Bettman's Venom at IIHF

In Chicago on Friday, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman held his annual pre-Stanley Cup Finals press conference.

He was predictably optimistic about the state of the NHL, talking up the improving business and how strong most of the franchises are. While there are struggles -- and Bettman talked about the potential futures in cities like Winnipeg and Quebec City that want back in the league -- he is right that the overall picture is pretty good.

Bettman also talked about recent comments from Rene Fasel, the head of the International Ice Hockey Federation. Fasel was upset that many NHL stars chose to skip the World Championships, even though they weren't hurt. Names like Ryan Miller and Sidney Crosby are among those who sat out, despite being -- at least that we know of -- healthy.

The commish was a little perturbed, to say the least.

"You just hit one of my hot spots," said Bettman, with fire in his eyes. "If you remember the debate [IIHF chief] Rene Fasel and I had during my media availability in Vancouver, one of the things I said . . . was I don't believe the IIHF respects our game, our players, our business or our schedule."

"What was said by the IIHF during the World Championships," he continued, "was exactly that. As soon as I saw the article I put a call into Rene Fasel and I told him that what he said was inappropriate, out of line and simply wrong, and that he needed to make a public apology. So I'm not happy with the way the IIHF somehow feels it has an entitlement to these great athletes who risk their careers, and put themselves out of their own time without anything but love of country to be belittled by the IIHF." He finished the answer by saying, "If I sounded a little passionate on the subject I apologize," before briefly pausing and saying, "actually, I don't."

Bettman shouldn't be apologizing. It's an insult to the sport that Fasel hasn't apologized.

Fasel got what anyone in his position could have wanted in February. The quadrennial Olympic tournament was one of the most intriguing and entertaining hockey tournaments in the sport's history. The IIHF should have been proud of the nations and players who took part.

Instead, they got greedy, continuing to hold their World Championship in the Olympic years, stretching the product too thin and leaving themselves open to players skipping the tournament who might have otherwise been inclined to participate.

They also hurt themselves with timing. This event should be played in August or September, as a warmup to the NHL season, not concurrently with the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The IIHF shows their immeasurable ego in holding their tourrnament when they do, because they just expect they'll get the proper media attention and that players will come out in droves to play in it.

When many of the sport's best players are still playing for their NHL team, how does the IIHF expect to run the best possible tournament?

Of course, since the IIHF has run things this way for years, they expect the NHL and its players to conform. There is no negotiation here. There is no compromise. It's the IIHF's way or no way.

That's too bad, because the sport deserves better. It deserves to have a World Championship, but not during an Olympic year. Why not be like FIBA, who only runs one World Championship every four years, and they do it in the even-numbered year where there are no Olympics? Sure, it might seem like a step back for the IIHF, but there really isn't any point in holding the tournament in an Olympic year.

Not only that, but it takes the strain off your best athletes, and it might mean you get more of them to participate in the event.

And maybe you'll stop pissing Gary Bettman off. Since he holds a lot of influence over whether you get to have the game's best players in the World Championships, methinks you might want to be a little more respectful of his feelings and concerns.

Just a shot in the dark on that.

New Widget

You'll notice a new widget on the upper left.

It's temporary, and it will keep you posted on the latest news surrounding Olympic hockey. The Games start Friday, with the men's hockey tournament set to start Tuesday.

UND's Kristo Led Now-Famous Song

By now, you've probably heard the song done by members of the gold-medal winning United States World Junior team.

You haven't? Well, I'm here to help.



Purely awesome.

It was led by North Dakota freshman Danny Kristo, a veteran of international play (he's an alum of the Ann Arbor NTDP). Kristo talked to Grand Forks Herald writer Brad Elliott Schlossman, who does a great job covering the Sioux hockey team.

That goes back to when I played on the national team (U.S. Under-17 and 18 teams). Our boxing coach there made up that song. Whenever we had big victories, we sang that song in the locker room. We had a lot of guys from the national team on the (World Junior) team. Before the game, I told the guys that if we win, we’re singing for sure. After we won, someone asked if we were singing tonight and I said you bet we are. It was pretty fun to sing that song one last time. I couldn’t be more happy to win that gold.

Yes, this means the song was somewhat premeditated.

Doesn't change anything, though. It's still awesome, as is what this team was able to accomplish in Saskatoon.

Go America

The United States has an opportunity to win a second international hockey gold medal in as many days Tuesday night, as they battle Canada for the World Junior Championships gold in Saskatoon.

The last time Team USA played for World Juniors gold was back in 2004, a game highlighted by a famous gaffe that led to the American victory.



Seven WCHA players are on the Team USA roster. Team Canada has none. If, for some reason, you're having trouble figuring out who to root for, that should help you.

This is a rare chance to cheer for guys like Danny Kristo (North Dakota), Jordan Schroeder (Minnesota), Matt Donovan (Denver), Mike Lee (St. Cloud State), and three guys from Wisconsin (John Ramage, Jake Gardiner, and team captain Derek Stepan). They're all great players who we hope to watch UMD shut down when they meet.

For now, they're part of a great hope for a internationally-recognized hockey upset.

Canada, United States Work to Finalize World Junior Rosters

The IIHF World Junior Championships are set for Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Saskatchewan. Last year's tournament was a disappointing one for the United States, as they lost a preliminary-round game to Canada by blowing a 3-0 lead, then bowed out to Slovakia (!?) in the quarterfinals.

To get back on the medal stand, USA Hockey called on an old friend for this year's tournament. Former North Dakota and current Nebraska-Omaha coach Dean Blais has plenty of international experience, and he is very good with young players.

Canada is the defending champion, and they're again playing on home soil (it was in Ottawa last year). No pressure, guys.

Both countries announced preliminary rosters this week, and both have NCAA players at least in position to make the final rosters.

In Canada, UMD freshman defenseman Dylan Olsen is on the preliminary roster. A first-round pick of the Blackhawks this past summer, Olsen has eight assists in 12 games for UMD.

He is joined by Denver sophomore defenseman Patrick Wiercioch. It was inconceivable to me that Wiercioch didn't make the team last year, and he should have a pretty good shot this time around. Wiercioch has 14 goals and 45 points in 49 career games with the Pioneers.

The Canadian World Junior camp is Dec. 13-15 in Regina, Sask. According to sources, both players are expected to miss the Denver-UMD game at the DECC on Dec. 12, as they make their way north for the camp.

Harvard freshman Louis Leblanc is the only other college player on the Canadian roster for that camp.

On the U.S. side, a preliminary roster of 29 will be whittled down during a camp scheduled for Dec. 15-19 in Grand Forks, N.D. UMD recruit Justin Faulk -- now with the U.S. National Team Development Program -- is on the roster, as are a number of current college players. Minnesota's Jordan Schroeder will play in his third World Juniors, and Wisconsin (Derek Stepan, Jake Gardiner, John Ramage), North Dakota (Danny Kristo), and Denver (Matt Donovan) are also represented on the preliminary roster.

HOCKEY PLAYER BANNED OVER SEX

Well, at least that's what a reasonable human being can ascertain.

My mother taught me to never assume anything because it just makes an ass out of female sheep, but I've never been one to follow rules.

Plus, this one seems so obvious that it's hard to avoid making the connection.

Over in Germany, a hockey player has gotten himself in trouble over a very poor choice he made. This poor choice has nothing to do with drugs or gambling, and instead has to do with (allegedly) a romp in the sack.

A German national hockey player was banned for two years after refusing to take a doping test for several hours because he was relaxing at home with his girlfriend.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport banned Florian Busch on Tuesday because he declined to immediately give a sample when German anti-doping officials arrived unannounced in March 2008.

"Florian Busch refused to submit to doping control," the court said in a statement.

Despite testing negative, he can't suit up for the Polar Bears Berlin again until February 2011.

Germany coach Uwe Krupp said Busch was sharing "a private moment" with his girlfriend when the testing team arrived.

While some, more naive, people may think that Busch was simply having a nice candlelight dinner with his significant other, I'm pretty sure the rest of us know better.

I hope whatever they were doing was fun for Busch. It's cost him two years of his hockey career, and the shelf life of a hockey player doesn't always last as long as it has for Chris Chelios.

On the bright side, it will be a long time before an athlete chooses intimacy over a drug test.