I have recently contributed an article to HockeyBarn and for lack of anything new on the Ranger front, I thought I’d post it here for everyone’s reading enjoyment. They feature a Monday blogdown on a different topic every week. This week’s topic is Hockey ala Obama vs. Putin.
Y’all got anything better to do? I didn’t think so. Seriously, take a gander at HockeyBarn and see what the other swell writers over there had to say on the subject.
Putin vs. Obama: Rubles or Bucks
No league, either on the North American continent nor anywhere else, has yet been able to successfully hold its own against the NHL. The WHL tried and failed. It’s almost comical to think that Russia can get the existing teams in the Western Europe to join an Axis of Hockey, the Kontinental League. The countries in the European Union trust Russia as much as the ASPCA trusts Michael Vick.
Players like Jaromir Jagr might have been lured to play in Siberia for a gozillion rubles but how do we know if Jagr actually got all the money he signed on for? I doubt if they have the FDIC in the former CCCP. How do we know those checks didn’t bounce like unfrozen pucks?
If a player were going to sign on to play on an expansion team, why the hell would they want to play in Vladivostok? Do they appreciate hockey more in the Caucuses then they do in Winnipeg or Saskatoon? At least if you’re going to freeze your assets off, it should be in a city north of the 49th parallel. Hell, I’d take Phoenix or Sunrise over Stalingrad or Leningrad.
Then, there’s the question of health care. Barak wants every American to have access to baseline health care. Baseline health care in the USA would be Mayo Clinic quality compared to medical facilities in the former Soviet Union. I wonder if they still reuse hypodermic needles in Russian hospitals?
If it’s true that hockey players must defer to their wives as to where they play (I heard that Jeremy Roenick’s wife only approved of where he played if the area had a world class equestrian center), I doubt any western woman is going to want to play in some backwater hamlet in the Urals that is devoid of a Neiman Marcus or Louis Vuiton.
If one were to put Putin and Obama behind their respective leagues benches, Barak would run his team like Mike Babcock and Putin would be like Lou Lamarillo. Barak would command the respect of his players with a tough but fair system. Putin would dictate to everyone in the organization and rule with an iron fist. Democracy vs Totalitarianism.
Because he is a megalomaniac, Putin would not be smart enough to hire a Commisioner who would take the heat off of him and be universally despised by the fan base at the same time. In other words, short of exhuming Rasputin, Russia doesn’t have an answer to a Gary Bettman.
Russia has an unstable government, an insecure economy, bad health care, a terrible national airline and few western amenities. No amount of money could induce a North American hockey player or a European player in their right mind to choose Russia as their place of residence for a long term contract.
Lastly, only the National Hockey League has the most prized trophy in all sports, the Stanley Cup. What trophy would the KHL compete for? A Faberge Egg? A Golden Blini? A Silver Hammer and Sickle? I don’t think so.
Posted under New York Rangers
This post was written by m hurley on July 30, 2009
