Today is the fifth and hopefully clinching game of the Stanley Cup finals, which features the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins. I really wish I had a Wings shirt to wear today, and I've wanted to order one throughout the playoffs, but the only ones I've been able to find online were red, and I want a white one. Also, I don't like the ones which have "Detroit Red Wings" written on it, to clue in anybody who can't understand the wheel and wing logo. I just want a simple white t-shirt with the Wings logo on it. Is that so hard?

Late one night last month while searching for a Red Wings t-shirt, it came into my head to try buying a Nordiques shirt. The Nordiques, as most of you remember, were a professional hockey team in Quebec City. They first played in the World Hockey Association from 1972 onwards, then joined the NHL after the WHL's absorption into the National Hockey League starting with the 1979-1980 season. After the 1995 season, the Nordiques moved to Denver, where they became the Colorado Avalanche.

I'm sure the Nordiques had good reasons for leaving. I don't know—I was in Turkey when it happened. But for me, their move represents a lot of terrible changes that have occurred in the NHL since I was in college. Maybe other people can think of crimes that go back earlier, but the first major bummer that the league inflicted upon its fanbase was allowing the Minnesota North Stars to leave its devoted fanbase and depart for Dallas, where they became the Dallas (south?) Stars. Now, I have nothing against the Dallas Stars—they're a good team and they've had some success over the years. But I could never understand how the league could allow the North Stars to leave, especially on the heels of their galvanizing eighth-seed trip to the finals, where they lost to Mario Lemieux's Pittsburgh Penguins in six games? It was a true bummer, and the transfer of the team would foreshadow subsequent stinker moves, like the Nordiques from Quebec City (1995), the Winnipeg Jets to Phoenix (1996), and the Hartford Whalers to "Carolina" (1997).

Another crime against the league was the changing of the names of the conferences and divisions. From 1974 until 1993, the two conferences were called Campbell and Wales, and the four divisions were called Smythe, Norris, Adams, and Patrick. For the non-fan or casual fan, this could be confusing, but it also could inspire interest and pique curiosity. I remember when I was a little kid reading the Free Press sports section at breakfast, asking my mom why the divisions and conferences were named the way they were. It seemed illogical, strange that it wouldn't be obvious, the way it was in other sports leages (divided into Eastern and Western conferences, with likewise geographically named divisions). But it sparked interest in me precisely because it wasn't obvious, that a story would need to be told to really explain it. This was part of the charm of the league, as was the swinging of the octopus in Detroit—until that too was banned earlier in the playoffs!

The damage that has been brought upon the league is, in my opinion, largely the fault of the commissioner, Gary W. Bettman. The first American commissioner of the NHL, Bettman has inflicted considerable damage upon the league since getting the job in 1993.


George W. Bettmann has totally messed up
the NHL

So I've got the Nordiques shirt on instead of the wings shirt I wish I had right now. I know, it's a pretty lame substitute, but still—it's my own fault for being a fair-weather fan.

Nevertheless, it's a nice looking shirt and logo. Moreover, I've always had a special fondness for defunct sports teams and leagues (don't get me started about the Michigan Panthers).

In any case here is the main message: despite Bettman's incompetence, the Red Wings have gotten me excited about hockey again! Go Wings!!!