I wish I loved anything in life as much as Canadians love their (We The) North Division this NHL season.
"In our small little hockey world, this is an unbelievably cool event and I'm really glad I'm in Canada when it happened," said Winnipeg Jets coach Paul Maurice, when asked about the NHL's realigned division where all seven Canadian teams will battle each other exclusively this season.
"All of the excitement that goes into it. The scrutiny. The pressure," he said, contentedly. "Could you imagine full buildings in a Canadian division? Now I'm just daydreaming."
We're probably not going to see full buildings until 2021-22 at the absolute earliest, because of COVID-19 and the cautious path out of the pandemic. The North Division will likely not be a part of that season, as the NHL moves back to its traditional alignment in an 82-game schedule and its Canadian franchises slip back into their usual divisions.
Maurice, and other Canadians, want to keep the dream alive. "The idea [of continuing it] is wholly selfish," he said.
But not wholly without merit.
"Let's see how this goes. If it's a home run, it will be wrong not to at least talk about it," said a source on the players' side. "I think you'd hear that from the guys. You'd certainly hear that from [Canadian rights holder] Sportsnet."
Others aren't even hedging about whether the league's seven Canadian teams should be permanently realigned together.
"The North Division is a godsend. It's going to make a load of money and generate interest in Canada like no one would believe. Gary Bettman lucked into it. The players lucked into it. If they change it back next year, they're f---ing morons," one agent told ESPN.
Here are the cases for and against keeping the North Division together beyond this truncated season.
For: Great for Canada
Dallas Stars forward Andrew Cogliano is a Toronto native who played in Edmonton. He casts a somewhat jealous eye at the nightly shenanigans in the North Division -- and not just because Dallas has yet to hit the ice this season because of COVID-19.
"I think it's a cool experience. To think about much attention those teams are going to get on a Saturday night or any day during the week ... they should enjoy it," he said. "I would love to see the ratings. I'm sure they're crazy."
It's early, but they're already huge. Sportsnet's 6.6 million viewers was its largest total audience for opening night of an NHL season. Its 2.1 million viewer average audience for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens made it the most-watched regular-season game to exclusively air on the network.
Canada needs this jolt to its hockey ecosystem. There's been much hand-wringing recently about the shifting demographics in Canada, which is an increasingly heterogeneous nation, when it comes to sports fandom. The success of the Toronto Raptors laid that bare, with a younger and more diverse fan base than any NHL team could hope to capture.
There are many factors for this disparity -- racial makeup of the leagues themselves, economic entry points to playing the sport -- so simply having more Canadian teams playing each other isn't going to make Maple Leaf Square look like the Raptors' Jurassic Park for Stanley Cup playoff games. But the inherent intensity of intranational games, delivered on a regular basis, would produce a more compelling product that could appeal to a wider audience.
Again, that's not to ignore hockey's limitations culturally and demographically. But hype is hype, and visceral thrills are visceral thrills.
The bigger picture is that from a ratings and sponsorship perspective, you can print dollars in Canada with an all-Canadian division.
Or since we're talking about Canada, you can smelt dollars, I guess.
Against: Not great for travel
The drawback to the North Division is that it spans the length of the nation, from Vancouver to Montreal. TSN ran the numbers this week and found that the North Division travels more average air miles (18,909) than any of the other three realigned divisions. It just edges the West (17,056), while the Central averages 12,289. The East, which really should have been sponsored by Amtrak, averages 4,850 miles by air.
Remember, that's just playing within the division. If there was an all-Canadian division and a schedule that had them playing against the rest of the league, it becomes even more taxing.
"We have our own little tiny league here [right now]. You're not really crossing the border. You're not all over the place. If you added the time zones changes to our division, being in the middle part of Canada, I guess it would be egregious," Maurice said.
There's no getting around that an all-Canadian division is going to be more strenuous than it would have been otherwise for some of these teams.
For: The NHL knows how to market rivalries
The NHL isn't what you'd call a well-oiled marketing machine.
There are only about two players from every generation that cross over as superstars to casual fans: Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux begot Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin who begot Auston Matthews and Connor McDavid. The only times the league breaks through to the casual sports fan is when something extraordinary happens, like a heinously violent act by a player, or something more wholesome, like a goon getting elected to the All-Star Game.
Heck, the NHL's biggest star isn't a player -- it's Gritty, for which we can thank late night talk shows and social media.
There are only three things the NHL is really good at marketing: The Stanley Cup playoffs, outdoor hockey games and, above all else, rivalries. Every TV schedule is littered with them. They changed the playoff format to accentuate them. Outside of health and cost savings, they are the greatest benefit to the shortened season and realigned league in 2021.
The great thing about the all-Canadian division is that they're all rivals. Everyone is trying to take everyone else down a peg. There are no "Tuesday night at home against the Panthers" games for Toronto or Montreal -- every divisional game is a blood feud, with players on a mission to take down haughty pillars of Canadian hockey so they can impress Uncle Gord and Aunt Celine back home in Flin Flon, Manitoba.
Meanwhile, the U.S. divisions would also lean into rivalries and get rid of those visits from Canadian randoms like Ottawa that don't draw.
Against: It would seriously hinder star power in the U.S.
While marketing star players isn't exactly the NHL's forte, the task becomes much harder when so many of them are currently playing for Canadian teams and thus would play so many meaningful regular and postseason games off the U.S. radar: Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares, Elias Pettersson, Quinn Hughes, Carey Price, Connor Hellebuyck, Patrik Laine and no less than two Tkachuks.
This is a two-way street. The U.S. has a collection of star players that wouldn't visit Canada with the same regularity, including four of the league's biggest draws: Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Patrick Kane and Nathan MacKinnon. That's not even mentioning star-studded teams like Tampa Bay and Boston, or the slew of burgeoning young stars like Cale Makar, Jack Hughes and Alexis Lafreniere.
The concentration of talent in this division could dissipate on both sides of the border. Players come and go, through injuries and transactions -- there's always the chance we send Seal Team Six into Edmonton to liberate McDavid to an American franchise if the Oilers' goaltending doesn't improve. So protesting the North Division based on that concentration of talent is misguided.
One NHL executive, however, told me their biggest concern with an all-Canadian division is a juggernaut team.
Please recall the 1980s, when the Oilers were one of the most dominant teams in all of sports but were met with a collective shrug to most U.S. sports fans outside of Gretzky's cultural relevance. Obviously, the advancements in hockey's popularity and television access have remade that landscape, to a point; having the league's standard-bearer in an all-Canadian division with rare visits to U.S. markets does the league no good.
(And before you claim the salary cap defeated the juggernaut, please recall we're less than three years removed from a 128-point team rampaging through the NHL. As "Deadpool 2" showed us, there's only one way to defeat a Juggernaut, and it's painfully awkward.)
For: The unbalanced schedule
While the all-Canadian division could thrive past this season, one aspect of the current realignment is likely one and done: The intradivisional schedule.
It's something done out of necessity, for travel and health concerns, and there's no reason to believe it'll continue beyond this season if the pandemic wanes, as the NHL (and the rest of humanity) hopes it will.
(The "two-game home series" aspect of that schedule, however, could last beyond this season and will be under review, per NHL sources.)
If there's an all-Canadian division, you want to maximize the number of games within that division without cutting off the rest of the league. The majority of the Oilers' games should be against the likes of the Calgary Flames, but local fans should still have the chance to see Crosby or Ovechkin or the Lightning come to town.
Some back-of-the-napkin math: There are 25 teams outside of the North Division, after Seattle enters the fray next season. If the Canadian Division teams play them all twice, that means five games against division opponents, or one more than are played in a typical 82-game schedule. If you drop that to one game against each non-division opponent -- adopting an every-other-season home and road metric for nondivisional teams -- that number climbs to around nine games on average within the division. In both cases, there are a few games with which to play.
The unbalanced schedule isn't a popular notion, to be honest. After the 2005 lockout, the NHL had one that saw teams play divisional opponents eight times each. Canadian teams lamented the fact that players like Crosby wouldn't visit their arenas for a full season. Players got sick of the repetition, too. "What I hear when I really look into this, is the players don't want to play those teams as many times. And those are the guys everyone pays to watch, so it's important to listen to them," said then-Carolina GM Jim Rutherford back in 2007.
Frankly, the biggest obstacle is something Cogliano mentioned: Canadian players losing out on those roadies to Florida and California in the dead of winter.
Now that's a tough sell.
Against: The divisional format
When the Seattle Kraken are released next season, the NHL will be at 32 teams. A big, beautiful, equally divisible number. The Arizona Coyotes move to the Central Division. Seattle enters the Pacific Division, providing an instant rivalry with the Vancouver Canucks. NHL divisions would be in uniform harmony for the first time since 2013.
The seven-team all-Canadian division would ruin that synchronization, meaning one of the divisions would have to be a nine-team dance. Until one of them inevitably gets relocated to Quebec City, of course ...
We haven't yet addressed the playoff format here: Would the NHL keep a "top four in the division" standard for the playoffs, dump the wild card, get rid of the conferences and reseed the final four if the all-Canadian division is maintained? Some of this is going to prove quite popular, but a lot of it has earned scorn in previous playoff formats.
The NHL really loves the parity that comes along with having multiple paths to the postseason via the wild card. But you can't have the wild card and get the most out of an all-Canadian division in the postseason. It's illogical.
For: Better chance there's a Canadian Cup winner
The biggest benefit for the all-Canadian division from the current playoff format: the division champ is guaranteed to make the final four teams to win the Stanley Cup, something a Canadian franchise unfortunately hasn't done since 1993.
Against: Better chance there's a Canadian Cup winner
The biggest drawback for the all-Canadian division from the current playoff format: The division champ is guaranteed to make the final four teams to win the Stanley Cup, something a Canadian franchise thankfully hasn't done since 1993.
But seriously, one issue many Canadian fans have brought up is that if the all-Canadian division continues under the current playoff format, it eliminates the possibility of an all-Canadian Stanley Cup Final. Which would be a bummer for Canada, even as it's a potentially disastrous situation for U.S. television that has successfully been avoided for decades.
Verdict: Let's do it!
I asked one of my favorite Canadians, ESPN's own Nabil Karim, if he was down with an all-Canadian division beyond this season.
"Honestly, I love it. I think playing teams 10 times a year is a bit much and could grow stale, however in a normal season keeping the Canadian division and having a regular schedule would be fantastic," he responded. "As a Canadian I dig it. For the growth of the game ... maybe not the best idea."
There's a trade-off, for sure. It could negatively impact marketing. It could negatively impact the appeal of the Stanley Cup playoffs, when one team in the final four is so far off the U.S. casual fan radar because it's been plying its trade in another country for most of the season.
What it would be, essentially, is the NHL leaning into what are usually two primary criticisms of hockey: Its Canadianism and its regional appeal. There's nothing wrong with admitting who you are, especially when who you are can be very profitable in a time of economic uncertainty.
So let your Maple Leaf-adorned freak flag fly, National Hockey League, and make the all-Canadian division a fixture. At least until you get antsy and slam the "realignment" button again, as is your wont.
Three things about Mike Babcock
1. Mike Babcock began his reputation-mending for his NBC gig and future coaching jobs by giving The Athletic an interview that, it turns out, did little to mend his reputation. Please recall that Babcock was accused of abusing former Red Wings forward Johan Franzen to the point where he had a "breakdown" on the Detroit bench.
"It doesn't matter what I perceive. When you're talking about this kind of thing, if the person -- whether it's a co-worker, your spouse, your student -- if they think that's the environment, that's what they're feeling. Now, I sure wish I would have known about that then. And I could have done something about that. Besides apologize, there's not much I can do about that now. But does it sting? Does it hurt? Absolutely."
Babcock talked a lot about being hurt by these accusations because he's been an advocate for mental health, and he said virtually nothing about how he's changed his tactics after hurting his players' mental health. Color us shocked that Babcock, who has faced multiple allegations of mental abuse, who has had the privilege of controlling the power dynamic over subordinates for 20 years, not only didn't offer the baseline self-reflection necessary to repair his image but fancies himself as an aggrieved party.
2. Babcock was asked if he would change his coaching style, and his answer was ... well, this:
"Yeah, I think what you do in the offseason every year is you try to reinvent yourself, I really believe that, both technically, tactically, and also as a human being,'' he said. "You try to surround yourself with the best people you can. But I think in today's world, having a good sports psych person or someone besides yourself that is looking at the whole situation and can say, 'Hey, it's off the tracks here. It's not as good here as you think.'''
All Babcock had to do here is say that his approach was wrong, that old-school coaches have learned the error of their old-school ways, and that if he should be blessed with anther NHL head-coaching job he would be a kinder, gentler, less abusive coach.
Instead, his focus was on tactics over humanity. It was on having some handler around to tell him he crossed the line, rather than understanding where the line is. And perhaps most astonishingly, Babcock wants to have "a sports psych person" around as that handler when a primary narrative in the fable of Mike Babcock is that he earned a degree in sports psychology himself. Shouldn't he know what not to do? Or at least have learned it by now?
3. Before I became a full-time hockey writer, I worked in public relations. Putting on that flack hat for a moment ... I think this was the wrong venue for Babcock. This was word salad and tire-spinning, in the service of image repair. This should have been Babcock talking into a camera, succinctly explaining himself in sound bites and offering a mea culpa about his past abuses of power. But that would require a more contrite and introspective approach than the one Mike Babcock has deemed to take.
NWHL bubble time
The National Women's Hockey League enters its season bubble starting this weekend in Lake Placid. Marisa Ingemi has a good overview of this important moment for the pro women's league. Marisa also had a piece on the making of the Toronto Six, the league's newest team.
The Ice Garden, my favorite hockey blog covering the NWHL, has a full slate of team previews. Eleni Demestihas had an innovative look at the league: Picking your favorite NWHL player based on your favorite NHL player. And, of course, you can follow the action, find schedules and where to watch the games on the NWHL website.
I'll have some coverage around the tournament, as it runs through Jan. 30. Here's hoping everything goes off safely, and fans enjoy some spirited hockey from afar.
(While I'm obviously nonpartisan in my coverage of the league, my daughter would like me to say, "Go Rivs!")
Winners and losers of the week
Winner: Bobby Ryan
The best story of the season. Heck, maybe over two seasons. He famously returned from a stint in the NHL's player assistance program due to ongoing struggles with alcohol abuse and scored a hat trick in his first home game back with Ottawa. The Senators bought him out in the offseason, and he chose to sign with Detroit to get a larger role on a "show me" contract for $1 million. He has scored four goals in the first three games. Awesome.
Loser: Pierre-Luc Dubois
He scored his first goal in four games the other day against Detroit, but sat for a good portion of the second period thanks to coach John Tortorella, who claims Dubois wasn't benched. One gets the feeling this is going to get worse before it gets better for the talented young center, who has asked for a trade out of Columbus -- specifically because the Jackets aren't exactly eager to have a 22-year-old player dictate terms to them.
Winner: Weasels
Flyers forward Jakub Voracek made news this week for profanely answering a rather pedestrian question from Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Mike Sielski, who had written critically about Voracek in the past. He punctuated the statement with this line: "I wasn't even gonna answer your question because you are such a weasel it's not even funny. Next question." As a longtime Bobby "The Brain" Heenan fan, much respect for resurrecting that insult.
Loser: Zoom muscles
Voracek can say whatever he wants if a writer is critical of him. That goes for any player. If they want to call out someone in a media scrum or a press conference, more power to them, because we have an imbalance of that power in our criticism. The floor is theirs.
But on Zoom? It's weird. There's no chance for a follow-up or retort on Zoom. It's less an interaction than it is like a talk radio host hanging up on a caller before trashing them on the air. Here's hoping we can all get back into the locker room and yell at each other properly again.
Winner: Vegas Golden Knights
The VGK have sprinted out of the gate in the West Division and look every bit the Stanley Cup contender they're expected to become ... even if this first stretch of games has been against Anaheim and Arizona. Business picks up next week: The St. Louis Blues come to Vegas for the big Alex Pietrangelo reunion (Jan. 26 on ESPN+).
Loser: Washington Capitals
The moment the NHL dropped that $100,000 fine on the Capitals for "violations of the League's COVID‑19 Protocols which involved social interactions among team members," you knew something significant went down. They're not issuing a $100K ticket because Nic Dowd let his mask slip under his nose.
A bit later, the news hit: Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dmitry Orlov and Ilya Samsonov were all placed on the NHL's COVID-19 protocol-related absences list after what the team called "an interaction in their hotel room and outside of team-approved areas." Depending on their return to play, this could be a significant moment in the Caps' season that was entirely avoidable. Or at the very least, a $100,000 invoice they didn't need to pay.
Winner: Flyers fans
— Brooke Destra (@BrookeNBCS) January 20, 2021
Puck headlines
Alex Prewitt takes a deep dive into the relationship between the NHL and the Hockey Diversity Alliance. "The house is ablaze, and the league is off studying the best types of hoses. Or, in the case of some power brokers, ignoring the fire."
A mentoring program for young girls that also introduces them to hockey, courtesy of the Los Angeles Kings.
The Boston Bruins are in a goal drought, and D.J. Bean doesn't believe it's just about them missing David Pastrnak.
The heat is getting turned up on David Quinn in New York. "Does he have the tactical acumen to make the most of this roster and play a modern game? Can he play to the team's strengths and mitigate its weaknesses? Can he successfully identify which players are deserving of more or less ice time?"
Auston Matthews on the NHL dumping its defective tracking pucks: "We held one of the regular pucks and one of the new ones, and there was a little bit of a difference in the weight and stuff, but it seemed like sometimes it wasn't sliding as well as it usually would."
Good piece by Abbey Mastracco on attending a fan-less game at MSG: "A game without fans doesn't feel quite right. But it's still a game, which provides a little normalcy at a time when many need the comfort of it."
How NHL road trips have changed in the age of COVID. "Even going on the road, you can't sit at a table with too many guys even though we got tested. Because if one guy gets infected, what are the chances other people get it? You've always gotta be cautious and make sure you wear your mask and do the right things."
In case you missed it from your friends at ESPN
The Panthers and Coyotes allowed fans at the start of the season, the Predators and Lightning could have but chose not to. My inside look at this decisions, which every NHL team might have to make at some point this season.