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Entries for February 21, 2008
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Trouble Spots in the "Dub"!
Posted by Les Lazaruk on Thursday, February 21, 2008 at 10:52:00 AM.
Before I get into this topic, I want to thank all who have expressed their sympathies and condolences to me and my family following the passing of my father in Winnipeg last week. Receiving the phone call from my sister just before the Blades-Edmonton game a couple of Fridays ago that Dad had collapsed from a stroke was a kick in the groin to say the least. I missed four Blades' games as a result, so I'd like to quell the rumours that Dave Thomas had "greased the skids" for me, resulting in me being let go by the radio station as the morning sports reader and radio play-by-play announcer for the Blades. I'm still the Director of Sports Programming for the Saskatoon Media Group, I still do Blades' play-by-play and I don't do morning sports anymore because I wanted a change after 28 years of doing it! I also want to thank all the well-wishers on my 49th birthday yesterday...it lightened the mood from the previous couple of weeks for me!
Now, for the topic at hand...addressing a pair of Western Hockey League trouble spots.
No, I'm not talking about the Saskatoon Blades and the Prince Albert Raiders, both of whom will miss the playoffs this season.
One of those problem areas is in Moose Jaw. They have a pretty fair team this season, but they still play games in the novel, but very antiquated Civic Centre or the Crushed Can. The latter nick-name refers to the concave roof that some engineer must've thought was a pretty good idea after being on a week-long bender back in the 50s.
In short, the Moose Jaw Civic Centre is an embarrasment...to the Warriors, to the W-H-L and to the city of Moose Jaw. Except the latter doesn't seem to realize it...or doesn't want to admit it.
The W-H-L created standards for their league partners when it came to arenas in terms of seating capacity, media facilities, visiting team amenities and others. The Moose Jaw rink falls woefully short on all counts. The league wants a new building in Moose Jaw...the city, which has a rainy day fund that could almost make the Alberta Heritage Fund blush as to its amount, wants to refurbish the existing facility...a la what has happened in P-A and Swift Current! A wise Moose Javian told me the people of the city love controversy and hate anyone that is doing well...like the Warriors! But, times a wastin' and the costs are risin'. The time has come for the league to put its foot down...put a shovel in the ground before the fall or run the risk of having the franchise suspended and moved or dissolved altogether.
The second trouble spot is Portland. Besides having won just nine games on the way to missing the post-season for a second straight season, the Winter Hawks are a mess. Message boards and blogs have led the main-stream media, most notably the print media conscience of the W-H-L Gregg Drinnan of the Kamloops Daily News, to reveal that the W-H-L is investigating the new owners and their running of the franchise.
Some believe they are running it into the ground! Allegations of players having to buy their own sticks because the team's provider of an essential tool for the game of hockey hasn't been paid by the Portland organization in quite a while. Or, a player had shoulder surgery cancelled and told he'd have to have the procedure done in Canada. That sounds like a money issue as well, seeings how we Canadians have universal medicare and America doesn't.
Speculation like this makes one wonder what Jim Goldsmith, Jack Donovan, John Bryant and their cronies were thinking when they bought the Winter Hawks last season! If any of the rumours prove to be true...and you gotta wonder about the old adage that says "where there's smoke, there's fire"...then the W-H-L has to make the same bold statement as they need to with Moose Jaw.
Yup, live up to the responsibilities inherent with ownership of a Western Hockey League team...or else face suspension of the franchise and relocation...or dissolve it entirely!
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