GDT: Around the League 2023-24 I : "Wake Up. September Has Ended!"

[94 Oil Drops]

#prayforottawa

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

What a gong show.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

What a gong show.

Ottawa or Bettman’s NHL Clown Show?

 

[joestevens29]

Summer of Dorion ended up like Summer of George

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

No way…

 

[joestevens29]

I honestly don't know why Staios doesn't just take it in the interim and they do an actual search. There are a ton of various candidates, but no team is going to let you hire away from them right now.

Didn't Staios not that long ago want to be a GM? Rather at least take the interim role than hiring a guy that massively failed as your first real big hire.

 

[Fourier]

Que?????

 

[Arctic Fox]

Sens forfeit 1st rounder for Dadonov NTC screw up

Will this forfeited pick go to Calgary again?

 

[joestevens29]

Lol sounds like Andlauer read the 73 page report from the NHL and had enough. Another quote saying something that he hopes to receive less phone calls from the NHL.

Edit: "why I inherited this is beyond me"

 

[joestevens29]

After reading some of the Andlauer quotes I won't be shocked if he sues the NHL. Wasn't made aware of Dadonov or Pinto investigations at time of the purchase of the club.

 

[Fourier]

Will this forfeited pick go to Calgary again?

Probably to Vegas. But just to make things fair NHL logic being what it is the Oilers will have to give Calgary a second to compensate for the Sens signing Chia.

 

[bellagiobob]

Probably to Vegas. But just to make things fair NHL logic being what it is the Oilers will have to give Calgary a second to compensate for the Sens signing Chia.

Every team should give Ottawa a pick if they sign Chia, just as a thank you for the upcoming horrendous moves he will make. Or at least an expensive fruit basket.

 

[joestevens29]

After reading some of the Andlauer quotes I won't be shocked if he sues the NHL. Wasn't made aware of Dadonov or Pinto investigations at time of the purchase of the club.

Although I don't know that it's up to the league to disclose this stuff. Should more be the previous owners, unless of course they were unaware of impending investigations.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Ottawa or Bettman’s NHL Clown Show?

Yes.

But moreso the latter.

 

[Senor Catface]

Man, our league is a gong-show at times.

 

[bellagiobob]

Man, our league is a gong-show at times.

At times? The sign at the leagues head office hasn't moved from zero days since last incident since Gary took over.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

At times? The sign at the leagues head office hasn't moved from zero days since last incident since Gary took over.

This year has taught me that covering up sexual assault for a decade requires a far lighter sentence than.... well, trying to kill people on the ice, illegal draft combines, betting, and now this.

If the league wants to dissolve the narrative that they love the Blackhawks they're doing a bang-up job of it.

 

[Jumptheshark]

Lol sounds like Andlauer read the 73 page report from the NHL and had enough. Another quote saying something that he hopes to receive less phone calls from the NHL.

Edit: "why I inherited this is beyond me"

Someone somewhere was not honest with him

 

[joestevens29]

Someone somewhere was not honest with him

I'm sure he's not an idiot and would've asked the simple questions as well to find out about lingering liabilities.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

I'm sure he's not an idiot and would've asked the simple questions as well to find out about lingering liabilities.

The most likely explanation is that the NHL simply said nothing to make the sale go smoother and then stick him with the bill afterwards.

It's exactly the kind of thing they'd do.

 

[K1984]

The most likely explanation is that the NHL simply said nothing to make the sale go smoother and then stick him with the bill afterwards.

It's exactly the kind of thing they'd do.

Might not be the NHL's problem at all no matter what.

If previous ownership knew there was any potential liability due to an ongoing investigation they would be required to disclose that. If they knew there was a possible issue and declined/neglected to disclose it then it is 100% on the Melnyk's. If the NHL kept this to themselves and didn't tell anyone, then it's definitely on them.

The challenge here is in almost all cases liability would fall back on the seller because it is almost always monetary in nature so the bill would just go to them. When it's in the form of a draft pick there is nobody to go after for restitution in a simple way.

 

[joestevens29]

Might not be the NHL's problem at all no matter what.

If previous ownership knew there was any potential liability due to an ongoing investigation they would be required to disclose that. If they knew there was a possible issue and declined/neglected to disclose it then it is 100% on the Melnyk's. If the NHL kept this to themselves and didn't tell anyone, then it's definitely on them.

The challenge here is in almost all cases liability would fall back on the seller because it is almost always monetary in nature so the bill would just go to them. When it's in the form of a draft pick there is nobody to go after for restitution in a simple way.

The other problem is lawyer talk. None of these two punishments were to do with any sort of legal liability.

I guess one could make the case it's hurting the brand, but good luck proving that. Sens fans are probably pretty impressed with the balls of their owner for it to impact the bottom line.

 

[joestevens29]

I know it sucks to him that he got fired, but Dorion really should send Andlauer a fruit basket.

Andlauer has taken away a lot of the attention that otherwise would be on the GM that was fired.

 

[North Cole]

Might not be the NHL's problem at all no matter what.

If previous ownership knew there was any potential liability due to an ongoing investigation they would be required to disclose that. If they knew there was a possible issue and declined/neglected to disclose it then it is 100% on the Melnyk's. If the NHL kept this to themselves and didn't tell anyone, then it's definitely on them.

The challenge here is in almost all cases liability would fall back on the seller because it is almost always monetary in nature so the bill would just go to them. When it's in the form of a draft pick there is nobody to go after for restitution in a simple way.

TL;DR - the gist is the NHL is not really at fault for the pre-sale disclosure, but it highlights how much of a f***-up the NHL has become.

It's likely not the NHL's problem pre-sale. The Sens are required to disclose contingent liabilities in the diligence. The buyer's lawyers should send a confirmation letter to the NHL's counsel, simply for them to confirm they have ongoing investigations for XYZ. The NHL can't disclose severity of punishments or likelihood of punishments. That's about all you'd get out of the NHL prior to buying the team, because if they spout off a bunch of stuff and the sale falls through, you'd likely see them get sued for torpedoing the sale.

However, once you buy the team you own the liability so the NHL should immediately be coming to you to tell you about the status of XYZ investigations. Sounds like that never happened. The Franchisor can't really sit there and say "well you didn't come and ask us after buying the team" to their Franchisee. Given they are run by Bettman they likely will, but its pretty scummy.

If he was lied to at discovery then its up to him to sue the previous owner. If he got static post-purchase, there's likely not much he can do to the NHL other than make them look like dipshits in the media. But it calls into question exactly what the point of the NHL head office is, from this whole fisaco and other recent ones we've learned:

• They don't keep a central registry of NTC lists, teams need to inform each other on a honour system. If you lie you get punished. Lmao this is like elementary school.
• They don't communicate well with new/recent ownership changes to brief anyone on the status of investigations, despite brokering 1B corporate transactions and approving the sale themselves.
• They have inconsistent political and social messaging, and punishments - RE pride, sexual abuse coverups, etc.
• They have wildly inconsistent DOPS rulings.
• They are really good at inducing lockouts via MAD negotiating tactics.
• They have atrocious reffing that is seemingly deteriorating before our eyes. Refs on record talking about scamming teams. Their solution this year was a montage they showed teams, of the coaches yelling at the refs, with the conclusion - please relax and stop yelling, its bad for TV. Solving absolutely nothing. Stephen Walkom is even more useless than high ranking government employees, making hudreds of thousands doing apparently nothing.
• Gambling scandals have started to permeate the league and I doubt they become less frequent.

The current NHL is just one bumble f*** after another, it's like a mass pile-up of cars but instead of the police coming to control traffic, the cars keep coming full speed into the pile... Has Bettman been good for the legaue and its growth? Yes. But the last half decade the leadership of the league is trending in the wrong direction, at an abusrd pace. I'm not even sure what the point of the head office is, you can just have a small officiating oversight crew and DOPS, and get rid of all the other bullshit that they clearly don't even utilize properly. There should be no way a team can straight up lie to another team about a NTC. Where is the internal controls? Lmfao.

I don't think Ottawa should get away scot-free, but MA is right, it taking 18 months to conclude this investigation is a straight up joke. He should have never inherited it, it should have been dealt with in 4 months tops before he even bought the team. What's changed since the failed Vegas trade? Nothing, other than the NHL got the sweet sale valuation.

 

[K1984]

TL;DR - the gist is the NHL is not really at fault for the pre-sale disclosure, but it highlights how much of a f***-up the NHL has become.

It's likely not the NHL's problem pre-sale. The Sens are required to disclose contingent liabilities in the diligence. The buyer's lawyers should send a confirmation letter to the NHL's counsel, simply for them to confirm they have ongoing investigations for XYZ. The NHL can't disclose severity of punishments or likelihood of punishments. That's about all you'd get out of the NHL prior to buying the team, because if they spout off a bunch of stuff and the sale falls through, you'd likely see them get sued for torpedoing the sale.

However, once you buy the team you own the liability so the NHL should immediately be coming to you to tell you about the status of XYZ investigations. Sounds like that never happened. The Franchisor can't really sit there and say "well you didn't come and ask us after buying the team" to their Franchisee. Given they are run by Bettman they likely will, but its pretty scummy.

If he was lied to at discovery then its up to him to sue the previous owner. If he got static post-purchase, there's likely not much he can do to the NHL other than make them look like dipshits in the media. But it calls into question exactly what the point of the NHL head office is, from this whole fisaco and other recent ones we've learned:

• They don't keep a central registry of NTC lists, teams need to inform each other on a honour system. If you lie you get punished. Lmao this is like elementary school.
• They don't communicate well with new/recent ownership changes to brief anyone on the status of investigations, despite brokering 1B corporate transactions and approving the sale themselves.
• They have inconsistent political and social messaging, and punishments - RE pride, sexual abuse coverups, etc.
• They have wildly inconsistent DOPS rulings.
• They are really good at inducing lockouts via MAD negotiating tactics.
• They have atrocious reffing that is seemingly deteriorating before our eyes. Refs on record talking about scamming teams. Their solution this year was a montage they showed teams, of the coaches yelling at the refs, with the conclusion - please relax and stop yelling, its bad for TV. Solving absolutely nothing. Stephen Walkom is even more useless than high ranking government employees, making hudreds of thousands doing apparently nothing.
• Gambling scandals have started to permeate the league and I doubt they become less frequent.

The current NHL is just one bumble f*** after another, it's like a mass pile-up of cars but instead of the police coming to control traffic, the cars keep coming full speed into the pile... Has Bettman been good for the legaue and its growth? Yes. But the last half decade the leadership of the league has trending in the wrong direction, at an abusrd pace. I'm not even sure what the point of the head office is, you can just have a small officiating oversight crew and DOPS, and get rid of all the other bullshit that they clearly don't even utilize properly. There should be no way a team can straight up lie to another team about a NTC. Where is the internal controls? Lmfao.

I don't think Ottawa should get away scot-free, but MA is right, it taking 18 months to conclude this investigation is a straight up joke. He should have never inherited it, it should have been dealt with in 4 months tops before he even bought the team. What's changed since the failed Vegas trade? Nothing, other than the NHL got the sweet sale valuation.

Very good summary of all that is wrong with the league office. Basically anything and everything to do with any form of rules enforcement whether it be on the ice, supplemental discipline, CBA enforcement, or league bylaw enforcement is a complete f***ing joke. All incompetently managed, all inconsistently enforced.

I don't believe in any sort of deliberate league conspiracy to favor certain teams and players over others, but they sure do their best to make it look that way.

How can the Senators get nailed to a cross for a bylaw violation, but the Blackhawks get a slap on the wrist for a franchise wide sexual assault coverup that undoubtedly ended in further victims?

How can basically any player that gets slapped with the bullshit auto suspension for instigating within the last 5 minutes of a game reversed to the point where it almost seems automatic, until Nurse does it in a playoff game (and didn't even have his gloves off first)?

How can one team (Oilers) so consistently get ruled against when caught up in any sort of decision process with the league, even when it completely defies logic? (Draft pick going to the Flames in Neal deal; Draft picks going to other teams for management/coaching even though rule had already been reversed)

THANK YOU for recognizing and naming Stephen Walkolm in your write up. He is an incompetent jackass that should wear the denigration of officiating standards in the NHL. He is a bad stain that can't be removed. Having what was effectively an active NHL official move into a role that supposedly keeps officials accountable is like having the head of the police union oversee internal investigations. Its ridiculous.

Basically anything that enters the Bermuda triangle of Bettman, Daly, Campbell goes to complete shit. They rule based on where the wind blows, and for two of the three of them being lawyers completely unable to contemplate or even acknowledge precedent. I am a rare Bettman supporter because of his support of some Canadian franchises in the 90's when he could have let all of them go, commitment to build cost certainty changing what used to be a two-class league, and generally just doing what he is supposed to do in his role. I think it's getting past time to move on, however. The league office and everything it does is getting to the point where they can't do anything right and the sport is suffering as a result of it.