Sifting Melnyk's musings for NHL news
When it comes to news on what may or may not be happening along the way to a potential NHL restart, fans will take anything they can get.
So, give Senators owner
Eugene Melnyk some credit.
Why he continues to speak out-of-market to sell his message in this market is baffling, but he did provide food for thought the other day in his wide-ranging interview on the Bob McCown podcast.
It's worth a listen if you haven't tuned in already.
It was not the same kind of me-against-the-world, I-willdo-it-my-way approach that has upset so many Senators fans in the past. It was more of a comfortable, straightforward chat about where the hockey world and the world at large are right now.
Where that is, of course, is in limbo.
It's safe to kiss goodbye to an early January restart for the NHL. Late January or early February seems more likely, meaning the Senators could go 11 months between games.
Melnyk did drop strong hints about why commissioner Gary Bettman didn't announce a new relaunch date and plan — as expected — following last week's conference call with the league's board of governors.
Asked if there may no be season at all, Melnyk said, “Anything is possible. I don't control that. I'm one of 31 votes.”
Then came this, which was no doubt the most intriguing part of the podcast discussion.
“We need everybody to sit up and step up,” he said. “There are stakeholders out there that aren't being — I think — as co-operative as they need to be. I don't know exactly who they are. We know they exist and (Bettman) is dealing with them.
“Luckily, it's his job and not mine, but everybody has to kind of row together. We're prepared to do our bit, and I think every team owner is on the same page.”
But are all the owners really altogether on how the league goes forward? Melnyk allowed that it wasn't a one-size-fits-all discussion.
While Melnyk owns Canadian Tire Centre, some NHL owners don't own their arenas — that means the prospect of handing over a cheque for rental of a building for games when there is no ticket revenue coming in.
If you've seen the steady climb in the COVID-19 cases south of the border, don't count on fans being back in the seats any time in the next few months. On Monday, there were 166,000 new cases reported across the United States. During the past seven days, there have been 86,700 new cases in Illinois, 64,900 in Texas, 57,400 in California and 50,650 in Michigan. And so on.
Without fans, there would be some TV money arriving, but the NHL is nothing like the NFL, where ticket sales are simply gravy on top of the colossal meal ticket provided by the networks.
Some owners are struggling. some badly.
TSN's Rick Westhead reported earlier this week that a Dallas hotel was chasing the Edmonton Oilers for unpaid hotel bills of US$55,000.
“It's almost to them and others who sit there and say, `Hey I'm better off not playing. I'm better off financially not playing,'” Melnyk said of the stance some owners might be adopting during the pandemic.
Perhaps the NHL will contemplate some form of new revenue-sharing to help the most financially strapped organizations get through the pandemic.