Good for Ted. I think his moving of Jagr was justified. He’s done all he can as an owner to make that team better in Washington.

Posted by Performance Parts on 03/09/09 at 08:10 AM ET

I write this as a long time fan of Don Cherry…..
Well played, Mr. Leonsis.

Posted by mc keeper from The Home Of Lord Stan on 03/09/09 at 08:21 AM ET

Why does Leonsis seem most patronizing when he attempts to tiptoe around the tulips, or, in this case, the boorish commentator?

My last name is Malik.  People mispronounce it all the time in all sorts of different ways, and I’d argue that it was pronounced, “MAL-ik” (with “mal” rhyming with “pal” and the “icky” “ik” sort of smooshed into the first syllable), but the more I learn about my heritage, the less certain I am of where it comes from, probably originating on the vast Asian steppes. 

Does that make me special?

Posted by George Malik from South Lyon, MI on 03/09/09 at 08:24 AM ET

Why does Leonsis seem most patronizing when he attempts to tiptoe around the tulips, or, in this case, the boorish commentator?

Agree. Leonsis has made a number of good points on his blog over the last year or so, but I feel that he is all too often patronizing to his readers. The posts that really bother me are those about the cap/CBA. Granted, he has a right, being an owner, to consider himself an authority on the subject. But before you pat us on the head and tell us that you’re right about the CBA Ted, why don’t you just look at the deal you and your fellow owners struck and tell us what’s so great about it?

Posted by Nathan from the scoresheet! on 03/09/09 at 08:27 AM ET

Ted Leonsis has brought great hockey to Washington and to the NHL. 
He has done this at great expense. 
He has also brought new ideas to the game, similar to what Bill Veeck did with the Chicago White Sox.

He should not take any guff from Don Cherry.
It is one thing to promote Canadian hockey.
It is classless to promote Canadians at the expense of Europeans.

Posted by w2j2 on 03/09/09 at 08:30 AM ET

Does that make me special?

Yes, George you are special.

Posted by w2j2 on 03/09/09 at 08:32 AM ET

I was flipping between some west coast games on Center Ice over the weekend, and some tool (his name was “Ric” and he had highlights in his hair) on the Stars studio show pronounced Spezza as “Spee-zuh” several times. I could only imagine what was going thru Craig Ludwig’s head sitting next to that idiot.

Posted by shep on 03/09/09 at 10:28 AM ET

Why does Leonsis seem most patronizing when he attempts to tiptoe around the tulips, or, in this case, the boorish commentator?

I think his “for those of you not familiar” comment was tongue-in-cheek.  Either way, the guy’s an owner in a 30-team league, so there are no excuses for Cherry mispronouncing it on purpose, as he should certainly be familiar with all the owners… and that was most certainly on purpose.  Besides, I have to stick up for my fellow Greeks… and Spartans… my last name gets butchered all the time (Zarafonetis), and it still can be frustrating, because people get lazy or intimidated looking at it and don’t even bother trying.

Leonsis is also an attention whore, so I suppose these two deserve each other.  Still, Cherry might think about his Irish ancestors whom he so loves to claim and how 150+ years ago they were not made to feel so welcome on these shores.

Posted by Incognetis from Delaware... Hi... I'm in... Delaware on 03/09/09 at 10:47 AM ET

Cherry mispronounces everyone’s names. In that same show, he called Iginla “Oh-ginla”.

You might make a claim that there are lots of players and it can be forgiven to mispronounce a couple, but Cherry loves Iginla.

Dude’s just terrible with names.

Posted by Shane from Saskatoon, SK on 03/09/09 at 11:21 AM ET

Dude’s just terrible with names.

I dislike Cherry, but that’s a fair point. Anyone ever heard Mike Babcock slaughter Filppula’s name? And that’s his own player.

Posted by shep on 03/09/09 at 12:25 PM ET