It was a busy weekend in NHL team officials making silly comments in public.
We’ll get to the Edmonton Oilers after the jump, but let’s start with Detroit Red Wings senior vice president Jim Devellano, who went off the reservations with some very candid comments about the lockout and how organizations (in his opinion, obviously), view their players. In a very candid interview with Island Sports News, Devellano expounded in many things, not the least of which was how fans should view the relationships between owners and players.
“It’s very complicated and way too much for the average Joe to understand, but having said that, I will tell you this: The owners can basically be viewed as the Ranch, and the players, and me included, are the cattle. The owners own the Ranch and allow the players to eat there. That’s the way its always been and that’s the way it will be forever. And the owners simply aren’t going to let a union push them around. It’s not going to happen.”
And here he is implying collusion with regards to offer sheets among NHL owners.
Having said that, I will tell you there is an unwritten rule that you don’t do that, but they did, and just like everything else in life, some people are great to deal with, some aren’t. If you are asking me if it’s right, I would say there is, again, an unwritten rule…we all know it in the NHL, but not everyone follows it.”
As you can imagine, the NHL was not pleased at all by this development. The Red Wings were fined $250,000 for Devellano’s comments.
After the jump, the Edmonton Oilers rile up their fanbase with an ill-advised Tweet, what the business side of the Stars office is up to during the lockout and perhaps the best hockey present ever.
- As promised, here’s the Edmonton Oilers and their display of how not to use Twitter to interact with a fanbase. Oilers owner Daryl Katz is locked in a standoff with the Edmonton city council about some of the finances of a new arena, with the city saying they have committed enough money and Katz wanting more. The official team Twitter account retweeted an Edmonton Journal article advocating accepting Katz’s terms while saying not doing so could mean the relocation of the team. This has not gone over well with Oilers fans, as our friends at The Copper & Blue detail. [The Copper & Blue]
- The Dallas Stars, as has been mentioned before, do not plan to lay off any employees at this point in the lockout. Jim Lites chatted with Mike Heika about what the business side of the organization is trying to get done when the product they sell is locked out. [DallasNews.com]
- Radek Faksa’s junior team gets a nice mention in this look at OHL teams to watch. [MetroNews.ca]
- Faksa was also ranked highly on the annual McKeen’s Hockey top prospects list, though he wasn’t the highest-ranked Stars prospect on there. The official site breaks it all down for you. [DallasStars.com]
- While only one Stars player has made a permanent home in Europe, at least to this point, the fact that so many-high rent players have headed overseas already is definitely noteworthy. Donald Fehr tries to explain why. [Puck Daddy]
- Sports Illustrated has a remarkable archive dating back nearly 60 years, and their official Twitter account often posts wonderful flashbacks to yesteryear as part of their SI Vault feature. Last week, hockey had its own day, and the results were fantastic. [Backhand Shelf]
- I’m going a little non-traditional with the video today with the goal of getting a smile out of the viewers with the distinct lack of NHL training camp. I’m not sure who these people are, but the guy at the sink gets the best hockey-related present ever (and has the best friend in the history of the world). If you want to see the follow up video, it’s also available here.