Reflections On The NHL Trade Deadline

More than a week has now passed since the NHL Trade Deadline.  Some players, such as Olli Jokinen in Calgary, have made a great impact already with their new team.  However, the actual trade deadline day was uneventful at best.

Kyle Roussel (www.twitter.com/kyleroussel) has authored the following comments on the media hype surrounding the NHL Trade Deadline:

If you’re anything like me, the days leading up to the trading deadline are full of excitement and hype. Lots of hype. Whether your team is ramping up for a run at the cup, grasping to get in the playoffs, or loading up for the future, you’re especially excited for this day. In fact, it’s almost considered a holiday among hockey fans…ok, not really, but apparently a lot of people pay attention, even if it’s on a Wednesday. 182,000 people was the average number of people tuning in to TSN throughout the day on March 4th, 2009. That’s not including the number of people who opt for Sportsnet, those in Quebec that watch French coverage on RDS, or simply those working and streaming TSN.ca’s live feed.

But after all was said and done at 3 p.m….didn’t you feel the least bit ripped off? We were force fed for weeks all kinds of hype from TSN, Sportsnet and RDS. Of course, they’re trying to drive revenue and interest in their network, but seriously, come on! I’m sorry, but from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. is a little much.

The Deadline Deals

The guys on TSN spent nearly 2 hours making small talk and repeating themselves until the first trade came over the wire. Pascal Leclaire for Antoine Vermette. Wow. Other Earth-moving trades to come shortly thereafter:

Jordan Leopold for Lawrence Nicholat, Ryan Wilson and a 2nd rounder (11:39, over an hour and half after Leclaire for Vermette)

Andy Wozniewski for Danny Richmond (11:49 – hey! they cut short the Leopold highlight reel!)

Mikael Tellqvist for a 4th round pick in 2010 (12:04)

Martin Gerber claimed off waivers by Toronto (12:15)

Brendan Morrison claimed off waivers by Dallas (12:15)

Steve Montador for Petteri Nokelainen (12:37)

It wasn’t until 12:40 that Calgary made arguably the day’s biggest move by picking up Olli Jokinen. Other “names” changing addresses were Recchi, Guerin, Antropov, Morris…but hardly any big name superstars. You can see the entire list for yourself here.

By day’s end, there were 22 moves involving 45 players and 21 draft picks. None of the moves outside of Jokinen were of the variety I think people were playing hookey for. This is what was delivered to you for your day of calling in sick. You had the privelege of watching James Duthie and his “panel of experts” gab for hour after hour, fondling their blackberrys waiting for something important to happen. I mean, how long can they talk about Erik Christensen swapped for Eric O’Dell with a straight face? It was painful to watch these guys (and at the same time impressive) get so much mileage out of such little, irrelevant content.

Why The Media Hype When They Don’t Control The Delivery?

I’ll say this: it’s not TSN or any other network’s fault that the deadline is a dud. These guys aren’t making the transactions, they simply report them. But wouldn’t it be cool if they found newer more interesting ways to disseminate the deals? What if breaking trades were first delivered on Twitter? For many of us, that would be a godsend! I’ll give them this one for free!

But for next year, and every year going forward, they need to temper their promotion of this event. It’s clear that with the CBA‘s restrictions and the economy’s woes that impactful “hockey trades” are no longer possible. It would serve our sports networks well to not insult our intelligence and pretend that this date every year is one to watch closely.

It’s not. Not anymore, if it ever was! All that being said, will our networks do that? Or will they look to build on their 182,000 person average and turn up the hype for next year’s deadline? One thing is for certain – we will probably get bombarded with entry draft and July 1st (start of free agency) hype starting in early June, and especially as the cup finals draw to a close.

Those events are virtually guaranteed to cause some fireworks, so some hype is expected, deserved and warranted. But until the trade deadline starts to bring some real drama to the table, like the Sidney Crosby lottery did, it’s my belief that they need to ratchet back a little.

Is it too much? Not enough? What were your impressions of this year’s trading deadline and the hype associated with it?

Laraque’s Blog Gets Knocked Out By Canadiens Brass

The following is the first article submitted to NHL Digest by columnist Kyle Roussel.  You are encouraged to catch up with Kyle at www.twitter.com/kyleroussel. Enjoy!

Wow. Words cannot express how disappointed I am in the Montreal Canadiens. First, I should mention that I am a die hard fan of the team. They’re an inseparable part of my life. That said, they’ve clearly screwed up this time.

Generally speaking, there is no team in pro sports that carries itself with more class and dignity than the Habs. Just look at any retirement ceremony, or any event where they honor players from the past. It’s pure class. Other teams probably take notes on how to properly commemorate an occasion. Of course, nobody’s perfect. The Habs waited too long to retire Hall of Famer Boom-Boom Geoffrion’s jersey. He passed away the day of the ceremony. Poor Larry Robinson’s parents both passed on before they got to see what they should have seen 15 years ago. Those are 2 black marks on what is otherwise a virtually spotless record.

But this past Tuesday, I think they’ve really blown it, and it was SO simple to avoid. All they had to do was let things be.

Habs enforcer Georges Laracque has been blogging with Sportsnet.ca since December ’08. Well, make that HAD been blogging. After only 2 entries, someone in the Canadiens hierarchy told him to end his apparent rogue activity.

Check out Georges’ opening statement in his last blog:

“Before starting this blog, I just want to let everyone know that this will be my last one. It’s unfortunate but it is a team rule that Canadiens players are not allowed to do blogs simply because of the many requests our team gets and it would be unfair to all the other people asking us for similar projects. As you can imagine, when you’re a French-Canadian playing in Montréal you get a lot of requests so I agree with the team’s decision because this makes it fair for everyone.”

Did they command you to say that Georges? C’mon, you can admit it. Get on Twitter and let us know the real deal! Or are you not allowed to do that either? If Shaq can do it, why shouldn’t you be allowed? Oh that’s right. Because the Canadiens don’t get it. At least not when it comes to the new world of marketing and PR. Which is crazy, because there are some great social media marketers in Montreal that can probably help them out.

It’s no secret: blogging, and other forms of social media bring organizations and fans/customers closer together. Georges, as brief as it was, had a thoughtful blog on the go. He was earning respect with his mind and words instead of his fists. Hell, he’s an enforcer blogging about the validity about fighting in hockey. How transparent is that?

So what exactly are the Canadiens afraid of? Can it be something so infantile and childish and corporate as they’re worried that he will say something “unauthorized”? Like a rogue customer support agent letting slip on his own blog that his company’s software doesn’t quite do all the things it says it does? Are they afraid that since it’s not hosted on their website, they can’t control the message, so they just simply deny permission? Sounds rather anti-cluetrain, doesn’t it? Does their fear creep closer to ice level? Are they afraid he would give opponents bulletin-board material? The Canadiens reasoning is among the lamest and most pitiful excuses I’ve ever heard. It’s the parent telling the child to stop what they’re doing simply because they can.

How on earth, in this day and age, can a reputable organization like the Canadiens be so blind? Or so stupid?

Let’s go back to Georges’ opening statement:

“it’s unfortunate but it is a team rule that Canadiens players are not allowed to do blogs simply because of the many requests our team gets and it would be unfair to all the other people asking us for similar projects.”

That’s sort of like saying that since you can’t please everyone, don’t bother trying. Does that make any sense at all? Seriously, I’m asking the question. Does that make any sense? Putting it all together, you’ve got a player who is publishing thoughtful stuff, promoting discussion on the game of hockey and driving interest. “Sorry, please shut it down. You’re not allowed because then we have to say yes to everyone else’s request, for everyone else’s time no matter what they want your time for.” Huh? It’s a blog! Done on his own time! It contributes so much and costs so little.

There is an insatiable appetite for Habs hockey in Montreal. It cannot be quenched. Why put the lid on something that was providing value at no cost to the team? The Canadiens are missing a unique opportunity to further build their own brand and buzz by allowing one of their more intelligent and (surprisingly) well spoken “employees” to connect with fans. If they think they’re a bulletproof brand, they’re sadly mistaken. Habs management must have been shocked at the poor attendance when the Canadiens had terrible teams through the late 90′s and early 2000′s, considering every home game prior to that was a sellout.

What kind of damage are the Canadiens doing to themselves? Well, for starters, they’re putting a sour taste in an opinionated player’s mouth. Will he have nice things to say about the Canadiens to his free agent friends? Maybe, maybe not. They’re making fools of themselves in public by showing how woefully behind the times they are.

Can you think of other ways in which they’re hurting themselves by imposing this restriction on Laracque? In the end, 21,273 fans will still be at Canadiens home games, and a million other people will tune in on tv, radio and online, so what do I know?

I hope that enough sports and marketing people are as upset about this as I am and that enough criticism finds it’s way back to Donald Beauchamp’s inbox (he’s the Habs head of PR). I’m hoping that they reverse their decision, and instead of a lame compromise of starting a filtered blog on canadiens.com, they instead allow Laracque to resume his blogging on sportsnet.ca.

So….are you as ticked off as I am about this? Can you see a reasonable angle that prompts the Habs to do this? How can we as hockey fans and social media nuts change this?