One Serious Feud

Brian Burke and Kevin Lowe, step aside.

We've got us a new top feud in the NHL, and it's a doozy.

In fact, the mischievous among us - okay, I'm one of 'em - have to be hoping these days that the Montreal Canadiens make it to the Stanley Cup final and play the Dallas Stars.

Now that would be fun.

Why? Well, if you're not an English football (soccer) fan, it's possible you might not know that a while ago George Gillett, the owner of the Habs, struck a co-ownership deal to purchase the world famous Liverpool soccer club with Tom Hicks, owner of the Stars.

Well, it hasn't worked out.

In fact, they want to kill each other. Or, at least, Hicks wants to buy out Gillett, but Georgie Boy says thanks but no thanks.

This is good stuff. Honest stuff.

These guys don't agree on anything. Gillett seems determined to use his willing media contacts to be painted as the good guy, Hicks seems not to care what anybody, Liverpool fans or otherwise, says about him.

Hicks wants a divorce, Gillett won't go along. Talk about fun times.

So if the Habs and Stars were to work their way through their respective conference playoffs and meet in the Stanley Cup final sometime in June, you can bet all of this ugly stuff would bubble to the surface.

Gary Bettman wouldn't like it. But it sure would be interesting, and when's the last time two NHL owners detested each other quite like this, and quite so openly?

Uh, never, probably.

So if you like mischief, root for the Habs and root for the Stars.

Comments

[kenny d]

Why would Bettman even care? This is hockey. Bettman doesn't care much about hockey things. Take last night's (Thursday) games for example. Bettman had the winners of the 'I want to referee a playoff game' working last night. I watched the Flyers Caps' game. Two Caps' players nearly get their eyes poked out with sticks, blood all over the place and no call. Then a Caps' player gets a partial breakaway, is checked into Biron by a Flyers player and the Caps' player gets a penalty for goalie interference. Unbeleivable.
So then I start watching the Flames Sharks contest. Four players go into a corner two Flames and two Sharks. The ref puts his arm up for a penalty. The play stops and the ref gives a Calgary player a slashing penalty. I rewound that piece of tape four times and the best I could come up with is maybe and I mean maybe one of the Sharks players could be charged with holding onto the stick of one of the Flames players, Maybe. I defy anyone to show me where the slash was. Maybe the Flames player moved his arm in a mock air guitar motion, that's about the only possible reason he might have got a Slash-ing call.
I know all the TV people people are not allowed to say anything negative about the refs and the managment of the teams involved certainly can't unless they want to be fined big time by Bettman so let me say it. Please get some refs who know something about hockey working the playoffs. Bettman won't allow any dispariging remarks because he doesn't want to lose the US viewership. So only 50 people watch in the US instead of 60. Who cares? Bettman probably will come out and say US viewership was increase by 25 percent over last year. Which means 25 americans watched over 20 from last year. Please Gary. Take a multi-million severence if that's enough and go do something else so we can get a hockey man into your job and get this great game back to what it can be. Viewership will increase big time on both sides of the border and we can get back to watching hockey instead of this thing Bettman has us watching now.

[Down Goes Brown]

"...when's the last time two NHL owners detested each other quite like this, and quite so openly?"

Come on Damien, in Toronto we've got owners that hate each other on the same team.

[mark]

How do you suppose two owners hating each other will have any bearing on the games? I'm sure the players and coaches could care less whether Hicks and Gillette get along or not. Unless Hicks and Gillette actually suit up, this is a non story.

[Bill]

Uh Kenny,
The Caps and Fyers are American teams and last nights game was the most exciting of the night.
That would be an interesting sidelight were Dallas and Montreal to meet in the final,though I can't see Montreal getting past the next round,if they even manage to beat Boston who are giving them fits(last place in the division remember)

[Don]

Good article! Has some humor in it, well founded humor. Not the usual overly critcal column.
I've read about the dispute those two are having, on some other website. I think it would be great press. More than a few soccer fans would watch the games! It would put the NHL on the front page in a few places it's not normally seen, never a bad thing. Add a bit more fun and drama to a series. I'll be rooting for both these teams now.

[chris]

When George Gillett bought the Canadiens in 2001, every Habs fan and Canadian in this country feared that the Colorado billionaire would taint the history and tradition of le Bleu, Blanc, et Rouge.

Hasn't worked out that way, has it? In fact, Gillett has been everything every fan of their pro sports team would want as their owner, especially when it comes to preserving the history and tradition of an organization such as Montreal's.

So let's not paint Gillett with the same brush as Hicks, like they are doing in England, Damien. Liverpool supporters had better hope it's Gillett who wins out in this ownership battle over Hicks. Perhaps you should talk to your collegues Bob McCown and Stephen Brunt about what they think of the two of them.

[Tim]

Just to change the topic, does Toronto still want Burke, considering how his team just exited in the first round?
I thought they were supposed to be good. Who gets the blame for that?
I guess once you get it in your head that Burke is good, it's hard to accept that his team just did worse than many Toronto teams in the 1990s that you so like to cut up for not being true contenders. If he were a Toronto GM, you would be calling for his head today.