Hockey's worst year

This is hockey's worst year.

After the dizzying heights of the golden goal that gave Canada the gold medal championship on home ice at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, it has all unravelled in 2011. Gone downhill so quickly and so tragically. Has hockey hit rock-bottom yet?

The decline of hockey began with the hits suffered in back-to-back games Jan. 1 and Jan. 5 by Pittsburgh Penguins' superstar Sidney Crosby. The first, on New Year's Day in Pittsburgh's Heinz Field, was during the National Hockey League's marquee Winter Classic outdoor game. It wasn't immediately apparent, but Crosby had suffered a concussion that ended his season and put his career at risk.

Hockey's downfall continued with Boston Bruins' captain Zdeno Chara's ugly hit on Max Pacioretty on March 8. The Montreal Canadien appeared to have been steered face-first into a stanchion by the big Bruin. The incident prompted several NHL sponsors, such as Air Canada, Scotiabank and Tim Hortons, to speak out. The NHL did create new rules and a protocol for dealing with suspected concussions, but calls remain for an outright ban on blows to the head.

New York Rangers' enforcer Derek Boogaard, who had been troubled by concussions, was found dead May 13 in Minneapolis. He had taken a deadly cocktail of alcohol and oxycontin. His brother was charged with providing him the unprescribed, highly addictive painkiller.

There was brief jubilation in Winnipeg on May 31 when it was announced the Atlanta Thrashers would move there. By June 4, the 13,000 season ticket sales quota was reached for the new Jets. The Thrashers had fans in Atlanta, just not enough, and the team would have folded without the move north. But the real, old Jets franchise remains the Phoenix Coyotes in Glendale, Az., on the league's life support while a new owner is sought and more taxpayers' dollars are thrown down the drain in an area hit hard by the recession.

Game 3 of the Stanley Cup final turned ugly June 6 with the late hit by Vancouver Canuck Aaron Rome on Boston Bruin Nathan Horton. The image of Horton lying on his back, motionless and expressionless, was not one the NHL wanted viewers to see. The Bruins were already missing Marc Savard, who suffered a season-ending concussion in February. The hit on Horton was the moment the underdog Bruins awoke and rebounded from a 2-0 deficit to win four of the next five games and the Cup.

Lord Stanley's mug was awarded to the away team at Rogers Arena on June 15. The President's Trophy-winning Canucks saved their worst effort for their last, most important game. After the 4-0 loss, the fans that remained in the arena offered two minutes of hate for Bettman. Objects were thrown his way. Meanwhile, outside the arena, the streets of Vancouver became a war zone as thousands of Canucks' fans rioted and looted. Vancouver city hall naively tried to recreate the street party atmosphere of the 2010 WInter Olympics, but instead duplicated 1994 when the Canucks also lost in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup and locals rioted.

Most of us who watch hockey thought the Stanley Cup riot was the nadir. We thought there would be charges for rioters and looters and some culpability admitted by the public officials who, like the Canucks, didn't give 100% that night. But Labour Day came and went in No Fault City.

Ex-Canuck enforcer Rick Rypien's depression led to his Aug. 15 suicide that nobody seems to want to address. On Aug. 31, ex-Maple Leaf Wade Belak also committed suicide. But we learned so quickly that it was by hanging and that happy-go-lucky, retired enforcer Belak, too, had a lengthy bout with depression.

The goons are going, going, gone. Will the NHL do the right thing and ban fighting? It's bad for the brain and bad for the mind and no longer necessary for the game, especially in the Stanley Cup or Olympics.

Then the unthinkable. On Sept. 7, a Russian jet carrying an entire team -- Lokomotiv Yaroslavi of Russia's Kontinental Hockey League -- crashed as their Yak-42 jet was taking off for the team's first road trip of the season to Belarus. Of the 28 players, only one survived. The victims include ex-Bruin and new coach Brad McCrimmon and ex-Canuck Pavol Demitra. Demitra was the top point-getter of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics tournament with 10.

The same day, Crosby faced the media with his concussion specialists. The most dynamic, talented player of this era talked about struggling with the brain injury and his desire to return. Will he be as good as he was? Time will tell, but when will be the time? It may not be Oct. 6 in Vancouver, where he scored the most-watched goal in hockey history. And why didn't Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins postpone their news conference for a day, out of respect for the victims of the Russian tragedy?

Has hockey hit rock-bottom? When will the glory days and good feeling of 2010 return?

Was Feb. 28, 2010 as good as it ever was or ever will be?

For Crosby?

For hockey?

Was Canadian Olympic Committee hacked?

On Aug. 3, I posed the question: was the Montreal-based World Anti-Doping Agency hacked during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver? Here is the post.

That was the same day McAfee published its Revealed: Operation Shady RAT white paper showing numerous governments, corporations and non-profit agencies had been hacked, including the World Anti-Doping Agency, the International Olympic Committee and an unnamed "Olympic Committee of Western Country".

McAfee hasn't assigned blame, but the source of the hacker attacks is widely believed to be in China. The report is called Operation Shady RAT -- the Beijing Olympics happened during the Chinese zodiac's year of the rat -- and it included this veiled reference to the Middle Kingdom.

"The interest in the information held at the Asian and Western national Olympic Committees, as well as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the World Anti-Doping Agency in the lead-up and immediate follow-up to the 2008 Olympics was particularly intriguing and potentially pointed a finger at a state actor behind the intrusions, because there is likely no commercial benefit to be earned from such hacks."

Two Canadian government agencies were hacked, one in October 2009 for six months, the other for one month in January 2010. On page 7 of the report, there is that reference to the unnamed "Olympic Committee of Western Country" being infiltrated in August 2007 for a seven-month period.

The victim appears to have been the Canadian Olympic Committee.

I asked spokesperson Riley Denver whether the COC was that mysterious "Olympic Committee of Western Country" and, if so, what was the nature of the attack and how did it impact operations?

The response from Denver? "The COC isn't going to comment on this issue."

On April 6, 2005, the Canadian Olympic Committee's executive director Chris Rudge was in Beijing and signed a "Sino-Canadian" memorandum of agreement with Chinese government and Olympic committee officials. You can still find that news release on the Chinese Olympic Committee website, but the parallel news release from the Canadian perspective no longer appears in the April 2005 section on the Canadian Olympic Committee website.

Draw your own conclusions.

I say, the Canadian Olympic Committee owes athletes, sponsors, media and sports fans in Canada an explanation.

Were its systems hacked and was any personal information stolen?

Offcial Website of the Chinese Olympic Committee

Canadian Olympic Committee - News April 2005

Exclusive: Durban 2011 the next step in Vancouver 2010 dissolution

From one port city popular with tourists to another. From the southwest corner of Canada to the southeast coast of Africa.

Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics chief executive John Furlong took a break from his recent appointment as co-chairman of the Stanley Cup Riot Review for a previously scheduled engagement in Durban, South Africa to attend the International Olympic Committee’s 123rd session. Furlong was there to present the official report of the Vancouver Winter Olympics on July 7, exactly 494 days since the Games closed at B.C. Place Stadium.

The last, major act of VANOC -- in public view, at least -- finished just after 1:30 a.m. PDT, while most Vancouverites slept. More than 12 hours earlier, PyeongChang, South Korea's third consecutive bid for the Winter Games won the 2018 hosting rights.

“It seems fitting that with the arrival of a new Olympic region, PyeongChang, that it's time for us to say goodbye,” said Furlong. “We could feel all the emotions they were feeling throughout the day, having lived that experience ourselves.”

Furlong called the wind-up of VANOC “substantially complete."

“We’re very close to being no longer and by this time next year, we will, in fact, be no longer.”

Furlong summarized the main achievements of the Games to the IOC members at their first annual general meeting since the Feb. 9-11, 2010 session hosted at the Westin Bayshore Hotel in Vancouver.

Furlong was joined by executive vice-president Terry Wright, chief financial officer John McLaughlin, marketing vice-president Andrea Shaw and legal vice-president Dorothy Byrne to deliver “With Glowing Hearts/Des plus brilliants exploits -- VANOC Official Games Report/Rapport Officiel des Jeux -- COVAN.” That report has not been published back home, but the IOC has released an abbreviated version called Staging the Olympic Winter Games.

"We had much heartbreak and happiness, lots of adversity and celebration, but somehow we managed to achieve the vision that we set out for ourselves,” Furlong said.

As an aside, Furlong told the IOC members that B.C. Place Stadium reopens “in October”. (Does he know something we don’t or is it still truly on track for the Sept. 30 B.C. Lions meeting with the Edmonton Eskimos?)

Oddly, VANOC's Staging the Games report was created Nov. 4, 2010 but withheld from the media last fall when only the post-Games financial report and sustainability report were published simultaneously on Dec. 17. Read the Staging the Games report below.


Statistics from Staging the Olympic Winter Games:

Accommodation
12,033 Olympic hotel rooms in Vancouver
2,959 Olympic hotel rooms in Whistler
151 Paralympic hotel rooms in Vancouver
544 Paralympic hotel rooms in Whistler
2,850 Whistler Olympic Village population
2,730 Vancouver Olympic Village population

Accreditation
96,428 pass-holders for the Olympics
26,931 pass-holders for the Paralympics
2,803 Olympic writers, photographers and non-rights holding broadcasters
483 Paralympic writers, photographers and non-rights holding broadcasters

B.C. Place Stadium
100,000 kilograms of gear suspended from the air-supported fabric roof
360 rigging points
1.8 kilometres of trussing

Media relations
645 news releases issued 2005-2009
330 issues notes/key messages documents created 2005-2009

Procurement
63 kilometres fence fabric
550 trailers
250 sea containers
39,000 minor signs
550 major signs
600 road signs
2,016 contracts
5,452 purchase orders
$1,585,006,424 value

Transportation
4,629 auto fleet
1,259 buses and vans
9,704,537 litres of fuel
25,851 vehicle access and/or parking passes
65 kilometres of Olympic lanes in Vancouver

Staging the Olympic Winter Games Knowledge Report

Gary gabs

A big week for hockey north of the border.

The National Hockey League announced May 31 it would return to Winnipeg after a 15-year absence with the conditional move of the Atlanta Thrashers by True North Sports and Entertainment. The Thrashers were the 28th worst market for attendance in the 30-team league.

Commissioner Gary Bettman announced a 13,000-season ticket drive and that a vote on the $170 million purchase would be taken by the board of governors on June 21. More than 7,000 packages were sold before the public sales began and each NHL owner will get a slice of the $60 million relocation fee, so it'll be a done deal.

On June 1, the Stanley Cup final returned to Vancouver for the first time since 1994 -- and began in Vancouver for the first time since the Millionaires were 1921 hosts. The Vancouver Canucks blanked the Boston Bruins 1-0 on Raffi Torres's late, overtime-avoiding goal with 18.5-seconds left in regulation time.

The 5.6 million average audience, with a peak of 7.8 million, was an all-time record for CBC's Hockey Night in Canada. The previous record was in 1994 when 4.96 million tuned-in to see the Canucks battle another Original Six team, the New York Rangers. That was game seven of the Stanley Cup final and the Canucks lost by a goal.

The NBC ratings for game one were the best in 12 years, a 3.2 national rating which translates to approximately 3.708 million viewers. Boston, Providence, R.I. and Hartford, Ct., were three of the top four markets.

The storylines are simple: an Original Six team from a sports-made region with a 39-year Cup drought against the Sedin twins and the rest of the Olympic city kids who are trying for a third time to win the franchise's first Cup since debuting 40 seasons ago.

Before the game, Bettman held his annual state of the league address. Here are highlights from the question-and-answer session:

Q. Can you update where things stand for realignment in lieu of Winnipeg's re-entry, and also the latest on Phoenix?

BETTMAN: With respect to Winnipeg's re-entry, obviously there is a process under the Constitution and Bylaws with respect to ownership transfers and relocation that needs to be complied with. That's on the agenda, will be on the agenda, for the June 21st Board meeting.

In order to do a schedule for next season, it's not possible to do realignment right now. Winnipeg, despite its geographic peculiarities relative to the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference, will be playing in that division and in that conference, with an assurance that for the following season they will be in the west.

We have a number of clubs that would like to address specific issues on realignment. All those clubs need an opportunity to be heard. That's a process we'll go through the first half of next season, looking at the issues that clubs want to raise, looking at various possibilities, and trying to figure out what will make the most sense moving forward.

If I had to guess anything, and this is purely speculation, as much as I hate to do that, because ultimately it's a Board decision, I think we'll wind up moving towards a slightly more balanced schedule to accommodate the variety of issues I've heard so far from the clubs.

Q. Phoenix?

BETTMAN: Phoenix, as I think you all know, because it's gotten a ton of attention, the City of Glendale stepped up and said they want the team to stay another year while they try to complete the sales process with us and will be funding the losses. Any suggestion that the League is funding this club or carrying the burden is not true. Last season the City of Glendale did it. This coming season the City of Glendale will do it, but hopefully not. Hopefully the club will be sold in due course, and there will be a new owner in there to start turning things around.

Again, we've gotten a number of questions about why this process in Phoenix and why the other process in Atlanta. Atlanta, not unlike Winnipeg in '96, found itself in a situation where nobody wanted to own a club in that market anymore. That's been for me the trigger point on having to deal with a relocation.

With respect to Phoenix, you have a city in Glendale that built the building and has invested in it and wanting the club to stay there. As long as they're prepared to carry the burden of doing this while we try to effectuate a solution, there's no reason to move.

Q. Steroids have obviously run their course through all of the professional sports. Yet your sport, your league, has not had a positive test in years, as I can recall. People who know steroids say if you're not catching anybody, your testing isn't good enough. Is it your belief simply no NHL players are doing steroids now? (Note: NHL players are not tested for drugs during the playoffs or off-season.)

BETTMAN: Well, it's clear that if we're not having positive tests, none of them are getting caught, which means if some are, it's not very many.

I do believe, and we've been in discussions over the last couple of years with WADA, there are ways that we can improve our substance testing, our performance?enhancing testing program. But that's something we need to do with the Players' Association, and that's something, when we actually sit down and begin discussions, we need to address.

I think we have a good program. It deals with education and counseling. It has comprehensive testing, but I think we can probably do more. At the right time we'll have that discussion with the Players' Association.

Q. There's been recent reports of a group in Seattle interested in an NHL team. What are your thoughts on Seattle as a hockey market? With Winnipeg done, do you have a list of cities that are potentials?

BETTMAN: There are no shortage of places that continue to express interest in having a team. I think it was half a dozen, and now it's down to five because Winnipeg comes off the list. My answer is the same. I don't want to raise anybody's expectation. We're hoping not to do relocation. You all know that we don't believe in doing that, except as a last resort. We do everything possible to avoid it, and we're not planning on expanding.

The interest is flattering, but I don't want anyone in any market that doesn't have a team to get their hopes up yet.

Q. Québec City was involved, Pierre Peladeau, the owner of Quebecor, launched a sports channel yesterday. He got 25 games of the Ottawa Senators. Is there some sort of relation there that we can say they are up front to get something in Québec City done or there's absolutely nothing to deal with that?

BETTMAN: I am not going to raise expectations. I'm well aware of Mr. Peladeau's interest and that is gratifying. I am well aware there are plans to build an arena, although we have made no promise of what will happen after that.

At the present time, since I don't have a franchise we're looking to relocate, and as I said, we're not planning on expanding, I don't want to get people's expectations in Québec City raised.

Q. Despite the $3 billion in revenue across the League, a lot of teams are losing money, or at least claim to. Is the gap too large between high and low revenue teams? Especially now that you're in Winnipeg, what adjustments need to be made to revenue sharing and the CBA, the next one, so those clubs can be in the best position to succeed?

BETTMAN: The fact we're in Winnipeg, the agreement is basically self?executing. It will apply to the Winnipeg team as it applied to the Atlanta team, again, assuming Board approval, which everybody is anticipating.

To the extent there are issues in Collective Bargaining, as I said in my opening remarks, the good news is it's too early to discuss it. The discussions I'll have in the first instance on that topic will be with Mr. Fehr. I won't be doing it in this environment.

Q. Is the gap too big?

BETTMAN: We have a system that is dramatically improved from where we were in terms of teams' ability to compete. You've seen it in our competitive balance. There has been dramatic improvement. Whether or not the Players' Association or we are going to be looking for adjustments is something we'll look at quietly and hopefully resolve quietly.

Q. Your office put out numbers on concussions specific to how they were suffered, be it from fighting, be it from hitting, whatever. The number that caught my eye was from fighting. I think it was 8% or somewhere around there. I'm wondering, after you've given out those numbers, has there been added talk, be it from managers, owners, governors, specific to that part and their interest in perhaps ending fighting?

BETTMAN: I don't think the discussion has gotten to the level where there's widespread sentiment to end fighting. I'm not sure exactly what you mean by 'ending fighting.' I assume you mean by increasing the penalties for fighting, because there are penalties now.

The issue is really one about concussions. The reason for releasing the numbers is to make clear that concussions in the game are being caused by a variety of causes. And, in fact, the increase isn't coming, although the conventional wisdom incorrectly was that it was coming from more head hits, it's coming from pucks to the head. Maybe we should be having mandatory visors, something we'll discuss as we have over the years. Sometimes it's collisions with your own teammates, sometimes it's a check where you fall and bang your head.

The number of head hits really hasn't been the cause of the increase in concussions. It's been other sources, and that's what we're looking at in a comprehensive way.

One of the things that I indicated the Blue Ribbon Committee is looking at, as it's been dubbed, is whether or not we want to expand the head?hit rule. Accidents I think are going to happen and we have to deal with that and we do that through the proper diagnosis and treatment of concussions. Nobody has taken the leap that you're suggesting.

Q. Any updates with the next Winter Olympics or the World Cup?

BETTMAN: There is no update. That, again, is something that we will be in discussions with the Players' Association on because the international competitions, be it the conducting of a World Cup, which we're interested in doing, and the participation in the Winter Olympics, is something that we need to discuss and resolve with the Players' Association.

Mr. Fehr has been on the job a relatively short time. He's putting together his organization. He's been doing a lot of homework and catching up. In due course, we'll be having those discussions.

Q. Any more precise indication of where the cap is going?

BETTMAN: Actually, I think Mr. Daly did. I don't remember giving cap numbers. Bill, do you want to venture a guess?

BILL DALY: I think our current projections have the cap being in excess of $60 million, maybe as high as $63 million.

BETTMAN: And, obviously, the new television contract in the United States has an impact on that, bringing it up.

Q. Poignant because of the travel back and forth between Vancouver and Boston being difficult, the format of 2-2-2-1-1-1, any increased talk of going to 2-3-2?

BETTMAN: We periodically raise it with the managers, who when it comes to competitive issues are the heart and soul. There doesn't seem to be much of an appetite. I think people in our game are used to the travel. They like to keep the routine going.

It is what it is. We've been doing it for, oh, at least a couple of decades. I think if you go back to the '80s or '70s, there were a couple of years when it was tried. But this seems to be what the clubs are most comfortable with. What we try to do is make sure we're providing the best environment for them to have the competition and let it all out on the ice.

Mulling marketing with IOC's Lumme

International Olympic Committee marketing and TV services director Timo Lumme spoke to media at the Main Press Centre in Vancouver on Feb. 23 about economic conditions now and in the future for the five-ring circus.

On The Olympic Partner sponsor program:

“We have nine at the moment and the level of financial contribution is higher than it was for the previous quadrennial (US$883 million vs. US$866 million). We have the opportunity now that some of the partners for varying reasons their industries have changed or their structures have changed or they’ve been taken over by other companies, they’ve moved away...

"We have the opportunity to look to have an internal scorecard, just like you’re choosing your friends, we want to be in a position to choose the best. We want them to understand the Olympic brand and fundamental values.”

On the cost of IOC rights fees and whether broadcasters may decide to pay less in the future:

"The IOC has never forced any broadcaster to pay any money. At the end of the day, through a bidding process the broadcaster who wishes to pay the most gets the deal. And that's the way it's been, and that's the way it's going to be in the future.

"We are very confident that the Olympic Games will retain a premium status as a world event and I think it will command a premium price."

On whether the IOC might consider changing the clean-venue policy that prohibits advertising in venues:

"We speak to our partners regularly about that. They have always consistently said, 'No, keep the same, we want a clean venue policy, that's what makes the Olympic Games special.' There's no plan whatsoever to change that policy."

On the impact of social media and its potential economic benefits and drawbacks:

“That allows people to engage more with the Olympic brand, what we’re seeing is really a phenomenon where people are able to have more touch points. That’s a huge boost to us. Then if you put the video coverage aspect in the middle that for us carries a greater value.

“It’s a symbiotic, complementary relationship. What we want to achieve is not just the great experience for 17 days but we’d like Olympic fans to feel that they’re connected 365 days of the year even outside the Games period.

“Generally we’ve done gatekeeper deals where we do all means and media, then it’s up to the rights holder in that territory and they decide how to partition and create the coverage across different platforms.

“In Brazil, new media rights were sold first with Terry by Telefonica, then we did pay TV, satellite and standard. This just reflects that it’s a fast-evolving marketplace.”

On Coca-Cola and McDonald’s, two sponsors whose flagship products are seen as unhealthy by critics:

“Both are longtime Olympic sponsors. On the one hand they’re completely committed to the Olympic values, they will promote our brand and make sure that they are reaching young people trying to aspire to better themselves through sport.

“The financial assistance they provide to us, 92 cents of every dollar we get goes towards various programs we have to put on the Olympic Games and help athletes at the grassroots and elite level train. We feel very comfortable with those partnerships, we know that they have the best interest of the Olympic movement at heart,

“They’re very aware in their own sectors how they have to position themselves, obviously to an extent they use the positive values of the Olympics to position themselves, we’re more than convinced they will continue to provide through their sectors the best products and services to their constituents.”