Hello NY and everywhere else, welcome back to the Birdcage. Wilma the Hurricane intensified to a Cat 5 overnight and has become the most powerful storm of the year. Holy Crap! It is projected to hang a right and that puts it over my house this weekend. Great.

So, the Rangers moved Jamie Lundmark for Jeff Taffe who by all accounts is just like him. I'm not upset by the move at all though I did feel that we didn't need to move him right away. I'll have to trust that Slats and Co. know what they're doing on this. Since Lundmark didn't convince Renny that he belonged in the line up this season and he's had chances in the past to prove his worth I can't really claim they gave up on the guy too soon. Hell, he didn't make many new fans in Hartford last season either.

I wish Jamie luck and hope he comes around. Maybe this is the wake up he needed. And that's kinda the word on the guy we got back. Nearly the same story.....let's hope it works out for both players and both teams. I also read on the boards that the move kinda sends a message to Ranger players that more is expected from each player and those who don't show effort, hard work and heart can't be a part of this team. I'm not sure if this is true....but it sure sounds good.

OK, let's get into the OLN/NHL/Cablevision crap. And folks, that's what this is....pure crap. In a nutshell, the NHL signs a TV deal with Comcast's OLN and gives them exclusive games on Monday and Tuesday nights. Fair enough....we weren't thrilled with ESPN although they did provide games on the Duce as well as the main channel and they did offer playoff games that nearly everyone could watch.

So, OLN decides that their channel should now be included as part of the basic line up on the different cable company line ups, like ESPN is. Again, fair enough, it makes sense to me. However, some companies like Cablevision decided that they'd offer it to those who want it for an extra $5 and not charge customers who don't want it. Again, fair enough. While it pains me to spend any extra cash....what the hell. Here's where it all comes apart.

As far as I can tell, OLN decided that if their desires weren't met, they'd withhold the NHL broadcasts from any network that didn't include OLN in it's basic package even if a company had collected money for adding the channel from subscribers. These kinds of hardball tactics are not new to NY viewers as we have been through this several times, the Yankees and the Yes network come to mind. Now here come the kicker. In NY, Cablevision was telling it's customers that the games this past Monday would be shown.....and it was blocked by OLN. But the kicker is this, if OLN claims that they are blocking the games from Cablevision subscribers because Cablevision won't make them part of a basic package.....then why in the hell did I have to pay $10 here in Florida to get OLN and no one blocked the games down here?

That point right there is what's got me so steamed. It's not consistent. Someone is lying, playing games and we, the hard core hockey fans are once again pawns in someone else's game. Didn't we just go through that during the NHL owner induced lockout? Why, yes we did. It sucked then and it sucks even more now. Gary Bettman and the NHL know that the fans had been screwed over hence the "Thank You fans" BS PR campaign. Now I don't think they really care about us....but at least they tried to make it look like they do. So I ask you, what in the hell is the NHL doing about this TV fiasco? NOTHING!

Now look at this from a marketing standpoint. Your league is just coming back from a season long lockout and you are trying to not only win back your old fans, but gain new ones at the same time. One would think that getting as many people as possible to watch your league would be of extreme importance. If I'm the NHL commish and NHL fans in area's like New York can't watch games I'd be furious and start banging heads until whatever problem exists gets solved. I'd also tell the fans just what I'm doing to help them.

So far we have had statements (BS PR) from OLN and Cablevision. What we haven't heard is anything from the NHL. Mr. Bettman may not think that a website like Hockeybird is important to his league and he could be right....but it seems to me that a site like this that has readers from all over the world who are the very people he and his league are trying to woo back to the game is just the place to score some points. Now really, I don't care if the NHL offices respond to us. I do care that they seem to be uninterested in the problems of their fan base.

I hold Mr. Bettman accountable for this mess. Can you imagine if this situation was occurring in the NBA or the NFL? Ha! The Commissioners of either league would begin hammering all parties involved quicker than you could say BAM! Mr. Bettman must get involved and solve this issue....and now.

Shame on Gary Bettman and shame on the NHL for allowing it's fans to be abused in this way. I really can't believe that we here at Hockeybird have to make this an issue......this should have been addressed before the start of the season. By the way, since I ponied up the bucks for Center Ice, should I get games from OLN INCLUDED in the price? Nope. Once again the NHL has proved to it's fans that it's all about money.....while the game and it's fans could be damned.

Thanks for nothing Mr. Bettman.

----}- Bird

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