Sorry for another post explaining why there’s no podcast this week, but at least there’s a reason. But first, the lockout. I can’t help but be hopeful given all the negotiation that’s been happening the past few days. I wish I understood why both sides suddenly decided to stop with the press releases and start talking amongst themselves; some speculate it’s because of the Winter Classic cancellation, but really? No one saw that coming? For whatever reason, the “public posturing” section of the lockout has finished, and the “marathon negotiation” section has begun.  It certainly seemed obvious weeks ago that the two sides were not far apart, with the NHL practically branding their 50-50 offer (with supposed “make whole” provision) on the moon, and the players responding in kind with 50-50 proposals of their own.  Then both sides sat on their hands for a while- maybe they were scared about Hurricane Sandy? Or didn’t want to miss any Homeland episodes?  Even though all this time has been wasted, it certainly seems plausible the season could happen again, and some are even talking about a December 1 start date, and a 70-game season.

The out-of-sorts feeling is in full effect for me- I spent a lot of time sitting this week on the couch during the evening feeling strange.  I finally realized that this time of year, the 7-10 PM hours are almost always spent going to a game, watching a game, or thinking about a game.  I can’t wait for that feeling to begin again.

But alternatives still exist.  Scott Gomez actually signed a player contract with the Alaska Aces, who already have Joey Crabb and Brandon Dubinsky.  Seto just played with the Ontario Reign against the Bulls (who have a dismal record).  And Ryane Clowe signed a practice contract, but I could see him playing a few games, to get tuned up.

Here’s another alternative.  This is absolutely real, and explains why the podcasts have been sparser than usual.  Needless to say I already have tickets.

Master of the Hiz-ouse

We will be back next week, and I already have a guest booked, which I hope will make up for our absences.

The owners presented a deal that at first glance does not appear to be bat guano, and the Dudes are a little encouraged.  They talk about what is currently known about the deal, how it might affect the Sharks were it to be ratified by the union, and the Bulls game the DOH group went to last weekend.

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Not much is happening in the NHL other than CBA posturing, but the podcast soldiers on.  The Dudes talk about some Sharks prospects, where NHL players might go during the lockout, and other fascinating tidbits.

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Even though basically nothing has happened in the Sharks world in the last two weeks, the Dudes soldier on, talking about the CBA, the Sergei Samsonov rumor, and other minutia.

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Not much is happening in the world of hockey right now, and the other premier free agent left is Shane Doan.  Mike and Doug talk about his alleged contract demands, the CBA, and take some listener emails.

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Still plenty of things to talk about, as Doug and Mike discuss the Nash trade to the Rangers, the Shea Weber offer sheet, and the departure of Daniel Winnik, all driven by listener emails.

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First of all, listen to the podcast if you haven’t already.

Kevin Kurz has a post about a Q&A session Kevin Compton and Stratton Sclavos (two of the Sharks owners) had over the weekend about the state of the franchise. They revealed some (alleged) information about the Sharks’ financial situation, stating that they lost around $15M last year. In fact, here are the main points of the article as I read them:

1. The Sharks owners lost money last year, even through every home game sold out.
2. The Sharks consider themselves at about the midpoint of teams in terms of market size and revenues.
3. The cap has gone up a lot since the cap was first put in.
4. The Sharks owners don’t care about making money, they just want to win.

Reviewed in this easy, albeit jaded format, this could be a blueprint for the PR strategy of any ownership group in the NHL this summer. We lost a lot of money, even though we are doing everything right.  We sell out the building, we work hard to ice a competitive team, but our P&L looks like a horror show. But hey, that’s ok, we just want to win. It looks like this is the owners doing what owners have always done when labor negotiations happen, cry poor, but save personal face with their customers by saying it’s all just part of the deal, and they’re fine with it. In this context, the headline (“Should Sharks owners be allowed to profit?”) and the first three points are brilliant in serving those purposes. This makes me want to launch into a whole argument about the nature (and type) of profit the owners are in fact making, but that will have to wait for another day.

Frankly, I have no concrete reason to doubt Mr. Compton’s and Mr. Sclavos’ sincerity on any of this. However, it’s worth mentioning that only statement #3 above is proven. All the others either burnish the owner’s own reputations, or further the NHL’s bargaining position. It think it goes without saying that these points should be taken with a grain of salt.  Plenty of the commenters on the article noticed correctly that this loss number is not audited, and not present in any public disclosure statement, because SS&E (Sharks Sports & Entertainment, the entity that owns the Sharks) is not a publicly traded company, and therefore not required to release any such numbers. In fact, during the lockout in 2005, there was quite a row made over the players’ claims that they wanted to see the real financial statements of the teams, and they were not being provided the information requested.

The fact that this conversation took place less than a week after the owners submitted their initial bargaining position is not a coincidence.

Still plenty of offseason things to talk about, including the possible trade of Dan Boyle, more Rick Nash, more Shane Doan, and more.

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It’s the middle of the summer, but the Sharks news is abundant- two more assistant (or associate) coaches have been signed- Larry Robinson and Jim Johnson.  The Dudes break that down, talk about free agents still available, and the various signings that happened in the past week.

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The Dudes break down one of the most eventful days of the hockey year- the first day of free agency.  The Sharks signed Adam Burish to a 4-year deal, but seemingly parted ways with Daniel Winnik.  Mike and Doug talk about that, and many of the other signings that happened on July 1, many of them head-scratchers.

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