Truth, Lies and NHL e-mails
February 3, 2003
Last Thursday, at approximately 10:42 a.m. eastern standard time, I received what appeared to be the best hockey-related e-mail ever. In simple, sweet, and (seemingly) no uncertain terms, the subject line read: "NHL AND NHLPA SIGN MULTI-YEAR"
As a hockey fan, it was the most uplifting and joyous press release that one could have received from the NHL Public Relations department. And, not to mention, it was about 20 months ahead of schedule (maybe 30 or 40).
As a hockey journalist, I saw more red lights than at an NHL All-Star Game.
Is it possible, I asked myself, that labor armageddon has been avoided? I stared again at the subject line of the e-mail, just to make sure. Have NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHL Players' Association boss Bob Goodenow - the two guys who can't even agree whether or not there has even been a proposal - secretly pounded out a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, one that will keep the game going with no stoppage at all?
But that's exactly what it said, in black-and-white and all capital letters, with no ellipsis at the end (the ... that indicates there are more words in the subject line). "NHL AND NHLPA SIGN MULTI-YEAR"
Hockey Hallelujah! Great Gretzky and long live Gordie Howe! The NHL and its players saw how Major League Baseball nearly ate itself with its strike a few years back, and hockey has responded by getting a deal done, for the good of the game, its players, teams and millions of fans.
At least, that was the ice-affirming implication, that the NHL and NHLPA had signed a multi-year deal that would avert a work stoppage in 2004, or any time in the "multi-year" future.
Of course, that was not the case. Ever so far from it, in fact.
When I giddily opened the e-mail, I discovered, sadly, a second line, one that was as disappointing as the first line was exhilarating. It read: "PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT WITH STARWOOD HOTELS & RESORTS."
Put it together and you get: "NHL AND NHLPA SIGN MULTI-YEAR
PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT WITH STARWOOD HOTELS & RESORTS."
Talk about a letdown. I felt like the St. Louis Blues after Wayne Gretzky decided three months was enough and signed with the Rangers.
At least the poor players and poorer owners will have a cheap place to hide out in in 2004. (And 2005? 2006?)
Perhaps I'm making too big of a deal about the subject line of an e-mail. I believe whomever sent that out, on behalf of the NHL, knew perfectly well the 2004 implication. But after all, isn't it just a little spin doctoring, something the NHL PR people – and pretty much all PR groups – do on a daily basis? Put themselves and their business in the best possible light? If you've ever seen Bettman "answer" a direct question, you know what I'm talking about.
So, I decided to check out other recent e-mails from the NHL PR folks. I liked/detested this one, too:
"NHL LAUNCHES SEARCH FOR ITS 7TH MAN" This e-mail, dated Feb. 1, 2003, has another headline, when you open the e-mail, that reads: "Fan of the Year to Become NHL Commissioner for a Day; Participate in Ceremonial Opening Face-off at Game 1 of Stanley Cup Finals."
The e-mail continues: "The National Hockey League has declared the 2002-03 season the 'Year of the Fan,' and today (Feb. 1), in celebration of its fans' dedication, passion and loyalty, the League and its 30 Member Clubs announced the introduction of the NHL '7th Man Award' that will honor its fan of the year. "The grand-prize winner of the '7th Man Award' will receive a trip to New York to become 'Commissioner for a Day' and will participate in a ceremonial opening face-off at Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals."
Good, fan-friendly idea, right? Sure, except isn't it a little late, at the 50-game mark, to declare 2002-03 as 'Year of the Fan'? Especially when, a couple paragraphs later, the NHL says the "search for the fan of the year begins tomorrow and runs through March 1."
Sounds like 'Month of the Fan' to me, and it smacks of a last-minute desperation attempt at cozying up to fans with the knowledge that there's going to be a lot of angry hockey watchers who won't be able to watch NHL hockey in 2004-05 (or at least for a good chunk of that season, and perhaps longer).
Unless, of course, the best thing happens and the 'Commissioner for a Day' makes use of that day by signing whatever piece of paper the NHLPA's Goodenow puts in from of him or her.
