November 1, 2008 The Plot Thickens TFP Columnist Dennis Bernstein touches on the
media hype surrounding Brian Burke's tenure in Anaheim.
[Los Angeles, CA] -- Los Angeles - As
the wave of media frenzy dies down surrounding Anaheim Ducks GM Brian
Burke future with the team coming off their first road trip, what is
the reality regarding his tenure?
The status quo remains; Burke has yet to sign an extension that has
been on his desk since the summer and the whispers continue that he'd
like go to Toronto for "family reasons."
While the team was in Toronto, many of the members of the Canadian
hockey media promoted the theory that Burke's robust ego can't resist
the searing light of Carlton Street. They suppose he craves the
intensity of the largest media market in Canada and would be will to
swap it for his current success and the warm beach climate of Southern
California. Perhaps it’s the fact that the evening sports news in Los
Angeles never leads with a Brian Burke quote (we’re too worried about
Kobe or Manny), no matter how bombastic, while in T.O., Mr. Burke
could be the lead story every night if he chose to do so.
Burke, in a 180 degree turn from his controversial NHL personality,
has remained close to the vest on this one for now.
"I think they're (the Ducks) entitled to an answer," he said. "The
holdup here is all on my end. I'm wrestling with a very difficult
decision. I've got four children from my first marriage that live on
the east coast. I travel back two weekends every month to see them.
I've been doing that since I went to Vancouver in 1998. It's a very
difficult schedule. I've got two little ones in California and I don't
see either group enough."
Another reality is that with the instantaneous delivery of information
around the globe, a general manager’s role can be virtual. Just ask
Glen Sather, the New York Rangers President/GM does most of his
dealings from the comforts of Palm Springs, California. Mr. Sather
would rather hit golf balls in the morning then jumping over slush
puddles by Penn Station and who can blame him, he wasn’t around much
in Edmonton in the same role.
Regardless of the location of Burke's work location, when we
juxtaposed his comments made in January of this year against his
present stance, you’ll see how the landscape has changed with respect
to his future.
"I have no intention of going anywhere else," he said. "I've said this
repeatedly to anyone who will listen. I'm not sure which part of it
I'm not saying in English. We really love it in Anaheim. We work for
special people there. We want to stay."
The main reason that’s contributed to the intrigue of the change in
attitude is the status of the "special people" that the Anaheim GM
refers to.
When Henry and Susan Samueli stepped into the ownership role of the
Ducks, it was a dream come true for the NHL. Samueli was the Chairman
and CEO of Broadcom, a NYSE listed technology firm based in Irvine, a
stone’s throw from the Ducks’ home in Anaheim. Samueli was a youthful
billionaire with a record of philanthropy throughout Southern
California. When the opportunity came to buy the Ducks from Disney, it
was one of the easier business decisions the Samuelis had to make. The
power couple earlier purchased the Arrowhead Pond (now the Honda
Center and home of the Ducks) and with attendance floundering, the
possibility existed that a buyer could step in and fly the Ducks away.
The specter of having the major tenant of his building flying the coop
made the purchase much more a necessity than luxury for Henry and
Susan. A subsequent deal was struck for the club; Burke was brought in
as the GM and with owners willing to sign the checks, and the Ducks
won the Cup in 2007. Not only was he a winner on the ice but Burke
instilled a sense of community around his team. It is the
organization’s expectation that its players actively participate in
community service activities organized by the franchise, from the
seventh defenseman to All Stars. The Ducks, buoyed by their on ice
success became rapidly ingrained in the Orange County landscape and
that contributed to a long streak of consecutive sellouts. And
everyone lived happily ever after.
Not quite.
Earlier this year, Henry Samueli entered a guilty plea to making a
false statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission in
connection to his alleged role in a $2.2 billion stock option scam at
Broadcom. A deal was stuck where Samueli would pay a $12 million fine
and serve five years probation. With be the maximum fine under the
charge to which Samueli agreed to plead guilty being only $250,000 and
probation appropriate for an individual with no prior record, it
appeared that this dark day for Ducks’ ownership had past.
Not exactly.
In yet another intriguing twist, U.S. District Court Judge Cormac J.
Carney rejected the deal.
"The court cannot accept a plea agreement that gives the impression
that justice is for sale," Carney wrote.
Accepting the agreement, he added, would "erode the public's trust in
the fundamental fairness of our justice system."
Everyone knows that justice is for sale in the lower 48 states every
day, so the Samueli dilemma still exists for the Anaheim franchise.
Samueli has been indefinitely suspended by the NHL until the legal
issues are resolved and it’s likely that he’ll never return as the
majority owner of the team. The inertia surrounding ownership has
prevented Burke from doing anything either for him or the team he
manages. We’ve broke down the motivations around the GM’s personal
contract issues but the contract status of his roster may be the
smoking gun that tells you he’ll be nowhere near Newport Beach next
fall.
With the Ducks at the salary cap (they have about half a million
dollars to spend), their ability to make moves at the trade deadline
in March has been severely constrained. The only way that they could
shore up the roster for a serious run is if they match dollar for
dollar on deals, an unlikely scenario for out of contention teams
looking to dump veteran talent and more importantly, salary. So while
Ducks’ fans should get used to seeing the same faces in October trying
to win the Cup in the spring, what they stand to see next season is
the morale of the story.
As presently constituted, the Ducks have fourteen (you read that
right, 14) unrestricted free agents come season’s end. While the
cupboard wouldn’t be bear, the top line of Corey Perry-Ryan Getzlaf-Chris
Kunitz is under contract as well as D Chris Pronger, RW Teemu Selanne
and G Jean Sebastian Giguere but the only other skater signed past
this season is C Drew Carter.
Fourteen expiring contracts is not unprecedented but they’re usually
mixed between restricted (read: likely to retain) and unrestricted, in
Anaheim’s case all fourteen players, including game changers like
Scott Niedermayer, Sammy Pahlsson and Francois Beauchemin could be
history in Anaheim.
While the thought is that Captain Scott will ride off into the sunset
regardless of the Ducks 2008-09 destiny, the market for a superb
defensive stopper and an above average defensemen will push up the
price significantly.
Pahlsson’s salary (he’s 30) is just $ 1.4 million and Beauchmin (at 28
years old) is not much more at $ 1.65 million, both can expect to
double their salaries come the summer, most likely not in Anaheim.
The one upside to these issues is that the organization will have no
impairment regarding the NHL career development of former 2005 second
overall pick Bobby Ryan. Ryan’s contract put the Ducks in salary cap
hell at season’s opening and as a result he’ll have to toil in the AHL
another season before answering NHL questions next year.
Regardless of Ryan’s ultimate NHL destiny, the global view of the
management of the Ducks is about to change drastically. Love him or
hate him, Burke is a highly intelligent and detailed oriented hockey
executive. He accepted the role of General Manager of the US Olympic
Hockey Team for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, is one of four
recipients this year of the Lester Patrick Award for outstanding
service to hockey in the United States in addition to being ranked No.
1 in this year’s Hockey News Annual GM rankings.
So why would such a savvy and detailed oriented hockey man leave such
uncertainty on his roster? Why would he bring in deposed Vancouver GM
David Nonis over the summer in the nebulous role of Senior Advisor of
Hockey Operations? Nonis did his NHL apprenticeship at the feet of
Burke in Vancouver, so the current GM can step away at any point
knowing that an experienced, capable (Nonis stole Roberto Luongo from
Vancouver) and youthful successor can assume the team reigns in
Burke’s craven image.
Kinda adding up, ain’t it?
The team’s painfully slow start has been corrected; their 0-4 start
can be equated to a boxer suffering a flash knockdown in the first
round before getting his equilibrium in the later rounds. The Ducks
came off the ice to win four in a row on the road to come home for a
10 game stretch with one road game, up the 5 Freeway with the young
Los Angeles Kings. The sympathetic schedule looks to keep the Ducks
close to the high flying San Jose Sharks in the early season but given
the evidence, it’s hard to see how Burke remains the head Mallard.
As for his next destination, while the Canadian media frenzy is
clamoring for him to take the role in Toronto (if I was Coach Ron
Wilson, I’d be renting not buying a home), the reality is that he
could take the helm of 8 to10 troubled teams (think Islanders,
Florida, Tampa Bay and Columbus who could need the help) come season’s
end. The cruelest irony would be if Brian Burke took control of
Ontario’s OTHER floundering, underachieving team, the Ottawa Senators.
If that were culminate, no one would have worse NHL karma than the
current Ottawa GM Bryan Murray as it would be the second time in four
years that he was replaced by Burke. But whether it’s Toronto, Ottawa
or any other outpost, the reality is that Brian Burke won’t be toiling
in Southern California come this summer.
WINDY CITY OBSERVATIONS
We were in Chicago this past weekend in support of our prediction of
the Chicago Blackhawks winning the Stanley Cup. OK, we actually were
in town for a foreign affairs summit but had the good fortune of the
NHL scheduling the Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings last Saturday
night at the United Center. Among our experiences:
- Met up with TFP's man with the plan in Chicago, Comcast SportNet's
Josh Mora in the media room before the game. Josh is as pleasant off
camera as he as talented on camera. For those with NHL Center Ice,
make sure you check him out on CSN's broadcasts of Hawks hockey, he’s
a must see.
- The game itself was part hockey game, part rock concert. The
announced attendance was 22,690, the largest crowd ever to attend a
regular season game in Chicago. While that record will soon be
eclipsed at the Winter Classic to be staged at Wrigley Field on New
Year’s Day, the house was buzzing from the time warm-ups started. The
generous sprinkling of Detroit fans helped to raise the temperature as
well, when “Let’s Go Red Wings” chants were immediately met with
“De-troit sucks” by the Hawks’ faithful. It’s a far cry from early
last season when no more than 5,000 were in the house for mid-week
contests.
- Being based in Los Angeles for the last 10 years, one forgets about
the history of the Original Six teams and the benefits of marketing
them. The Blackhawks rich history allows them to incorporate images of
Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, Keith Magnuson and Billy Reay with the young
fresh faces of Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews during in-game
marketing promotions. The new forward looking Chicago management
smartly leverages this connection at every step, it’s almost enough to
make people forget the Hawks haven’t won the Cup in 47 years. But then
this is a city with its most popular team in the midst of a 101 year
dry spell, so what’s a half a century between friends?
- While it was memorable to watch the fans in Edmonton and Calgary
stirringly sing “O, Canada” the last couple of playoff seasons, the
Chicago rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner,” is something than
every single American hockey fan should experience. To listen to the
fans cheering from the first note of the anthem brought chills to my
spine and tears to my eyes. In a time when Americans’ patriotism is
often brought in question, there’s no mistaking the fervor for my
country in this arena.
Dennis
Bernstein, the man behind SCORE! Media and an NHL
Analyst with ESPN Radio, is the Los Angeles
Correspondent for The Fourth Period Magazine and a Columnist
for TheFourthPeriod.com.
