I would argue that the reason Nick Lidstrom got injured is that after playing all season, he became fatigued, and ultimately made a mental mistake that left him vulnerable to a hit man.
Lidstrom should have sat out the regular season like Neidermayer & Selanne.
I think this business of elite players sitting out the regular season is ridiculous.  It reduces the NHL to an auction of players at the deadline followed by playoffs.
The regular season is irrelevant.

Posted by w2j2 on 02/25/08 at 11:09 AM ET

“I think this business of elite players sitting out the regular season is ridiculous.  It reduces the NHL to an auction of players at the deadline followed by playoffs.
The regular season is irrelevant.”

The CBA allows it and NHL ownership approved it.

Posted by Ted from Innisfil, Ontario on 02/25/08 at 11:16 AM ET

Bingo Ted!

Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 02/25/08 at 11:17 AM ET

It and the no-* clauses are some of the things owners gave up to end the lockout, and now those things just seem to be making everything worse for the game. Maybe it was just too high a price to pay. I expect a lot of effort and work by the owners when negotiating the next CBA.

As much as players want their money, and most sure do, they’ve still yet to understand how lowly a sport hockey is in the States, and how their non-efforts to bring in new fans (and scandals to turn others off) only makes this worse. It’s a bit sad that there are players out there giving it their all in the NHL, and they’re only making the same $500,000 that several AHL players now are, and if they’re not in the top tier of players, the best they can hope for is a couple million at best. They get sadly squeezed by our current system, and I feel worst for them. I hope that they might side with the owners for the next CBA, to work towards lowering that huge dropoff and disparity.

Posted by SENShobo from Waterloo, ON on 02/25/08 at 11:25 AM ET

I know a lot of people oppose what Selanne and Neidermayer did this season, but what if they weren’t playing at all?  We can be sure the NHL would be less interesting and dramatic since their absence effectively marginalized the Ducks.

Regarging Sundin, I gave my take on it in detail here.  Cliff Fletcher is very nervous right now.

Posted by Derek from Cloud9 Sports from Cloud9 on 02/25/08 at 11:27 AM ET

I think Sundin made it clear he will play for Toronto or will retire.  I am sure the Leafs will make a fair offer to him…

If he wasn’t willing to be traded now and help the team he says he loves to play for, then I seriously doubt he would walk away and sign a contract with another team in the off-season.  Not so say he won’t get offers…

Posted by WingMan from The Q C on 02/25/08 at 11:29 AM ET

Lidstrom should have sat out the regular season like Neidermayer & Selanne.

I think you might see this a bit more next season - especially if Anaheim wins back-to-back championships.

It’s a copycat league, and if the way to win appears to be through gaming the system, that is what will happen.

...how their non-efforts to bring in new fans (and scandals to turn others off) only makes this worse.

What scandals?

No public demands for a trade (Kobe Bryant), no whining steroid justifications (MLB), no strip club shootings, dog fighting rings, and other shootings (NFL).  A measly drunken driving charge here and there is stupid, but nothing out of the ordinary of the regular population - and hardly rises to the level of a “scandal.”

The owners got the CBA they claimed they needed to be succussful.  If they can’t make it work, it’s their own damn fault for being irresponsible and stupid.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 02/25/08 at 11:33 AM ET

More to the point, who cares?

Obviously Sundin’s either going to play for the Leafs or not at all, and the Leafs are nowhere near being a relevant NHL team.

So we can be pretty sure Sundin’s going to be playing out the string for a struggling, moribund franchise.  He’ll get his check, there’s no rational expectation of success to deal with… I don’t see any downsides for Sundin.

Other than, well, having to do this for a Toronto organization, media and fanbase which clearly doesn’t even remotely deserve to be associated with someone like Sundin.

Posted by HockeyinHD on 02/25/08 at 11:37 AM ET

I know a lot of people oppose what Selanne and Neidermayer did this season, but what if they weren’t playing at all?  We can be sure the NHL would be less interesting and dramatic since their absence effectively marginalized the Ducks.

Posted by Derek from Cloud9 Sports from Cloud9 on 02/25 at 11:27 AM

As Mr. Sundin said (albeit in a different context), “you have to have been part of the entire journey and that means October through June.” Either play the complete season with it’s incumbent risks, or don’t play at all. Hopefully, the league will move to close this loophole by establishing a November 1 reporting date for both players under contract and UFAs “considering retirement.” Exceptions could be granted for those with major injuries, with the proviso that said injury is documented and rehabilitation is monitored and reported on regularly.

RE: the issues of “what if they weren’t playing at all” and the Ducks being “marginalized”...who frigging cares? That’s part of sports. Players retire, get injured or traded..and the sport somehow manages to go on. If Scott and Teemu weren’t ready to go at the beginning of the season, they should have sat out the whole thing and come back next season if they so desired. The same goes for anyone on the Wings or any other team.

Posted by YzermanZetterberg on 02/25/08 at 11:58 AM ET

In reference to scandals, maybe that’s too strong a word for some? Things like the drunk driving, Belfour’s fun in Florida, the Staal’s party, the steroid suspension, the bar-snatching, Emery’s troubles in Ottawa, the list goes on. No, there’s no dog fighting ring, but we’re not the NFL. We don’t have the fanbase to deal well with these incidents. None of these things encourages anyone to watch hockey, and since the little coverage we do get in the States is for those ‘scandals’ and for hockey violence, it does anything but help attendance or revenue. We’re too small to be able to deal well with these issues, at least in the States. Emery’s Ottawa antics wouldn’t survive if they were happening in Nashville, trust me.

Posted by SENShobo from Waterloo, ON on 02/25/08 at 12:05 PM ET

There isn’t even that much coverage of stuff like that in the States, though.

Belfour is ancient history.

Emery is an agressive driver and a possible trouble-maker, so it’s the kind of thing that is laughed off as “colorful” if you are winning and “disruptive” if you are losing - although maybe with his driving habits he would fit in very well in Florida.  Those people are nuts in Miami.

Drunk driving charges are so common in all sports that unless someone is killed there isn’t even a raised eyebrow.

Bachelor party antics are dismissed as “boys will be boys” for the most part - again, unless someone is killed.

Charges were dismissed in the purse-snatching incident.

Steroids are, if you listen to the Congress (and I recommend against it unless you want to inflict pain on your eardrums), a problem of baseball and constitute a grave moral threat to the youth of the country and their future.  Barf.

I don’t think the off-ice profile of the players is bad as much as it is nonexistent in some communities - and some of the same behaviour that is considered bad is accepted and even celebrated in professional athletes.  Compared to the on-ice violence, if I didn’t read blogs and hockey websites I wouldn’t even know most of the things that you consider scandals.

Hockey is too far off the radar in most places for that even to matter.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 02/25/08 at 12:50 PM ET