Mark Cuban: NHL TV Ratings Beat the NBA

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was in Toronto on the weekend. He gave the NHL a lot more credit than it may give itself. Cuban recently looked into purchasing the Pittsburgh Penguins and came away extremely impressed with the league’s TV numbers, which are actually higher than the NBA's. Perhaps time for a shift in the league's thinking.

A very interesting read here from the Toronto Star.

Dispense with Spezz?

The Senators have played extremely well since Jason Spezza was injured just before Christmas. Dany Heatley has played his best hockey. Daniel Alfredsson has looked like his old self again. Chris Kelly has thrived in Spezza’s spot. The team has lost only once. Naturally, many fans have jumped to one conclusion. Spezza is to blame. He’s been holding them back. We should trade him away and get something great for him.

I’m never against trading someone if it’s a good deal. If you can trade Wayne Gretzky, you can trade anyone. But this is the wrong rationale for trading anyone, much less a top 10 scorer.

The team is playing well because of the injuries to Spezza, Mike Fisher and Antoine Vermette. All three. Playing without them forced this team to blow the dust off their workboots. They were shorthanded and had to haul ass just to stay competitive. While doing so, they discovered or at least remembered that skill isn’t enough. But skill plus hard work is almost unbeatable.
You can never have enough skill. The hope is that Spezza will get on board with the current work ethic that has surfaced since he's been gone.

Get a load of the Senators’ top nine or ten forwards, coming soon to the rink near you (and yes, I’ve recycled my suggestions for line combinations).

Heatley-Kelly-Alfie
Vermette-Spezza-Fisher
Schaefer-Comrie-Neil/Eaves

Would I trade Jason Spezza for the right deal? If it improves my Stanley cup chances, absolutely. Should the Sens trade him just because he’s been absent for this recent upswing? No way.