Best Picture

Life of Pi: Real life- tiger kills the kid 30 seconds in, roll credits
Django Unchained: RAYCISS
Lincoln: Good president boring movie
Silver Linings Playbook: Crazy people watching the Eagles
Armour: French
Les Miserable: French
Beasts of the Southern Wild: No idea what that is
Argo: Apparently Canada wants credit for it?

Goon should have won best picture. IT’S HILARIOUS!

We will start with the classic to end all classics. All I could do from here is waste words or take away from the majesty of the greatest moment in hockey history, so, enjoy.

As far as I can tell, OVS had it first. Feel it Deadspin.

(And yeah, the tweet is deleted but I’m not gonna put the number back out there. A little thing called integrity.)

Obstructed View Sports. Your source for breaking news. 24/7, 365.

UPDATE: Johnny Football ALLEGEDLY tweeted his phone number. He denied it. He is denying it. OVS Sources are on it.

NOT my phone number

— Johnny Manziel (@JManziel2) February 6, 2013

Whatever you say, Johnny Football…if that is your real name.
 

The lockout sucked. That is the bad news. It was 119 days of pure shit. It was a whole lot of having nothing to watch on TV (except on nights when Nashville was on. Nashville is awesome). We had to sift through negotiations trying to find out what was happening. We had to fill the void by pretending to give a damn who led the KHL in scoring. At one point I even watched a basketball game. Santa Clara lost to Duke.

Having sunk to all-time lows (seriously, I even considered watching a Warriors game), hockey could not come back soon enough.

The good news is that we are three months, hundreds of hours of negotiating, over 500 cancelled games, over 5,000 angry columns and 10,000 podium jokes later. We are back. One more time: WE ARE F’ING BACK.

This being the greatest news in human history, there are hundreds, if not thousands of things to look forward to when pucks drop at uh (/looks it up)…3 PM EST this afternoon (3 pm? What the fuck? We can’t push that up?), but here are 8 that jump to my mind as I gleefully look forward to the start of the NHL season.

1. Perhaps the best home stretch we will ever see

The NHL is ripe with parity in the 2013 salary cap era, and in a given year there are as many as 25 teams that have a realistic expectation of contending for the playoffs at the beginning of the season. That is, they contend for the playoffs in a league that saw an 8 seed win the cup last year. Over a 6. So, there you go.

This year, while not having hockey for October, November and December is a huge price to pay, the good news is that we are dropped right into the playoff hunt.  The better news is that EVERY SINGLE TEAM is in a position to make a run at the playoffs at what is essentially the midpoint of the season. I minored in English and have a way with words, so allow me to describe that in the most eloquent manner possible:

That’s the freakin tits.

Think about it, all it takes is a 10 game hot streak, and ANYONE can contend. Even Columbus, although probably not Columbus because Columbus fucking sucks. It is gonna be chaos. Everyone will come out of the gate in a playoff race. There will be no going through the motions. Then, everyone will pull their groins but whatever. We will deal with that later. The playoff race will be sick.

2. Having something to write about

With the lockout, I more or less put the ole Obstructed View Sports on shutter island. I wrote a few columns this fall/winter, but they were few and far between. The reason for that was pretty simple, I am extraordinarily lazy just didn’t have that much to write about. I wrote a few lockout columns, but they sucked to write since they were more or less just bitching about how Garry Betteman is an incompetent hobbit and whatnot. Also, Boise State was pretty mediocre in terms of national contention, and I happen to hate my favorite NFL team, so those weren’t exactly driving content.

Now, though, there are games and things happening and stuff to write about and that is just dandy.

3. HATE!

Remember during the lockout when fans of all different teams came together beautifully in support of the game, thinking that if we put our differences aside and united that maybe, just maybe we could influence the game we love for the better?

Yeah fuck that.

The season is here now and the fan unity thing is DONE. If you are a Bruins/Rangers/Devils/Blackhawks/Canucks/Kings/Ducks fan (more or less the franchises that I have good friends rooting for), I will now go back to hating you and wishing terrible things upon you. Frankly I couldn’t be more excited by this.

Same goes for players. Maybe even more so. The whole #ThePlayers and #NHLPA and #IGuessImRootingForFehrBecauseJeremyJacobsIsAPieceOfShit thing was cool (I have no idea what Delaware North Company is but I’m totally boycotting the shit out of them), but I am so over sympathizing with the players as a whole. Thank the good lord that I can now go back to hating Cory Perry or Steve Ott in peace.

4. One Timers

One timers are badass. Look.

Awesome.

(Speaking of which)

5. Guys on New Teams

Strange.

Obviously, this happens every year, but with the layoff it is a bit harder to keep track of who went where, which is cool because when games start you get to go ‘oh yeah,’ and think about the implications of Alex Semin being on the Hurricanes for the next 30 seconds, which is nice.

For instance, did you know that Ryan Suter AND Zach Parise are on the Wild? You probably did because that is the only player movement that anyone talked about, but there were actually some other things that went on.

Here is a quick rundown: Alex Semin and Jordan Staal to the Hurricanes, Jason Garrison to the Canucks (dammit), Jaromir Jagr to the Stars (/head explodes), so is Derek Roy, James VanRiemsdyk got traded to Toronto for Luke Schenn (to Philly), Mike Ribiero fills in for Semin as the enigmatic moody dude in Washington, Matt Carle is in Tampa and because I already included Matt Carle in the list you can tell that it actually wasn’t that exciting of an offseason. Still, though, little things (hey, that’s Adam Burrish in San Jose now) will jog your memory and give you something to consider.

6. Watching the best in the world

At the end of the day, that is what getting the NHL back really means. We get to see Ovechkin (who I see returning to his elite level). We get to watch Crosby and Malkin. We get to see Stamkos. And we get to see who will join those guys as the elite hockey players in the world. That is what the NHL is all about.

(Note that I don’t include Giroux or Datsyuk in that list, as both are great players, but both are also overrated and do not belong in the category of ‘best in the world.’)

7. Rookies!

Watching these guys is awesome.

The last lockout combined the 2004 and 2005 rookie classes into one, leading to an insane rookie class highlighted by Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin. While this year, like pretty much every other year not including 2005 and 1978, lacks a talent like Crosby (barring a huge surprise), it is not short on exciting first year players.

The most familiar is Chris Kreider, who won a national championship at BC last year before jumping to the Rangers and making a significant impact on their playoff run.

The other favorite for the Calder trophy would be Justin Schultz, who, as a defenseman, was second in the AHL in scoring, trailing only Jordan Eberle, and outpacing the likes of Taylor Hall, Brayden Schenn and a handful of established NHL FORWARDS. Now, if this doesn’t sound awesome (particularly to you, Sharks fans), consider that this is the same Justin Schultz who refused to sign with the Anaheim Ducks, let their draft rights expire and became a free agent. I hope he wins 8 Norris Trophies.

Then there are the guys from the most recent draft class. This will be a heavy year for players entering the league because it stands to reason that more guys will be ready after an additional half year in juniors, than would have been in September. Highlights from this past draft include #1 overall pick Nail Yakupov, USA WJC standout Alex Galchenyuk, Michael Grigorenko and Filip Forsberg. Notably, none of those guys are Canadians. Ryan Murray and Griffin Reinhart, the two top Canadians from the past draft are both remaining in Juniors, which is clearly evidence that Canada has lost their ability to develop hockey players and that their medalless finish at the World Juniors is a sign of things to come. Also, Murray is hurt and out 6 months but whatever.

8. Jumping to Conclusions based on hot starts

Should be fun. EVERY GAME TOTALLY MATTERS YOU GUYS! On a related note, look for my predictions coming up in the next couple of days.

That seems like a good place to start. LA just raised the banner (in the worst, most cringe inducing ceremony ever—Go Blackhawks), it’s time to start the games. Finally.

For those few hours, I was thrown back into the mode of waiting for scores to come in, getting my hopes up and trying to figure out what the chaos. It was old-school scoreboard watching for fans of Boise State, the team coming into the day ranked number 22. We needed to get up to sixteen, be ranked ahead of a major conference champion, and be the highest ranked non-BCS team. It looked pretty possible that all three conditions could be met, and that the Broncos could get a shot at a major opponent in a BCS bowl.

Three-peat

Of course, the next day, the BCS standings came out, and they put Boise State only one spot higher at 21. Kent State took the place of top non-BCS team, and even if they lose this week, their opponent Northern Illinois has an equal record, and will take that crown, not Boise. So, once again, after a few tantalizing hours, it was clear that the BCS was once again going to relegate the Broncos to a lower profile bowl, most likely the MAACO Las Vegas Bowl for the third year in a row.

I have written more than my share of screw the BCS columns over the years, and I am by no means backing down from my dislike of the system. I wholeheartedly believe that the 2010 and 2011 Broncos, each of whom beat quality teams on the road to start the season, rolled through their competition and slipped just once (both times on missed last minute field goals), deserved a shot against an SEC runner-up, Big-12 champion, or whoever else they could get at the Orange, Sugar or Fiesta Bowl.

Beyond that, I wholeheartedly believe that had they not slipped up (and maybe even despite the slip up in 2011), they deserved a shot at the ultimate prize, a spot in the National Title Game. Even with an undefeated season, they would have been unlikely to get that in either year and that is malarkey. The system would have shown its flaws and kept them out, proving that there really are not two (1-A and 1-AA), but 3 (1-A, 1-AA, who have their own championships, and mid-majors, who are caught between the two). Frankly, the BCS sucks. The past two seasons proved it sucks at finding the six best bowl games, and were two missed field goals from proving that they can’t even find the single best game.

Now, for a third year in a row, Boise State will sport a record as good or better than some of the teams that will play in BCS games. They will also have a better team, I think (Kent State/UNI? Please.) But despite the past few paragraphs, this isn’t going to be one of those crush the BCS columns.

The fact is, when we moved just one spot despite the 7 teams in front of us going down, thereby missing out on another BCS bowl, it didn’t make me that angry. It didn’t make me angry at all, actually. It didn’t even make me that upset. Sure, I was disappointed. The chaos of the previous day had gotten my hopes up, but I had none of the emotions that took over after the past two snubs.

It wasn’t because I am numb to it, I’m not. It was because this was a different system. In 2010 and 2011, the feeling was that of having something taken from you. It felt like Boise earned it, then had it taken away. This year was different. It was more like not winning a raffle. I was hopeful we would have a chance to win the BCS raffle,  we had a ticket and there weren’t that many other tickets sold, but there didn’t seem to be any need to get angry when we didn’t get the prize.

Sure, Boise has as good a record as some teams that will go to BCS games, but so do a lot of teams. The loser of the NIU-Kent State game will. The fact is we didn’t beat anyone, and lost to a couple of teams that look pretty damn mediocre. After the “snub” that wasn’t really a snub, former Bronco and current radio color guy Pete Cavender took to twitter and summed it up more or less perfectly.

“I love my #Broncos, but it’s tough to complain about BCS right now. If you wanna make BCS…you gotta beat San Diego State at home.”

Yep.

Bronco Nation seemed to have responded appropriately, with Cavender’s tweet summing up the prevailing attitude of Boise’s fans. There were a few people who seemed to view it as yet another screw job, though. While I don’t agree, that’s fine. If you are a Boise fan and this pisses you off, by all means, do you. If you do happen to be one of those people, though, I have a question for you. What is Boise State’s best win this year?

I love my #Broncos but it’s tough to complain about BCS right now. If you wanna make BCS…you gotta beat San Diego State at home.

— Pete Cavender (@PCavender64) November 26, 2012

Is it BYU? Fresno State? I can forgive the computers for not being blown away with anything Coach Pete’s team did this year.

(Truth be told, the school’s best win came Wednesday night when the basketball squad made a case for the top 25 knocking off #11 Creighton and moving to 5-1. That’s right. We live in a bizzaro world where Boise State’s biggest win of the year is in basketball.)

That doesn’t mean that this isn’t a good team. They have an awesome talent level for a mid major. The San Diego State game was a trip up, not a loss to a better team and I really believe that we would crush anyone in the MAC. The defense is the real strength, giving up under 14 points a game. Joe Southwick isn’t Kellen Moore, mainly because nobody is, has been or will be, but he hasn’t been bad by any stretch (even if I am with most Bronco fans in wanting to start the Nick Patti era next year). Under him the offense has been stagnant at times, explosive at others, but has generally been good enough.

By no means would it have been a travesty if this team had snuck into the BCS with two losses, and they would have a decent case even with one in this, a chaotic year (also, omigod why couldn’t it have been like this last year).

Boise State is good enough to play in the BCS. The fact is, though, if you’re Boise State, being good enough to play in  the BCS isn’t enough. You have to be too good not to. It isn’t really fair, but it is the way it is. This year’s Broncos team isn’t too good not to go to Glendale, New Orleans or Miami. That’s why, despite a few tantalizing hours this past weekend, I just can’t get mad at the BCS for keeping out Boise State yet again.

Apart from a plea prior to the actual cancellation of games, I have stayed pretty quiet on the subject for the simple reason that writing about hockey that isn’t being played is no fun at all.  I feel compelled to speak up at this point, because I have come to fear the worst: that we will not be seeing NHL hockey this season.

This is upsetting on a so many levels, first and foremost because there really isn’t a reason for it to happen.  While there are flaws with the National Hockey League’s business model, cancelling games and allowing the coveted ‘casual’ fan’s attention to be turned elsewhere, any gains that the league gains from a more favorable CBA will be outstripped by the lack of relevance that is an inevitable result of a prolonged work stoppage.

Hockey has been a footnote to ESPN for quite some time, but I fear that it will become less than an afterthought with the main stream sports media should an entire season be lost.  The league has been trending upwards, fueled by increased exposure from NBC, and the development of what has come to be known as NBC Sports Network.  While the networkd fights for relevance even without the league, it lacks major sports coverage without the NHL, and if the public fleas from the NHL’s TV partner, they are less likely to be sucked back in when the sport returns.

Furthermore, while the economy isn’t faltering quite as badly as it had been in the aftermath of the 2008 collapse, negativity persists, and fans, and perhaps more importantly, corporations, will be happy to have an excuse to save the thousands of dollars that they pump into the league through season ticket sales.

The consequences of a lost season will indeed be dire, and the unfortunate reality is that all signs seem to point towards a lockout with no end in sight.  Millions of dollars have already been withheld from players who are out of work, but the union seems to be digging in. Sensing that the season is in serious jeopardy, the union is more likely to hold out for a favorable deal than to fold, looking to get players back to work.

While it may be due to a stronger understanding of the issues than I had as a sophomore in high school, my sense of the situation is that the two sides are even farther apart than they had been at the same point in 2004.  My position all along has been that the end will be sudden, meaning that a cancelled season will seem like a possibility until moments before a deal is actually reached, making it impossible to predict a timetable for the return of hockey stubbornness and a desire to ‘win’ the negotiations appears to be firmly embedded. Even more distressingly, there is a stunning lack of urgency, with the league having described meetings as unproductive.

The recent proposal from the league appeared to be a step in the right direction, but upon further consideration, it turned out to be much less promising than it initially seemed to be. The optimism was due to the fact that the owners were asking for much less from the players than they had in previous proposals. It has been rightly pointed out, however, that the deal was more favorable compared to the previous ones, but that compared to the expired CBA, it remained a large step back for the players.  This was not lost to the NHLPA, which was not impressed by the offer.  It would have been naive to expect that to be the deal that got signed ending the lockout, but it was crucial for the survival of the season that the offer, which was presented as more favorable towards the players, lead to the sides coming closer together and a sense that the problems could be solved.

Instead the players rejected it, and seemed insulted that it was viewed as giving concessions. The reslt is that the sides are actually farther apart, both believing that they have put fair offers on the table, and waiting for the other to ‘fold,’ rather than continuing negotiations.  Until the previous round of offers, I remained optimistic, like many. That the winter classic would be saved and the season would resemble that of the NBA after their lockout last year.  Following the latest debacle, however, that seems borderline foolish.

Whatever the reason,  be it pride, principle or economics, the result of the latest round is that the sides have dug in, and we are going to be without the best hockey league in the world for quite some time.

Political seasons are always going to come with a certain amount of anger, what with people that you find yourself mostly agreeing with three and a half out of every four years coming out with strong opinions that seem crazy to you. This year, though, I feel like every time I go online, every time that I watch a debate, or every time I hear about the most recent developments in the Obama-Romney shitstorm, I just end up getting pissed.  False-objectivity aside, I am more agitated by the right than the left, but it doesn’t really have to do with policies, or my liking one candidate more than another. The whole campaigning process has become so overwhelming that it is impossible not to get frustrated with both sides if you put your politics aside and take a look at what is actually being said.

Now, I am under no illusion that my writing this will somehow change anything, but for whatever reason I feel like I may as well point out a few things that would at least make these elections more tolerable, and that would make this a better country.

I don’t mean ‘working across the aisle for peace and prosperity and economic growth and job creation and a balanced budget.’ Yeah, I would like to see that.  But we have no idea how to do it.  Instead, I would like to complain about how campaigns are run because, simply put, that is more in my wheelhouse.

Since I can be seen shaking my head at Republicans more often than at democrats, in the interest of fairness, I will start off by yelling at the left.  So, left, listen up;

Stop trying to make such a damn big deal out of things that don’t matter.  Because most of the shit you talk about? Doesn’t matter.  At all.  Guess what? Mitt Romney thinks that 47% of the population wouldn’t vote for him.  That would be a terrible thing for him to say, except that,  you know, there is about 47% of the population that would never, ever vote for a rich conservative white guy who represents the establishment and rich conservative white guys.  So, left, if you wanna piss off poor people so that they vote for you, stop trying to harp on something that is 99% TRUE.  Don’t even get me started on the Latino thing.  NO SHIT IF MITT ROMNEY WAS  LATINO IT WOULD HELP HIM.  Latinos are more than 10% of the country, maybe even more than 20% but I am on a roll and don’t want to lose momentum by stopping to look it up, and right now the only Latino votes he is going to get are from Spanish speaking voters who misread the ballot.  He is going to get ROCKED by that demographic.  Assuming, then that Latinos outnumber racists (they probably do), it would be a HUGE boost if his name was Mitt Romnero. It is common sense.

(Looked it up, it is 16.7%)

If you want to nail Romney, there is plenty to go off of, but why harp on what everyone knows, and no one with half a brain cares about.

On top of that, I am a little bit sick of hearing about what Obama would do, if he were president. You have a record.  Your job right now is to stand by it, and to develop a narrative about what you are doing, how you are going to continue it and why you shouldn’t be stopped.  Don’t go off on hypotheticals like you have been doing in the debates about what you would like to do if you were only given the chance. You sound foolish.

Now, I want to talk to you, conservatives of America.  Three things.  First is simple.  Number one is that you don’t love America more than liberals or moderates.  You are just louder about it.  And you have Toby Keith, although that is a positive…whatever. Glad we cleared that up.

The next two points are much more important.  They deal with two things that conservatives seem largely unconcerned with, the past, and the future.

As for the past, I would like to know what the hell you people were doing in 2008.  You seem to have forgotten this, but when Obama took office, the sky was FUCKING FALLING.  The stock market was tanking.  Unemployment was skyrocketing.  We were realizing that if you invade two countries in 8 years while you cut taxes, shit gets messy.  Yet the question, continually, seems to be, ‘are you better in 2012 than you were in 2008?’

Well no, I’m not. I graduated college and don’t get to base my own self worth on how well I play hockey, how many girls I get with and how much I drink. Instead, I have to find a job and do real people shit, which sucks. Also, there is an NHL lockout, Boise State lost their opener and the Red Sox are the least likable team in sports. In 2008, I was just starting all of that malarkey that we let 18-22 year olds get away with for some reason, and none of that sports stuff was true. Now, if there was a candidate that could make me a sophomore Sigma Pi again, allow Gary Bettman to find his true calling as a used car dealer and figure out a way for Boise to stop LaVeon Bell, he would have my vote. But the candidates refuse to talk about THE REAL ISSUES.

As for things that the presidency actually deals with? Yeah. I’ll take 2012 any day. Look at the facts.  Sure gas prices suck, but we have two less full scale wars, the stock market is pretty continually rising, the housing market is bouncing back. Obama fucked plenty of shit up, but 2008 was absolute shit, so stop citing it as the GLORREEEE DAYYYZZ that you want to go back to.

Speaking of things that the president has control over, the last thing that I feel like yelling at Republicans about is something coming directly from Romney, or whatever campaign stratagist is telling him what to say.

“We can’t afford 4 more years like the last four.”

Really Mitt? We can’t? Or what? Because I have will bet you your Bain Capital pension that no matter who wins, we are going to be back here in four years time talking about how Democrats want more social programs, Republicans want lower taxes, and we still owe the Chinese a ton of money.  I’m pretty sure that if we re-elect Obama he isn’t going to rip off a mask revealing that he is a Kenyan Muslim terrorist, and introduce the Chinese PM as our new supreme leader.  Nope.  Rich people will pay a few more or less percentage points, we may or may not have a government aided healthcare system and…yeah. That’s about it.

And that is my main feeling about these elections.  I don’t want to downplay their significance, but does the president really have anything to do with gas prices? Does he really drive the stock market or ‘create jobs?’ The answer, as far as I can tell, is no.  This election is important, sure, but can we stop with the if that guy wins we are all completely screwed shtick? Because we aren’t.  Or we are, but Romney/Obama can’t save us.

Oh, and both of you, stop pandering to the middle class.  It is a known fact that most people in the lower class consider themselves ‘lower-middle class’ and a lot of people who are actually in the top 15%, income-wise, self-identify as ‘upper-middle class.’ That’s why Obama continually runs towards the middle class in these debates. I’m on to you.

At the end of the day, it would just be nice to have a bit of accountability.  The debates are an exercise in talking points and empty promises, filled in with worthless and probably made up stories about so-called average Americans.  The rest of the campaigns are extensions of that. We have fear mongering from whichever party is challenging, claiming that the sky is falling, but in four years when it doesn’t, they will turn around and do it again, ignoring the fact that they were wrong before. The whole thing was summed up nicely by compulsive liar Paul Ryan who, in a rare moment of honesty pointed out that the election will not be decided by fact checkers.

He was right, so say whatever you want.  It doesn’t matter if it is true or relevant. Politics have been turned into a reality show.  Aimed at the lowest common denominator. Everyone is making shit up so you may as well make big shit up to get attention. I don’t hate the player, I hate the game.  Say what you want. I’ll be over here getting pissed off.

That should be a guarantee.  It should be taken for granted. It should be automatic.  It isn’t though. It isn’t automatic, and it won’t be, as long as the a league is headed by a man who is obsessed with cutthroat negotiation and what he sees as favorable deals, but can’t be bothered to give a damn about the greatest game in the world, which he has appallingly been placed in charge of. As long as Gary Bettman is in charge of the league, every time…EVERY TIME the CBA is up for renewal, hockey fans can expect to lose the game, at least for a time, because the simple fact is that Gary Bettman doesn’t care.

My MS Paint Skills are unreal

Bettman, who comes from a hockey background of not having any hockey background whatsoever prior to being named commissioner, has no reason to care about hockey. I have no idea whether or not he likes hockey, but the facts are that he had never worked in the game before, having worked for the NBA for most of his career, and that since he was named commissioner, he has a record that demonstrates an utter neglect for the game of hockey and its fans.

The basic fact of these negotiations is that the players want to get back on the ice. They want a deal that looks a lot like the current one. The Owners, led by Bettman, aren’t willing to go along with that. This is ridiculous when you consider how the current situation came about. The players union was responsible for a base that wanted badly to get back on the ice, because it represented a base that cares about the game (I hesitate to say that the union itself ‘cares’ about the game, as it is a business entity, but individually, every hockey player cares deeply about the game), but also because after a year of not working, players needed once again to have employment.

The owners, on the other hand, weren’t going to feel the heat from the lockout.  There is no such thing as an NHL owner that relies on hockey income to feed his family. These teams are the toys of extraordinarily rich individuals.  Some of them, individually, may care about the wellbeing of hockey, maybe even the majority, but their voice comes in the form of the commissioner who, alas, does not. The result of that situation was that the owners negotiated from a position of decided power, and they came away with most of the things that they had wanted all along.

They got a hard salary cap, to limit what they could give to players. They got a TWENTY FREAKING FOUR PERCENT rollback on existing salaries, knocking 1/4^th off of the contracts that THEY HAD AGREED TO. They got the deal that they wanted all along, and it was a good one.

This time around, that fleecing isn’t good enough. They want a lower cap. They want a lower cap. And most laughably, they want a guarantee that they will get more of the revenue than the players who are, you know, doing all the work to make sure that there is a National Hockey League. Think about that. 30 people who are already much wealthier than any player, none of whom actually contribute anything to the product that fans pay to see, most of whom will see HUGE capital gains if they sell their team, want to make sure that they get MORE of the revenue created by the game than the 600+ players that create approximately 100% of what people actually like about the NHL.

This would kind of be a justifyable situation if it were necessary, but it isn’t.  Revenues are  up by about a billion dollars since the last lockout, and that is through a crippling recession, higher unemployment and questionable economic footing in many of the NHL’s markets. Revenues are way up, and they got pretty much everything that they asked for.  Now they want more.  Why?

The reason is simple.  Gary Bettman simply cannot be in a position of power without squeezing Every. Last. Penny. out of the situation.  Read this- http://deadspin.com/5899459/stay-sober-around-gary-bettman?tag=gary-bettman if you don’t believe me. That’s it. Greed in its purest form. I can, so I will.

You could make a case that Bettman is just doing his job, trying to maximize the margins for the owners that employ him, but that isn’t a fair characterization. The NHL isn’t simply a business.  It is an organization that has a moral obligation to the resot of the hockey world. It should be, anyways.  It is the keeper of Hockey with a capital H. It gives out the Stanley Cup, and has a responsibility to look out for a game that millions care deeply about. Right now, though, it has a leader that doesn’t understand that. Gary Bettman sees the players as a commodity that he wants to buy, but only at the right price.

He sees the fans as no object at all.

I don’t know if fans complaining, spreading emotional videos like the one at the top of this column or ‘uniting’ can do anything to protect this. Social media has certainly allowed the players to win the battle for hearts and minds, and to let the world know how one sided the ‘negotiations’ are, but at the end of the day, no one with the ability to do anything seems to care about the hearts and minds, or anything other than the wallets of the fans. I hope I’m wrong. I hope that PR and public pressure can stop the lockout.

Really, though I have given up on the beginning of the 2012-2013 season. I just hope that after we lose the sport we love for a while we can send that scumbag back to the NBA where he belongs.

WINNERS

Minnesota Wild

The team from the State of Hockey is the obvious one here, having scored a package deal of one of the best American players at both forward and defenseman.  Zach Parise and Ryan Suter were almost without question the two  prizes of the 2012 free agent crop, and with Minnesota having landed both of them, it goes nearly without saying that the Wild will have improved as a hockey team. Suter is an elite defenseman, Parise is an elite winger.  Yeah, they are going to make the Wild better.

Really, though, the Wild improvement goes beyond that. Even before the two signings, the Wild had the potential to be a vastly different and potentially better hockey team at the start of the 2012-2013 season because of the coming of age of a number of blue chip prospects in the system.

The Wild lost Guilleme Latandresse, Erik Christensen, and Mike Lundin from their 2011-2012 roster. Latendresse is a good player who has a chance to contribute in Ottawa (and I wouldn’t have minded seeing in San Jose), but really, they didn’t lose much of anything.

On the other hand, the Wild could add top prospects Jason Zucker (F), Mikael Granlund (F), Charlie Coyle (C), Jonas Brodin (D), Matthew Dumba (D) and Zach Phillips (F) from the prospects pool, along with Parise, Suter, Torrey Mitchell, and Zenon Konopka (fighter). That gives the Wild the option of adding as many as 3 talented defensemen and 6 talented forwards, that is half the roster, to a team that has the likes of Mikko Koivu, Matt Cullen, Dany Heatley, PM Bouchard, Devin Setoguchi and Tom Gilbert returning.

Looking at the two signings it is obvious that the Wild made themselves better, but if their young talent steps up, they could be a legitimate contender.

My money is on Nail to end up being the best of the Oilers' #1 overall picks.

Edmonton Oilers

Obviously, by drafting an NHL ready top-tier prospect (for at least the second time in three years- three for three if you don’t think RNH’s inability to stay healthy made him not ‘NHL ready’) in Nail Yakupov, the Oilers got stronger through pure luck.  Through another bit of luck, though, the Yakupov pick became even better, and made the Oilers huge winners this offseason.

When Justin Schultz ditched the Anaheim Ducks (Sharks homer note – hahahahhahahahahahahaha), and signed with the Oilers, Edmonton’s pick of Nail Yakupov went from ‘probably the right thing to do’ to an absolute home run. Recall that on draft day, the Oilers went with Yakupov, the best prospect, over Ryan Murray, who would have filled an organizational need at the defenseman position.  Edmonton had now drafter forwards with the last three top overall picks, and in the first round of the last six drafts (Yakupov, Hopkins, Hall, Paajarvi, Eberle and Gagner), and they didn’t have a first round pick in 2006. With the exception of Eberle, who has the appearance of an elite player himself, all of those were top 10 picks, which gives them a potentially terrifying top 6, but the back end has been somewhat neglected in this stockpiling of prospects (although they do have first round defenseman Colton Teubert who was acquired, somehow, for Dustin Penner).  By signing Schultz, though, the Oilers were able to take the best available player and fill the need for an elite defenseman prospect.

Vancouver Canucks

Placing the Canucks in the ‘winner’ pile is a bit preemptive, but I have every reason to believe that they have kept pace with the rest of their division in that they have improved as a hockey team.

Jason Garrison has a great shot from the point, and a great beard.

The first reason is obvious, the pickup of Jason Garrison.  The 29 year old defenseman has never been a model of consistency, but he is one of the most talented offensive defensemen in the NHL, having flown under the radar in Florida.  He is added to a solid core of defensemen and will be a huge asset for the Canucks powerplay.

The more pivotal move though, is the presumed dealing of Roberto Luongo.  Andover and Boston College product Corey Schneider has shown in his career thus far that he is a capable NHL goaltender.  He won’t be a large downgrade from Lou when he Strombone moves along (or if you ask a Canucks fan, will be a huge upgrade).  Presuming that Schneider is competent, the moving of Luongo will be huge for Vancouver, because even if his value has slipped the past couple of years, Luongo will demand some return. This will allow the Canucks to improve in other areas (even if it is just system depth via prospects or draft picks), without taking a hit at goaltender.  Getting rid of Luongo’s massive contract won’t hurt either.

LOSERS

Philadelphia Flyers

For the Flyers, it wasn’t so much a matter of what they did or what they lost, but what they failed to do that makes this a disappointing offseason for them.  Clearly they were interested in being buyers in this free agent market, as their name came up in the discussion of most free agents and their destination, but they failed to land anyone who will make a significant impact.

Then there was the James Van Riemsdyk trade.  I think that Luke Schenn is a good defenseman, but simply put, Van Riemsdyk is a better player, and the Leafs came out ahead here.

Matt Carle was the team’s biggest loss.  Carle wasn’t exactly a household name, but he was a very solid defenseman for the Flyers. He is talented, having won a Hobey Baker at the University of Denver, and should earn the significant pay day he got from Tampa, leaving a hole in Philly that hasn’t really been filled this offseason (Schenn is also a very talented defenseman, but he is more of a physical force, while Carle is more of a puck mover).

The Flyers also lost legend Jaromir Jagr, who made the Dallas Stars his fifth NHL team.  Jags may not be the dominant force that he once was, but 19 goals and 54 points is a lot of production to lose for a team that is also getting rid of James Van Reimsdyk (it is incredible to think that, at the age of 40, after three years away from the NHL, and despite missing 9 games, Jagr was in the top 80 in scoring).

Anaheim Ducks

The main loss for the Ducks at first glance was that of Jordan Schultz, but as much as it was a great coup for the Oilers, at the end of the day Schultz was a prospect that was unproven to say the least. While that has to do with the Ducks’ inclusion on the ‘loser’ list, it won’t really hurt their team from last year to this year.  What will hurt the Ducks, though, is the fact that they may have pushed a budding superstar out of town.

It is baffling that the Ducks may have pushed out Bobby Ryan

The biggest drawback for the Ducks from 2012, then, is that after months and months of trade speculation, Bobby Ryan has come right out and said that at this point he would like to be moved.  Now, as a Ducks hater, I would love to see him moved.  He may in fact stay in Orange County, but pushing him out like this can’t be considered a positive for a team that has to deal with the impending UFA status that Corey Parry and Ryan Getzlaf have next offseason.

New Jersey Devils

Ilya Kovalchuk waited over a decade for a chance to make a playoff run and show what he can do in the postseason.  Prior to getting injured, he had made the most of it. He remained frustrating at times, but was extremely productive, and was at one point a Conn Smyth favorite. It appears that, having fell a couple of games short of the cup, Kovalchuk might have to wait a while for another shot.

The Devils obvious loss was Parise, and that will leave a big hole in New Jersey, with the face of the franchise having left.  Just as it is hard to find a meaningful way to describe how adding Parise will help the Wild, the best thing to say in terms of how this affects the Devils is that it hurts, a lot, and leave it at that.

Furthermore, the Devils financial troubles seem to be almost as bad as those in the desert.  One would hope that a deep playoff run that sold expensive tickets would push the team back towards the black, but that does not appear to have been the case.  Rather, all of the reports coming from New Jersey are suggesting that the team is in dire financial trouble, perhaps as much as any team in the league.  That isn’t particularly shocking given the fact that they frequently play in front of half (or more) empty buildings, but it is disappointing for a franchise that has been among the best teams in the league on the ice for most of the past 20 years.

Nashville Predators

Obviously, the most glaring loss at this point is that of Ryan Suter, with one of the two elite defensemen having bolted Tennessee, but the Predators issues go deeper than that.  The situation with Shea Weber seems to be worsening as time goes by, and he seems to be disturbed by the franchises inability to sign Ryan Suter.  If the Predators lose Suter, and squander the opportunity to hold on to Shea Weber long term, as it appears they may have, even if he plays there next year this summer may well be Nashville’s undoing.  They also seem to have lost Alexander Radulov to the KHL for good, and while this isn’t much of a loss due to the fact that Radulov spent most of the last few seasons in Russia, it is disappointing for the Preds that they were unable to lure the talented player back to the NHL.

Apart from that, the Predators were able to lock up Paul Gaustad, a good signing, but lost Françis Bouillon, Anders Lindbeck, Jordin Tootoo and seem unlikely to return the yet unsigned Kostitsyn brothers.

Really, though, despite the losses of two good defensemen, a couple of forwards and a promising backup goaltender, this summer will come down to RFAs for the Preds.  They have a number of young, talented guys such as Colin Wilson and Jonathan Blum in need of contracts, and the big one, Shea Weber.  If they can’t take care of those, this will be a disastrous summer for the Predators.