It was 20 years ago we first proposed the creation of an NHL commissioner. But not like this. Exactly not like this.
The, ahem, brainstorm came in the wake of the 11-day April 1992 players’ strike. That was the one that the late, great Roger Neilson was blamed (along with Mark Messier’s costly shorthanded foray, pilfered and converted for a vital Penguins’ power play goal — not to forget Ron Francis from 80-feet) for keeping those Presidents’ Trophy Rangers from ending The Drought at 52 years.
That suggestion came when John Ziegler was NHL president, about to be deposed for being caught by surprise by that short strike. Ziegler was succeeded by Gil Stein, whose good intentions immediately were negated and deposed by Hall of Fame overambition, while the NBA’s Gary Bettman was virtually unknown in hockey circles.
The idea proposed here was that an NHL commissioner should be “The Decider”, the tie-breaking third vote in a triumvirate with a president of the franchises and a union leader of the skating workers.
That Commissioner’s sole duty, his mandate, would be to further the best interest of hockey — not just the interests of the franchisees, nor just those of the laborers. He would be “The Protector of The Puck”. It would require the franchisees and the players to agree to submit to someone with irreproachable motives and judgement.
Well-aware then that the simple scheme was naive, idealistic and childish, it now looks even better, so right in hindsight — the NHL now into a third lockout, orchestrated by the man who curiously, immediately, accepted the new title of commissioner. But Bettman’s mandate is from the franchisees — to whom he answers — to maximize profits and control costs, such as labor.
With current negotiations broken down without a restart date, that 20-year-old unimplemented blueprint is so obviously golden in hindsight that it ought to be the model for the future for this game, to prevent Hockey from remaining forever doomed to this vicious cycle of lockout, fan loss, lengthy recovery, followed by another lockout, alienating its fans on a too-regular basis.
In 1992, one candidate for our idea of a commissioner would have been the late, great ref,eree John McCauley, who was climbing in the league’s hierarchy until his untimely passing, years after the hateful loss of his eye to an angry fist outside MSG following the NHL’s 1979 Challenge Cup defeat by the Soviets.
Today, there is no shortage of men who would be excellent candidates with John Davidson, player, broadcaster, management. Seen it all. Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Ken Dryden, all of whom know both sides of the NHL.
There are plenty of others who would be worthy, and most of all, trustworthy. The issue isn’t finding a True Blue Protector of the Puck. The issue is ending this system of regular, cyclical suicide.
But no, why would the franchisees cede power to someone who wouldn’t be beholden to them? Why? The third lockout — the third owners’ Lockout, remember — of this stupid, destructive, combative non-system should be reason enough to reasonable men.