I’m not sure who said it, and I’m probably going to mangle the context of it, but somewhere in time somebody, somewhere, said, ” hockey is a great game…….in spite of the people who run it. “
We recall that proclamation with the release of ” The NHL, A Centennial History ” from author D’Arcy Jenish.
Jenish, whose son, Jesse, was an OHL player at North Bay & Saginaw, has written about the NHL’s 100 years of on ice action and detailed at length the battles behind the scenes in the offices of those who run the league.
And it’s not a celebratory book, whatsoever. More accurately, it asks the question ” How on Earth has the NHL survived ? “
Speaking with Jenish recently, I tried to nail down the last time the NHL had franchise stability.
My guess was 1972 when the third wave of expansion welcomed the Islanders and Atlanta to the fold and they both evolved in decent franchises by the late 70’s.
Plus, with the WHA running a day-to-day gong show, the NHL was coming off in my eyes as the perfect sports business model.
However, Jenish felt the last taste of stability was 1985 to 1989, after the Flames had moved to Calgary, after the St Louis Blues spurned Saskatoon, after the Pittsburgh Penguins solidified with the drafting of Mario Lemieux, after countless other examples.
In other words, it’s been almost 30 years since the NHL was on solid ground according to D’Arcy Jenish who recalls countless tales through his research in ” The NHL-a Centennial History. “
I’m Fred Wallace