fabricating a Penguins/Capitals Final?

Whatever...the NHL needs to get a person that actually has some interest in the game.

Kirk Maltby

So...the Red Wings are not just going to let Kirk Maltby go, are they? I mean, the guy has some hockey left in him, right? OK, so he's not the player he used to be. So what? He won 4 Stanley Cups with the Wings, and that has to count for something, right?

Kenny Holland says that "they are talking". The simple truth is, good ol' Malts may be looking at a two way contract, with much of his time spent with the Griffins. Maybe he will hang up the skates for good. Maybe he will go on a forward killing spree and end up with a spot anyway. You don't have to pay dead guys, after all.

Where will he go? Certainly the Wings won't trade him. Sadly, at this point he isn't really worth that much on the market. That isn't to say he is a bad player or he has lost his edge. Sure, he's not the annoying, get under your sweater and piss you off player he was a few years back, but he is as much an integral part of the Wings as anyone else. OK, so he hasn't posted more than 37 points with the Wings ever, but this is not where he gets you. He gets you when you are trying to make a play and he freight trains your ass into the boards, or he bothers you so much that you just can't take any more and you, in full view of the officials, slash/punch/interfere with him and take a stupid penalty, thus putting the Wings on the power play. Look at the line he played on for so long, the Grind Line, with Draper and McCarty/Kocur. What opposing team wanted to step on the ice when those irritating bastards were out there? It was almost a guarantee that somebody on the opposing line was going to get hurt, take a penalty, or make a dumb mistake.

Kirk Maltby isn't yet 40, and last year seemed to be a pretty good year until he got hurt. He may have even posted more than 40 points. We will never know now. If he takes the two way contract, he won't have a chance to play 82 games. His only hope at this point is to get to camp, and beat out one of the other forwards for a spot. If he gets waived, he will be in a big pot with other more promising forwards, all 60-something of them who are looking for work. That's not to say that all 60-something are better than him, but his chances are better with the Wings.

Kirk, take the deal. Go play one last year like you used to, and put up some numbers in addition to pissing off the other team. Throw everything to the wind and skate your ass off like it's your last season, because it most likely is your last season. Then hang em up and go into player development. You need to stay with the Wings, just not neccessarily as a player.

Whn Kirk Maltby finally does hang up the #18 Winged Wheel sweater for the last time, it will not be raised to the rafters, but it will be the end of a major chapter in Red Wings history nonetheless...

25....

Last I checked, an NHL team only has 23 slots...so now that we have 24 (or 25, depending on the Abdelkader deal) who gets cut? And by cut I mean sent to GR...IF they clear waivers. At least, I THINK thay have to clear waivers...I am pretty confused, and probably shouldn't be blogging since I don't know what the hell I am talking about.

But seriously.... who gets sent down? Who gets a two way contract? Do we even care? I mean, whoever gets sent to GR will be playing for the Wings within the first month, because Bertuzzi/Franzen/Draper will break/pull something and need a replacement. Draper may need a replacement hip soon, but that's not what we are talking about. Either way, the Wings have depth. More than any other team, and even if a few guys pull up lame, we have the players to cover it. Also, if Modano and Hudler can post some numbers, and Datsyuk and Zetterberg post their normal numbers, I just cannot see how we don't go very deep into the playoffs, if not hoist Number 12. In which case I will have to rename my blog.

Which nobody, barring family and friends, reads anyways....

Modano to sign? But...

OK so this is all I could come up with at this hour, but if Mike Modano signs with the Wings, what number will he wear? Because, I mean, #9 is absolutely out of the question. We all know that, and it bears no further discussion. so that leaves him with some number that included the number 9, right? So yeah...#19? No way. It's in the rafters for reasons that pale (however slightly) only to #9. #99? Well I'm pretty sure the NHL retired that number across the league, right? In fact its the only number retired across the NHL. So thats out. The numbers 29, 39, 40, 59, 69, 79, and 89 are just boring. Well, 69 isn't, but this is a family blog for chrissakes.

What about flipping it over? #6? Nope, that number is retired by the Wings. Didn't know that? Yep, it belonged to Larry Aurie, who quarterbacked the Wings to thier first Stanley Cups in 1936 and 37. #16? Again...belongs to someone else. So you see where I am going with this?

Mike strikes me as being a single digit type of guy, so that leaves him 2, 3, 4, 5 and 8 to choose from. If he signs, I guess we will see how this number dilemma will pan out.

On a side note, it is absolutely pathertic that I actually posted this.