Sadly, Gary Bettman is still commissioner, and hockey is still wounded. How can you tell a "non-hcokey" American is running the show? The season started on a Friday. Hockey is a Saturday sport, just like football is a Sunday sport. I can understand Edmonton and New York on the first day, but bump them to a Saturday night, when Gretzky was king. Dallas and Pittsburgh? Not exactly season starting material. Maybe Dallas and Buffalo. But Toronto and Montreal a second night match? Gary Bettman must think the NHL was founded in 1991.
How about you put the Sabres in Dallas? Just think, the Sabres start the season watching the Stanley Cup banner they just missed raised to the ceiling. Then you put the Leafs into Buffalo for their second game to watch the banner they just missed hanging raised. Course, the Leafs don't have a single conference or division banner hanging. They never win them? They were the Norris Division champions in 1992, but no banner was raised. Not enough room what with all the Stanley Cup banners hanging. Toronto shouldn't feel sorry about missing out on their banner getting raised. It wouldn't have unless they won the Cup.
For now, we can enjoy the spectacle that is Toronto and Montreal. Yes, live from the Molson Centre, and then coming from the Air Canada Centre after that. But the Forum is in ruins and the Gardens are in the red, so what can we do?
So much talk of the IHL coming to Toronto, but no one wants to put it in the Gardens. They want it in some arena that'll cost millions to renovate. So, they picked city funds over a historical monument. How does City Council feel? Will they go into city funds to renovate this old arena? With the Majors, the Rock (lacrosse, not wrestling) and now the IHL, every winter, MLG will have a full slate. If Toronto can get Arena football, they could put it there. The Raptors play the odd game in the Gardens even while they have a full slate.
There's another great source of revenue which I've never seen the Gardens do. Tours. Why can't fans tour the shrine of hockey? My Father had the opportunity once to see the behind the scenes area of the Gardens. There is so much mystique to it, and fans never get to see it. The room where Paul Morris announced the goals for over 40 years. The room where Conn Smythe would have a drink between periods. The room where George Armstrong rallied the troops to win Stanley Cups for their city. Skydome does it, and they have to stay away from the home team's dressing room. Here, the home team is gone and there's an historic room that people dream of seeing, but only see on TV, in pictures or on CD-ROM.
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