Faceoff Factor

Owners putting their hands on hockey

Mike Wilson | National Hockey League

Jul 5, 11:48 PM | Hype this story!

Hands-on ownership is nothing new to American professional sporting leagues. However, the one league that has been the exception throughout the years has been the National Hockey League.

Ever since the modernization of professional sports, there have been many owners who get overly involved in their teams. Leagues like the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, and Major League Baseball have certainly seen their fair share of hands-on ownership.

Some cases in point…

The NFL has Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys and many football “families” like Pittsburgh’s Rooney’s, Cleveland’s Lerner’s, and Buffalo’s Wilson’s. The NBA’s most well known owner of discussion is Dallas Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban. MLB, of course has the Steinbrenner’s of the New York Yankees.

So where am I going with all of this?

Well, now the hands-on ownership is starting to trickle into our very own beloved National Hockey League.

The NHL’s new owners adopting this style obviously haven’t reached the level that other leagues have, but the early signs show a very similar future.

The owners that have everyone a-buzz are Oren Koules and Len Barrie of the Tampa Bay Lightning. In their early weeks as head-haunchos, the duo has grabbed the attention of fans all over the NHL by turning Tampa Bay into a gathering spot for all the free agent talent on the market this offseason.

The Lightning have nabbed veterans Olaf Kolzig and Radim Vrabata. Also in Tampa Bay are former Penguins Gary Roberts, Ryan Malone, and Adam Hall. They also got a new head of scouting in Ryan Malone’s father, Greg. And topping the list of big steals is the acquisition of new head coach, Barry Melrose.

Rumor has it that the next move Tampa is planning is to strengthen their blue line by waking Bobby Orr from the dead and signing him to a 5-year contract, but that’s just speculation and is pending on whether or not they can get their hands on a spirit talker.

As I mentioned above, the new owners coming into the NHL are far from those of other leagues. But Koules and Barrie certainly fit into the mold of being rich, showing a lot of enthusiasm, and having ready-to-smile-for-a-camera faces.

This mold was created by those owners I mentioned above. Mark Cuban (native of Mt. Lebanon, PA outside of Pittsburgh) is often seen screaming and jumping on the courtside in Dallas just as much as his neighboring NFL team owner, Jerry Jones. And as for Major League Baseball, bringing in as much talent as possible in your first year is a consistently used trick to earn support. Something we’ve already seen in Tampa Bay.

However, the difference between MLB and the rest of the world is something called a salary cap (and performance enhancing drug laws…but we won’t go there). So, Bettman haters, just remember it could be worse if the NHL had Bud Selig instead.

There are limits, however, as to how NHL owners can be restricted from being hands-on. Now when comparing, NHL owners can’t have as much freedom on the sidelines as NFL and NBA owners because…well…we don’t have sidelines. So that problem is solved. And the salary cap prevents them from dishing out big paychecks like MLB.

There are times when this kind of ownership is successful. For example, when Mark Cuban took over the Mavericks’ organization in 2000, the team had its first winning season in a decade and went all the way to the conference finals. They haven’t missed the playoffs since.

And, of course, this ownership can fail miserably. When Jerry Jones purchased the Cowboys in 1989, the team went 1-15 in his first season and 7-9 in his second. Of course things have turned around in Dallas since, as the Cowboys later won three Super Bowl championships under Jones.

As for which path Koules and Barrie take, we won’t know for sure until the season is well under way. This style of ownership nearly got even more deeply planted into the NHL with possible ownership talks of Jim Balsillie and William “Boots” Del Biaggio III. Balsillie is an avid hockey enthusiast and Boots loved getting involved with his previous ownership stake in the San Francisco 49ers.

Balsillie was lured away from purchase and Boots is facing fraud charges and is under investigation by the FBI.

Could this be the start of something new in the National Hockey League?

So I turn the question to you, FF faithful. Should the NHL be worried about hands-on ownership or should they welcome it with open arms? Based on the history of this matter it could either bring great fortunes to a team or great corruptions…unless you’re Boots, in which case you’ve already brought your own corruption.

Either way, let’s hope the NHL can maintain a good reputation.