TV On Tuesday

I had a rare night off from work without a hockey game on the agenda so I spent the evening kicking back and relaxing in front of the tv. As luck would have it, ESPN debuted their one-hour documentary, King's Ransom, about the Wayne Gretzky trade.

Now, my personal sentiment is that the deal set the NHL on the path of doom - it precipitated the first wave of expansion, which brought Bettman ... and, let's face it, he has steadily stuck the knife in the sport ever since. But that's just my opinion.

The documentary wasn't ESPN's worse work, it wasn't their best. It had that slick over-produced ESPN look to it complete with the staged overly-sentimental, well-lit shots of Gretz walking around an empty Western Forum. ESPN, being ESPN, they had full access to all the relevant archived video and all of the major players in the drama - even Glen Sather. And Sather sounded like he cared - who knew? He certainly shows no passion nowadays when it comes to Rangers. But was it me or did they make Pocklington look like the victim?

I didn't learn anything I didn't already know, but it was nice to see hockey given primetime airtime on a real network. I still don't think that viewers can fully grasp the impact that the deal had in Canada - even with the old man-on-the-street interviews - and maybe even the impact that it had here in the States. Janet was given a chance to respond to her critics but I remember as a kid hearing that she was the main reason Wayne left Edmonton, ahead of the greedy and incompetent Pocklington.

After watching the 30 in 30, I turned over to Versus to see the Flyers/Caps. Some observations:

*The Rangers don't have nearly the amount of talent that either team has, but the Blueshirt crease is better cared for by Hank than by either of their netminders. It should make for some interesting games down the line.

*Tom Poti scored a great goal. For the Flyers. Hahahahahahahahaha. And then he turned away from the puck to swing his purse at someone and the game-winner was scored in OT. I hate you Poti!!!!

*It was strange seeing Blair Betts in orange, and wearing No. 11 to boot. Damn shame he won't be donning a jersey for a month or so since he dislocated his shoulder late in the third. Get well soon Bettsy!

*Something hilarious about seeing "Welcome To Comcast Country" during the Versus broadcast.

*Nothing intentionally amusing or even redeeming about the telecast itself. I was in Newark on Monday so this was my first Versus game and the ads are constant and obnoxious and nothing I would ever, ever tune in to.

*I tuned out the intermission report. It seems that the producer told that collection of incompetent cast-offs to amp up the emotion and controversy and it certainly made them more annoying and more obnoxious - if that is even possible.

When the game ended in OT I flipped over to NHL on the Fly to watch the hilite of same game I watched in HD replayed in SD. That's sad. The NHL spent money to 'upgrade' their set (if you can call it an upgrade) but kept their same outdated equipment. Sad.

Killin' Time: Friday Afternoon Edition

As I've done a few times in recent weeks, posts of random observations/news will be called "Killin' Time" because, let's face it - that is all we are doing at this point of the year. There is some hockey news but no hockey games ... and that sucks. So, onto this afternoon's edition:

*This week the NHL Network is commemorating the Gretzky trade with a week of Wayne programming and in response, Going Five Hole is doing a week of Super Mario. While they are both glorifying their heroes, I feel the need to point out that with the good, there was the bad. Gretzky used to cry and whine to the refs as bad as - if not worse than - Cindy Crosby. He also got the crap beat out of him when he tried to fight. As for Mr. Lemieux, 1984 was the first televised NHL draft and he refused to put the Penguins jersey on when he was picked first overall because he wasn't happy with how contract negotiations were going. These guys were both incredible hockey players, but they weren't perfect and history should remember that.

*I had the privaledge of covering FC Barcelona when they came to New York this week and there are a lot of similarities between the Spanish soccer team and the Rangers. The media and fans expect the team to win every year. They finished behind their rivals in the regular season last year and failed to win any trophies so they tore apart their roster and rebuilt it in the coach's image. Their best player, Ronaldinho, was allowed to leave and they set off on a ridiculous preseason tour that forced them to do a lot of travelling. The key difference? The players they brought in are all young with a huge upside.

*Every day this month Puck Daddy is putting up "5 Ways I'd Change the NHL" from random sports media and hockey personalities. Today's was from XM Radio's Mike Ross and I agree with all five of his. I don't know if referee communication would get into my five, but more access to players and less idiot fans are both huge.

*The coach of the Swiss team that the Rangers will play as part of their preseason tour, SC Bern, had a heart attack earlier in the week. Best wishes to John Van Boxmeer on a speedy recovery.

*NHL Premier is less than two months away and the Rangers ticket office still has no clue as to if they will offer packages or tickets to fans willing to fly halfway around the world to watch their team.

*I still have much love for Sean Avery. He and I seem to see eye to eye on the Ranger offseason moves. The Devils are lucky that even though they lose a home sell-out with the Rangers, they will likely get one with the Stars. Granted, it will still be a building full of Ranger fans but they don't care.

*And finally, for now, is it late August yet?