The Masked Fan

Shootin’ from the hip Masked Fan style!

Carlton Peak – You know, this in- ranks as of yet. between NHL season thing is already Saturday, the Gophers were in wearing on me. Oh, there’s news, Champaign and beat the hapless signings and trades going on, but I Fighting Illini 41-14. should be enjoying my minimum Or should I say that Mohamed two-game per night intake right now, but it isn’t MASKED Ibrahim beat the Illini? This player has gone into beast available. There is plenty of FAN mode and appears to be unstoppable at this point. football to observe, so Does he have a pro that’s good. But neither the Vikings nor Gophers MARC future? I’m not sure about that. He is undersized and are providing any highlevel gridiron thrills at this ELLIOT isn’t a speed merchant. If he gets the edge before the moment. defense against him does,

I must say, though, that for the Vikes he’ll be off to the races for a bit. But he to go into Lambeau Field a couple can usually be tracked down, and that of Sundays back and lay one on the goes back to his overall speed. Cheeseweasels was epic. That brought It is safe to say, though, that when some immediate smiles. My brother the rock gets handed off to him, there Paul had said all week that he had a will be some excitement. feeling about the game, and he called And the team is doing this without a it. I wasn’t as optimistic going in as he complete offensive line due to injuries. was. If all breaks well for the Gophers, they

The Gophers, after a promising could finish out the schedule with a early Game one performance against 3-2 run. That would give them a 4-4 Michigan, promptly fell apart. The final record. Wolverines made some adjustments, Time will tell for the Gophs. the Gophers did not, and got their With consecutive wins for the posteriors handed to them. Purple, they are suddenly being

Considering the personnel losses discussed for a playoff berth. from last year’s club, though, this I don’t see that myself, and if they can’t be a surprise. Also, the Gopher were to get in, it would be a one-andspecial teams are a mess right now. done situation for them. They are down to their fortieth string While the recent heat applied to the kickers and punter due to injuries and backsides of GM Chris Spielman and have had to make adjustments in the Head Coach Mike Zimmer has eased a kicking game that hasn’t worked to smidgin’, I don’t believe they’ve been their advantage. removed from the stovetop yet.

The Gophers traveled out to But, if anything, the Wilf family Maryland and did not fare well there are loyalists who like stability in their either. It’s not a stretch to say that the most important spots. The roster is in special teams cost them this tilt against transition, and this type of won-loss a suddenly powerful Terrapin club. record wasn’t unexpected. I say build

The Gophers went back and forth for the future and look ahead. with them, had to fight to get the I HAVE GIVEN THE NHL offseason game to OT, and then lost when a PAT a lot of thought, and this theme attempt missed to keep the contest has occurred to me. There might be alive. nothing to it because I believe Gary

The Terrapins put a knockout Bettman operates this league with as blow upon the Penn State Nittany high a degree of integrity as is possible. Lions’ skulls on Saturday in a 35-19 On the other hand, I wonder, is the beatdown. Oddly enough, the surging annual Entry Draft Lottery rigged for Terrapins have not cracked the top 25 specific teams to obtain the overall number one selection spot?

I mean, that could be far-fetched, of course, but here is how my theory unfolds – The value of the TV contracts between the various sports leagues in the U.S. and the networks are determined by the size of the markets the teams are in. That isn’t the sole factor, but it carries significant weight.

The NHL has teams in 14 of the top 20 (soon to be 15 with Seattle) of those markets (6 of 10 in Canada).

To keep the value of those deals as high as is possible, you would want as many of those upper ranked teams to perform well and keep the interest in them high. It is equatable to more dollars in the TV deal.

The current lottery-style draft commenced with the 2004 entry draft. Since that time, 9 of 17 Number one picks have gone to the top 20 TV market clubs.

Do the math and odds favor my theory? Well, not in an overwhelming fashion.

I admit that my suspicions were aroused when the NY Rangers got this year’s overall Number one. Especially in a year with a generational talent available in Alexis Lafreniere. That could set the Rangers up for seasons to come. And solidify their league positioning in the biggest TV market in the country.

The Blackhawks were languishing in hockey nowhere land for seasons and then got the #1 pick in Patrick Kane. They already had Jonathon Toews with the #3 overall in the previous draft. They’ve mostly consumed hockey gravy ever since.

Pittsburgh is the 24th largest TV rank, but obtaining Sid Crosby in the 05 draft kept them in PITT and delivered multiple Cups. The club already had Evgeni Malkin (2004 draft, #2 overall) to give the Pens their dynamic duo.

The list and correlation continue forward from there.

You can draw this parallel to Canada as well. In six years, the Edmonton Mohamed Ibrahim has gone into beast mode with the Gophers and appears to be unstoppable at this point.

Oilers drafted first overall four times. Edmonton is the fourth largest Canadian TV market, is one of the country’s essential hockey locales and in its importance to the league. But since the Oilers can’t seem to get out of their own way and build upon their roster, it has done them little good.

In Ontario, Toronto is the most significant Canadian TV market by a long stretch. It doubles the size of the Montreal market. So is it a surprise that the Leafs obtained high-quality player Mitch Marner in the 015 draft at fourth overall?

And then followed that up with the Number overall in Auston Matthews the very next draft? All clubs need at least a one-two punch to get to Cup contender status, and my theory is rife with examples of that.

The Minnesota Wild have never got close to a sniff at that. And they have never got close to a Cup.

In summary, 14 of the last 17 overall Number one picks have gone to teams well placed in either the United States or Canadian TV markets.

Is this a coincidence?

It could be, but then again, I believe my theory deserves at least a more in-depth look. It stands to reason that teams will be located in population centers.

It doesn’t stand to reason that those teams will dominate selection in a somewhat weighted but otherwise “neutral” process.

My eyebrow is now raised.

PEACE