The view from the Woods

You probably haven’t heard, but the Maple Leafs will be looking for a new general manager this summer.

As Andrew Bucholtz would say, “everyone and their sister” seems to have an opinion on who should get the job (my recommendation: Ken Holland). The only people without opinions are those on the list of potential candidates.

But lost in the Toronto media frenzy surrounding the Leafs, as so much often is, is a story with far more wide-reaching implications for the National Hockey League.

The NHL’s board of governors is contemplating changing the NHL schedule so that each team plays 84 games, as opposed to the current 82.

The idea was first brought up by NHLPA director Paul Kelly. Under the new system, pre-season games would be capped at five (they’re now capped at nine over the 20-day pre-season period), so the new regular season games would be replacing exhibition ones.
After years of players and coaches complaining about the length of the NHL schedule, it comes as somewhat of a shock that the league’s even considering such a change.
The grind on NHL players today is tougher than it has ever been. Training 12 months a year (the summers off that pros used to have are history) and playing from September to potentially June, the regular season is already too long. Older elite players such as Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne have taken to resting for the first part of the regular season before deciding their playing future, knowing their teams have plenty of regular season games left to make up for their absence.
As a fan, even a die-hard one, it’s hard to care about an Ottawa-Boston game in November when you’re aware they will face each other seven more times before April. Casual fans are even harder to attract with meaningless games. In the States, the NHL isn’t even televised nationally until January, when it really starts to “matter.”

And what of the records? All of the meaningful scoring records in today’s NHL were set in 82-game seasons. How are the traditionalists supposed to compare Crosby to Gretzky if Sid has two more games to work with? A minor point, but one close to my heart nonetheless.

The saddest part about all this is the owners will probably go for it. With player salaries being paid over 82 games, an extra two games of gate revenue will likely prove too good an opportunity to pack a few more bucks into their pockets, despite the negatives.

The NHL should be finding ways to shorten the regular-season schedule, not lengthen it. By the playoffs in April, teams should be raring to go, not ready to pack it in. Adding two more games to the schedule would do nothing but fatten the owners’ already bulging chequebooks.

Tired of hearing Christmas music everywhere I went, and with the Arctic Monkeys and Foo Fighters’ latest albums reaching absurdly high play counts on my iTunes, I recently went in search of some unfamiliar music to spice up my life.

It was also exam period, which is when this type of thing always seems to get done for me. Forget New Year’s resolutions, I have exam resolutions. They don’t last very long and they’re a lot easier to keep, so until I get burned I’ll keep using exam period for such fruitful activities as finding new music, watching hockey and building that large pile of laundry at the foot of my bed.

This year I resolved to find some new tunes.

I’m not pretending to be an indie music aficionado. But my recent dabbling in lesser-known bands, coupled with my Journal colleagues’ insanely intense interest in indie music (that’s my first big alliteration of 2008) has led me to peruse some lesser-known artists.

As I raided my friend Scott’s computer with my 1 gigabyte USB memory stick (apologies to those of you with morals in this area), one artist jumped out at me: Joel Plaskett, who visited Ale House in October with his band, the Emergency.

Amidst some video gaming (which has become another favourite exam pastime), Scott put on Plaskett’s latest CD, Ashtray Rock.
I almost dismissed the album after its second track, “Drunk Teenagers.” “This song would be really cool if we were about 13.” Scott hilariously observed.

But I found myself bemused by the catchy guitar riffs, intrigued at the cheesy yet somehow compelling lyrics (“The reason I like the instrumentals/Is cause they haven’t got any words,” Plaskett croons on “Penny for your Thoughts”), and impressed at Plaskett’s solid vocals that give away his Eastern-Canadian origins.

At the heart of the album, I was tapping my foot (a tough task while playing video games) and waiting to see what harmless yet appealing song would follow.

Plaskett calls Ashtray Rock a “concept album.” I would correct him and call it a “concepts album,” the three concepts being snow, instrumental music, and drunken shenanigans. At least one of these things seems to find its way into every song, with the “Instrumental Song” coming near the end of the album as a reminder.

So if you’re looking for an album that will help you find yourself or discover the meaning to your life, skip over Plaskett and his band. But if you’re looking for a foot-tapping good time, these just might be the tunes for you.

Personally, I’m sorry now that I missed his show. But my eyes have opened to the fact that I really need to attend more shows in Kingston.

That’s a New Year’s resolution I can keep.