TORONTO – The next time the commissioner of the NHL boasts about the coverage the league receives from its national cable network, Versus, he needs to be directed to tonight’s viewing schedule, which will leave hockey fans across the United States in the dark even as Mark Messier, Scott Stevens, Ron Francis, Al MacInnis and Jim Gregory are inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Instead of televising the induction ceremony, Versus will be all over the critical and compelling match in Florida between the Hurricanes and the Panthers. Well, it’ll be there.
Instead of televising the ceremonies on a delayed basis following the Showdown in Sunrise, Versus will run something called, “WEC Wrekcage.”
Gary Bettman and the Board of Governors must be so proud.
It isn’t, however, only Versus that’s conspiring against both hockey and good sense here. By scheduling five games on a night that should remain dark, the NHL essentially guaranteed that the mundane playing of early-season matches would in large part overshadow a marquee event like the Hall of Fame inductions.
While Stevens, the granite face of the Devils franchise who sacrificed his well-being in order to win a third Stanley Cup in 2003 by playing through a concussion, is receiving his sport’s ultimate honor, his former team will be playing in Pittsburgh.
While Francis, captain of both the Hartford/Carolina clubs as well as Pittsburgh, is enshrined, the Hurricanes will be in Florida and the Penguins will play at home.
The Hall of Fame itself, as closed and secret a society as Yale’s Skull and Bones, hasn’t yet moved into the 21st Century, either. The ceremony will take place in an auditorium so small that the inductees are forced to limit the allotment of tickets for family and friends much like a bride and groom limiting invites to a wedding reception because of the size of the ballroom.
Beyond that, the inductees will be limited to speeches of four minutes apiece. On second thought, this might be a good thing for Messier, even though it is a bad thing for the Kleenex industry the Captain has kept in the black throughout his hockey life.
“I’ll get up and cry for four minutes and hopefully find a few seconds to get out a thank- you,” said Messier, who is pictured wearing an Edmonton uniform in all the Hall- of- Fame related material that has been available here throughout the weekend.
Instead of holding the induction ceremony in the Hall of Fame’s small theatre, it should be open to the public and conducted at the Air Canada Center.
Instead of inviting a small number of Hall of Famers to attend the Hall of Fame Game, as a dozen were invited to participate in a pre-game ceremony here before Saturday’s Rangers-Leafs match, all living Hall of Famers should be invited to the induction ceremony at the arena.
Instead of limiting the speaking time for each inductee, all should be invited to speak from the heart for as long as their hearts desire.
Instead of being like hockey, in fact, the Hall of Fame induction cer emonies should be like baseball. But then, why would hockey want to be like baseball?
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Messier, Stevens, Francis and MacInnis all played in a Leg ends Game here yes terday afternoon. . . . Brian Leetch is expected to attend tonight’s ceremony. . . . NHLPA executive director Paul Kelly met in New York with Bettman last week, but both men agreed to keep the content of their conversation confidential, we’re told. Kelly has been invited to address the Board of Governors at their meeting at the end of the month.