Parity didn’t take down the Kings. Time finally caught up to them. The grind caught up to them.
Seriously, 64 playoff games over the last three years in which L.A. won the Cup twice and lost in the conference finals — their seasons ending on June 11, June 8 and June 13, respectively.
And though the league has done everything within its power to promote parity, the cap acting as the elemental mechanism, the calendar eventually plays its part. The 1980-83 Islanders hoisted their four straight Cups between May 16 and May 24. The 1976-79 Canadiens captured their four straight between May 14 and May 25. The 1956-60 Canadiens were done between April 10 and April 20 in winning their five straight.
So fatigue was certainly one of the issues the Kings could not overcome in becoming the first defending Cup champion to fail to qualify for the playoffs since the 2006-07 Hurricanes. But there was a fatigue of a different kind at work as well in L.A., for the fact is the players had become tired of Coach Daryl Sutter.
Slap Shots has been told by two sources that the Kings locked the door to their locker room following a defeat on the road within the last two weeks so that Sutter could not get in and deliver what the players apparently expected to be another in a series of lectures/tirades.
As the tale was told, after Sutter finally tracked down an arena operative to unlock the door, he was greeted by three heavy waste receptacles lined up as a barricade to what had become an empty room.
Thus, it would be no stretch to suggest tension between the team and the coach, who led the Kings to those two Cups, was a significant issue as L.A. went down the stretch before their elimination Thursday night in Calgary following a shocking defeat two nights earlier in Edmonton, of all places.
Imagine. Players, for once, engineering a lockout.
NHLPA executive director Don Fehr told agents in a series of meetings last week that next year’s cap would be approximately $68.2 million if the union does not trigger the 5 percent escalator, attendees report. That would represent a decrease from the current $69 million that would cripple successful big market teams.
It probably is no better than a 50/50 proposition at this point that the players will vote to approve the bump, and it may tilt the other way if playoff revenue takes a hit because of the inclusion of small-market, comparatively small-gate franchises like Winnipeg, Nashville, Calgary, the Islanders and perhaps Ottawa.
Remember, the lower the playoff revenue, the higher the escrow hit becomes for these athletes, who this season stand to lose up to 15 percent of the face value of their contracts.
The CBA is ambiguous on the escalator issue. It appears as if the NHL and NHLPA could agree on a smaller increase, but it is unclear whether the league unilaterally could trigger the 5 percent bump absent a negotiated agreement. There is the possibility the matter could go to arbitration.
Regardless, the currency issue, which simply was not addressed in any manner during any of the three owners’ lockouts, is going to have a major impact on a significant number of teams this summer and into next season.
Not that the Rangers are favorites to sign Boston University’s pending free agent goaltender Matt O’Connor, but the Blueshirts’ chances improved when the Terriers defeated North Dakota in Friday’s NCAA semifinal to advance to Saturday’s night’s Frozen Four final against Providence.
That’s because the victory eliminated the opportunity for teams to agree to burn the first year of what will be the 23-year-old netminder’s two-year entry-level contract by signing him and immediately putting him on the roster for Saturday’s final game of the NHL season.
The Rangers — who are interested and in whom O’Connor is believed to have a fair amount of interest, even though he presumably would come in as the backup to Henrik Lundqvist (following an anticipated trade of Cam Talbot) — were not in position to make that offer.
The NHL’s switch from the traditional Sunday final day to a Saturday conclusion of the season that was first adopted last year, means no free agent playing in the NCAA final can immediately burn the first year of an entry-level deal.
Yes, Carey Price for the Hart Trophy with Alex Ovechkin as runner-up. Mark John Tavares, Rick Nash and Ryan Getzlaf as three-four-five, with due consideration given to Devan Dubnyk.
I think I would go with Drew Doughty for the Norris, but don’t hold me to it, not until further review on Erik Karlsson.
The case can be made for four freshmen for Rookie of the Year, but I would lean toward Johnny Gaudreau for the Calder ahead of Aaron Ekblad, Mark Stone and Filip Forsberg. The Adams no doubt will be a split decision, but by a whisker, Bob Hartley over Paul Maurice.
Did you know — and can you believe — when the NHLPA voted on how to handle the lockout make-whole payments, the players actually elected to deny so much as a nickel to those teammates and union brothers who had been locked out on one-way contracts but then were sent to the AHL between the settlement of the work stoppage and the start of the 2012-13 season?
Neither did I until late last week, and no I cannot.
We’re told that the union may — and that’s may — be revisiting the issue after it was raised last week, but there is no doubt the original decision is simply outrageous.
Those guys who voted with the majority on this issue should be ashamed of themselves.
Pretty interesting that Boston general manager Peter Chiarelli delivered what amounted to a post-mortem on Friday while the B’s were still on a ventilator, but then again, as he may be a victim of the Jacobs ownership’s itchy trigger finger, he may have figured it would be his only chance.
Several precincts are reporting that Pittsburgh’s first-year coach Mike Johnston is at this point a long shot to get a second year behind the Penguins bench.
Ownership and upper management are trying to figure out how to blame Ray Shero.
Finally, so no grand ceremony to mark the final scheduled regular-season game at the Coliseum.
M-I-C-K-E-Y W-O-N-G.