Marc Savard of the Boston Bruins lay motionless on the ice. After a slap slot, Matt Cooke of the Pittsburgh Penguins elbowed him in the side of the head. Dangerous head hits seem commonplace lately. We remember Junior hockey player Patrice Cromier’s disgusting hit that made headlines earlier this season and Florida Panthers star David Booth having to be carted off the ice after a hit by Philadelphia Flyers. These horrific injuries have become a major topic at the NHL GM meetings in Boca Raton, Florida.
The Associated Press reported via Yahoo! Sports that GMs are trying to find a way to deal with these types of hits. “I think we all care about the safety of our players, first and foremost,” Philadelphia Flyers GM Paul Holmgren said.
Some have been discussing tougher penalties for those who repeatedly commit dangerous acts on the ice. Former player and current Dallas Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk said, “Clearly, the blindside and the unsuspecting player is what we’re targeting.”
Nieuwendyk also said that GMs don’t want to take hitting out of the game. “It’s a rough sport, but we’re just trying to take the necessary steps to protect our players.”
San Jose Sharks GM Doug Wilson said the GMs would like to have something in place as early as this week.
Other issues being discussed at the meetings are potential play-in games, different point formats and the all-star game selection process.
On Friday, Maury Brown, the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, was on SportsRadio 950 ESPN in Rochester this past Saturdaytalking to our very own Matthew Coller and Seth Pohorence about several issues in the NHL including the sale of the Lightening, the NHL suing former Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes, how the Olympics might influence the NHL
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TampaBay.com and NHL.com are reporting that the sale of the Tampa Bay Lightning to Boston hedge fund manager Jeff Vinik is complete. Vinik, who also controls the company Tampa Bay Sports and Entertainment LLC, had his purchase unanimously by the NHL Board of Governors. Terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed, but the transaction is believed Vinik paid $110 million cash to become the team’s owner.
"The Lightning is a great franchise in a terrific community," Vinik said in a statement. "We thank Oren Koules and his partners for beginning the turnaround of the Lightning hockey club. Our goal now is to build a world-class organization on and off the ice."
Vinik is the chairman of the Lightning and the club’s Governor on the National Hockey League’s Board of Governors. Another one of Vinik’s many roles is being a minority owner of the Boston Red Sox.
The Lightning was originally founded in 1990 by Hall of Famer Phil Esposito and began play in 1992. The team won the 2004 Stanley cup. Its previous owners include Kokusai Green Ltd from 1992-’98, Art Williams from ’98-’99 and Palace Sports & Entertainment from 1999 through 2008. Oren Koules and Len Barrie bought the team in ’08 for $204 million.
In the standings, the Lightning are two points out of a playoff spot. The team currently ranks 22nd in attendance, averaging 15,087 per night, filling 76.4 percent of their arena St. Pete Times Forum.
From 2006 to 2009, the team dropped from 11th to 18th in the Forbes.com valuations of all NHL teams. The Lightning team value (based on current area deal with out deduction for debt) was $191 million. Revenue is listed by Forbes at $80 million and the team’s value decreased four percent from 2008-’09. When the team won the Stanley Cup, revenue peaked at $88 million.
Donald Fehr, the former executive director of the Major League Baseball Players’ Association has been asked to run the union for the NHL’s players, according to a report in this week’s SportsBusiness Journal by Liz Mullen.
According to the report, “Fehr, who has helped bring stability to the NHLPA as an unpaid adviser, has not rejected the idea, but he has also not said he would take the job, sources said.”
Fehr was brought on-board in November to help the NHLPA in their search for a replacement at the Exec. Dir. Position after the players fired Paul Kelly, and interim Executive Director Ian Penny stepped down citing poor working conditions with the players. The union has been in a constant state of flux, in many senses since Bob Goodenow was fired in 2005 (for more see The NHLPA Is Sports’ Dysfunctional Stepchild on Sports Bash).
As Mullen adds, Fehr could be the ticket for the NHL players.
Since Fehr stepped in, the chaos at the union has been quelled and little has leaked out of its Toronto offices. Sources said Fehr initially turned down requests by NHL players to take the executive director position, but in recent weeks has been considering it.
The National Hockey League Players Association and its former executive director, Paul Kelly, have resolved the issues surrounding his dismissal. Kelly was fired at the end of August last year.
The statement by the NHLPA was short on specifics.
"The parties have resolved all matters regarding Paul Kelly's employment with the National Hockey League Players' Association," the statement read. "The Association and its members appreciate the service and contributions of Mr. Kelly, as well as his commitment to the National Hockey League Players' Association and its members."
The sides have said that there would be no further comment on the matter. According to Larry Brooks of the NY Post, Kelly will see $1.5 million plus $200,000 in attorneys’ fees as compensation for the firing.
The NHLPA has been in a constant state of turmoil since Kelly's ouster. Ian Penny, the former general counsel for the NHLPA, took over as interim executive director, but resigned at the end of October saying he could "no longer work under the present circumstances."
Same place, new name. According to WKRN in Nashville, The Nashville Predators, who currently stand in seventh place in the Western Conference, have reached an agreement with Bridgestone Americas, Inc. for naming rights to the Predators’ current home.
The arena originally opened in 1996 under the name “Nashville Arena,” naming rights were sold to Gaylord Entertainment in 1999. The arena remained under the name “Gaylord Entertainment Center” until 2007, when it became the Sommet Center.
Last fall, the Predators sued the Sommet Group, claiming it wasn’t making its payments. The Group argued the franchise was not fulfilling its part of the agreement by purchasing products and services from competitors. Since the dispute could not be worked out, the rights were sold to Bridgestone.
In Nov. 2009, as the announcement of the lawsuit came down, bizjournals.com reported that president of business operations said, “For months, Sommet Group has not met its payment obligations under our naming rights agreement. We repeatedly reached out to Sommet Group and sought its compliance with these obligations. Unfortunately, Sommet Group did not do so, or give us any indication that it would. We regret that Sommet Group left us no alternative but to terminate the agreement and seek legal redress.”
Predators’ management said they had no idea why Sommet Group stopped paying. T-shirts. They probably wouldn’t have guessed T-shirts. But, as managing partner Brian Whitfield said, the T-shirts were the straw (or cotton?) that broke the camel’s back. Whitfield said, “The reason we have withheld payments is because our supposed partner in naming rights is not acting like one,"Whitfield said. "We entered into the agreement with the understanding that in partial exchange for our payments, our business units would be the preferred provider of certain products and services.
"The most recent straw that broke the camel’s back was their order of thousands of T-shirts from out of state instead of from Sommet’s BrandCentrik business unit. That in our view is not being a good partner as was promised.”
The Bridgestone Arena will be officially announced as the new arena name on Tuesday.
In other Predator news, the team has extended its affiliation with the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League through the 2011-’12 season. The teams have a mutual option for the 2012-’13 season.
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On Friday, Maury Brown, the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, was on SportsRadio 950 ESPN in Rochester this past Saturday talking to our very own Matthew Coller and Seth Pohorence about several issues in the NHL including the sale of the Lightening, the NHL suing former Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes, how the Olympics might influence the NHL
The National Hockey League Players Association and its former executive director, Paul Kelly, have resolved the issues surrounding his dismissal. Kelly was 
Same place, new name. According to 
