Statistical Anomaly – Detroit Red Wings PK

It probably comes as no surprise that the Detroit Red Wings lead the league in numerous statistical categories including goals (156), assists (277), shots on goal (1582), road power play percentage (33%), and home penalty kill percentage (88.5%).

What's unusual about the Wings is they own the NHL’s worst penalty kill percentage on the road (74.3%). Thus, your best chance of scoring on Detroit is when they're shorthanded on the road. The problem is, as the second least penalized team in the league (445 minutes), teams rarely find themselves in that position. And so the big red machine rolls on.

An Instant Classic In the Second City

Last week the NHL staged it’s second Winter Classic in as many years showcasing Original Six siblings and Central Division rivals Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings - the league's youngest team and owner of the highest home attendance this season facing off against the defending Stanley Cup Champs laying claim to the eldest roster and highest road attendance figures. A safe ratings play to be sure.


Shifting the location to Wrigley Field offered an intimate and historically rich alternative to Buffalo’s Ralph Wilson Stadium.

But beyond the awesome setting, several small touches distinguished the event: scheduling the game on the back-end of a home-and-home series ensured a playoff intensity rather than that of an exhibition affair, singing both anthems despite the absence of a Canadian team (though two-thirds of Chicago’s lineup were born north of the border), the exposed brick facade on the outside of the boards, the coaches old-time cowboy hats, the pair of fighter jets that buzzed the ballpark, transitioning the title sponsor from Super Dew to Bridgestone, the Costas factor, and the handshakes at the end of the game all classed-up the cause.

A 2.9 television rating in the United States for this year’s game has all but cemented the Winter Classic as an annual affair. With fans flocking to the event, owners are lining up to get a piece of the action. Suitors include the Flyers (Beaver Stadium), Rangers (Yankee Stadium), Bruins (Fenway), Wild (TCF Bank Stadium), and Avalanche (Investco Field)

While gate receipts are a nice boost to annual revenues, the NHL should select its next location with an eye towards developing a U.S. television audience and leveraging a lucrative and comprehensive television contract with a broadcast network.

The goal should be to secure a unique space where no professional sports team has played, a venue of first impression. Can you imagine watching the Rangers and Islanders playing on Central Park's Great Lawn or the Capitals and Penguins skating on the National Mall?








At the very least, let's hope these iconic options are explored before the league stages a Battle of Florida at Disney World.

A Wild Tale of Rotating Captains

Rule 6 of the NHL Official Rules provides that each team must appoint a captain. His official role is to discuss, not complain about, issues "relating to the interpretation of rules." Up to two alternate captains may administer this task when the captain is off the ice, three when the captain is not in uniform. Gretzky, Yzerman, and Sakic are names that come to mind when you think of modern day NHL captains. Tenured players with cup-worthy on-ice talents and leadership skills. In today's NHL, fewer teams are finding such talent in their ranks and appointment practices have varied accordingly.

Joining an already bloated league with increased player mobility through relaxed free agency rules, in 2000 the Minnesota Wild adopted a unique approach to captaincy. Each month the honor is up for grabs. While rotating the role may devalue the honor and alienate fans, it's hard to argue with the pedigree of the architects and the subsequent results.

With 16 Stanley Cup wins between them, including four together as teammates on the Montreal Canadiens, GM Doug Risebrough and Coach Jacques Lemaire have known success everywhere they've been. In their seven completed seasons running the Wild since inception, they've made three post-season appearances, including a trip to the Western Conference Final in 2003. Not bad for an expansion team in the highly competitive North West division. Meanwhile, their expansion siblings the Columbus Blue Jackets have yet to participate in the playoffs.

Coming off a miserable 4-9-1 December, last month's captain Kim Johnsson will relinquish the 'C' to Mikko Koivu for the month of January. Mikko is the 22nd different player to captain the team, previously serving as captain in October and November of 2008. His duties resume this Saturday against the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Detroit Red Wings, who have had two captains over the past 22 years, Steve Yzerman and Nicklas Lidstrom. O captain, my captain.

Online Piracy Goes Live

Once a distribution issue reserved to reek havoc on the revenues of the music and film industries, the New York Times reveals that piracy has migrated to the playing field of the four major North American sports leagues targeting their live product.

With laughable cable options and overpriced almost-all-inclusive television packages, the NHL has taken matters into their own hands and plagiarized their way into the 21st century. For years, Commissioner Gary Bettman has matched his protégé David Stern's management strategies stride for stride, alienating diehard fans and burying much of its tradition in the process. Last year the NHL turned its attention to MLB and learned their website revealed a mighty live game transmission technology.

Realizing ESPN was likely never again going to air NHL hockey and unsatisfied with the reach of their sole content provider, an obscure bull riding cable channel inspired by Outdoor Life magazine, the league launched NHL GameCenter in April 2007. No longer would they have to worry about satellite and cable providers refusing to carry their channel. No longer would they fall victim to embarrassing Heidi Game moments, for example when NBC left the overtime period of the 2007 Eastern Conference Final in favor of hours of pre-race Preakness Stakes coverage. And no longer would Bettman have to utter make nonsensical statements about their weak ratings such as "we don't have to apologize to anybody for what we are."

You’re right Mr. Bettman, you don’t have to apologize. And neither does the comedy king of West Virginia for dishing out a Barney Fife beating on the 2007 NHL All Star game. Eighty-five percent more viewers watching a TV Land rerun of The Andy Griffiths Show than the NHL’s finest performing in an All Star Game on NBC? Ouch.

But that was the past. GameCenter is live and the future is bright. For the NHL, delivering action online promises a reliable and readily available source for fans to access games. And perhaps one day, a much needed revenue stream to supplement gate receipts.

It should be noted that differences exist between the business models of baseball and hockey, and these subtleties ought to be considered in the NHL's online offering. Most notably, the former has fans and lucrative television contracts. At $21 per month GameCenter may seem like a pretty good deal. Pretty good that is, if you didn't know that MLB offers twice the games for half the price and rolled out their first online season gratis. Under the circumstances, perhaps the appropriate price point for NHL GameCenter is free. The online feed should complement a fan's viewing options, not hold them hostage and gouge them for failing to offer viable alternatives. If free doesn't fit the bill, then why not borrow from another company that's had some experience selling online content, Apple. 99 cents a game.

If there's a lesson to be learned from the wreckage of the once lucrative recorded music industry, it's that consumers will follow the path of least resistance to fulfill their wants and needs. With websites offering pirated versions of live NHL games for free, a bite-sized price point is needed to socialize existing fans and welcome new ones to the NHL's GameCenter space. Just because you built it, doesn't mean they will come. Savvy?