Dionne dumps on NHL

[Rock]

Dionne dumps on NHL

http://www.canada.com/sports/hockey/canadi...d6-586f05f97d55

JOHN MEAGHER

The Gazette

Thursday, March 10, 2005

Hockey legend Marcel Dionne shed his Lady Byng image yesterday when he delivered a verbal elbow to the NHL and the state of hockey in general.

Dionne spared no one during a rambling tirade at a news conference to announce a Legends of Hockey charity game April 23 at the Bell Centre.

The 53-year-old Drummondville native said the invisible NHL is "headed for a chaotic situation" and is on thin ice in many non-traditional hockey markets south of the border.

"The NHL failed to sell on national TV (in the United States) and I knew this from my playing days in L.A.

I knew if Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, at the top of their game, couldn't sell hockey, it would never happen," said Dionne, who scored 731 goals in 18 seasons with Detroit, the L.A. Kings and New York Rangers

"I just think the sport has reached a real low in the U.S. They're always talking about bowling and NASCAR ratings down there ... but hockey is a regional sport. Now the league has to look after all those (Sunbelt) franchises. I've been to all those buildings in the South and you know what, hard or soft salary cap, it's going to be tough sell for the fans to come back."

Dionne, a former player rep, blames the owners for the mess the game finds itself in, but he wonders if the players have a strategy to end the bitter lockout.

"I'm away from the game now, but what was the exit plan for the players' association? If the owners are sold on a hard cap, what do they do?

"Now there are 400 players without a contract. If you talk to them individually, they're not happy. Nobody predicted this was going to happen."

"I didn't make $40 million as a player," Dionne added, "but it's an (economic) system that was created by the owners. They've got to the point now where they can't afford it.

"I never trusted the owners when I played, either, but guess what? They write the cheques."

Dionne does not think disgruntled fans are in the mood to support replacement players next season.

"This is the NHL, you want to watch the best calibre players. If they use replacements, the fans won't show up. The fans are going to send a message to everybody that they're not happy."

Dionne takes a dim view of today's hockey as entertainment.

"My kids watch it, they don't know the difference," he said sarcastically.

"I was a fast player. We had two fast lines and two slow lines. Today, you have four fast lines and bigger players, but the excitement is not there. We had Gilbert Perreault. He could slow down and make a deke. Now you have high glass, get rid of the puck, we don't want it, short shifts. There's a problem."

Dionne said reducing the size of goalie equipment is a no-brainer. "Ken Dryden said it best: In his day, you watched a player come down the ice and the first thing you saw on TV was a lot of net. In those days, equipment was to protect goalies, now it's to protect the net."

Asked why the NHL has failed to curb obstruction fouls, Dionne nearly lost it.

"Why can't they crack down (on obstruction)? That's why there is a lockout! No one can sit down and make a decision. That's the way it was in 1970 when I turned pro with Bruce Norris (in Detroit). Those people don't get it. We don't exist. It's them and it's us, and forget it."

Dionne doubts if NHL commissioner Gary Bettman understands the subtleties of hockey.

"He understands the business, but do you think he understands (hockey)? I don't think he does. Up until 1992, or '93, no one ever came to me to ask what's wrong with the game? Then suddenly, around '97 or '98, it changed. Now, it's the No. 1 question.

"Our game is in trouble.

"Minor hockey is really affected, too. We're not playing hockey for the sake of playing, we're playing for the sake of winning and to turn pro. It's the same in junior. The passing is not there; there is no excitement. Sure, we have Sidney Crosby, but we're talking about one guy."

Dionne's rant surprised even himself.

"You guys got me going and I only had one glass of red wine."

[Derek21]

Great article with some very telling quotes from one of the game's greats.

['7']

Dionne is right about the passing, I've been saying it for years. Players get slightly bigger and faster every generation, but for some reason the passing skills have regressed.

[Don]

"Minor hockey is really affected, too. We're not playing hockey for the sake of playing, we're playing for the sake of winning and to turn pro. It's the same in junior. The passing is not there; there is no excitement. Sure, we have Sidney Crosby, but we're talking about one guy."

Actually, 7, I'm thinking that whole line seems out of place in that paragraph. I think the reporter heard him wrong. That was probably "passion". It makes more sense with the sentences that came before.

['7']

well if they're playing for the sake of winning, then the "passion" would be there, just passionate about playing the trap. The passing and excitement comment do make sense.

[Triumph]

No, Don's right, it is 'passion'. I read it as passing the first time too. He makes no reference to passing in the rest of the sentence.

[Jas0nMacIsaac]

When a guy like Dionne speaks I would expect everyone to listen. He brings up excellent points.

[devils102]

Wow, a former player makes a comment on the lockout thats not dripping with ego and doesnt contain the phrase " The players are in it for the money now."

I actually agree with most of what he said.