DETROIT — You have to wonder whether all the folks employed by the NHL actually believe the propaganda they spout in repeating the “game has never been better” mantra, or whether they simply are dealing in self-preservation in a league that Sixth Avenue rules with an iron hand.
But you don’t have to wonder whether one of the greatest of the greatest players in NHL history believes that, because Mike Bossy certainly does not.
“The players are better than ever, don’t get me wrong — they’re in better shape, have better nutrition and have better equipment — but the game is so monotonous to have to watch,” Bossy told Slap Shots last week when visiting New York. “A lot of times, it’s just like a pinball game.
“It’s gotten too fast. It’s not as exciting as it could be. You don’t really see a lot of plays anymore. It’s guys sending it in, getting it back to the point, and everyone collapsing and going to the front of the net. Sometimes there are nine players around the net. So many shots are blocked, a lot of players are afraid to shoot.
“I’d like to see them put a key on the ice, like they have in basketball, so we’d be able to call an illegal defense,” said one of the great goal-scoring machines of his or any time. “Good puck-handling, plays being made, hard body checks, goalies making acrobatic saves and not just the puck hitting them — that’s entertainment to me.
“It’s just so fast. The game is all about reaction, guys have a split second to make a decision. You used to be able to develop plays, but there’s no time for that now. It’s all reaction.”
Do not make the mistake of identifying Bossy as a grumpy old man. In fact, when asked about possibly eliminating offsides from the game or making every power play a 4-on-3 in order to jack up goal-scoring, Mister Fifty laughed off the suggestions.
“Just the key,” he said. “I’m not trying to be old school, but I think they’ve changed the game enough. And I don’t think they should put the red line back in, because coaches would construct defensive systems around that, [and] that would bog the game down completely.”
Bossy is no more opinionated nor no more willing to express his opinions now than he was when he joined the Islanders at their 1977 training camp as the 20-year-old, 15th-overall pick in the draft. Either he or Bryan Trottier or Denis Potvin is the best player I ever covered in their prime on a day-to-day basis, and just imagine starting your newspaper career covering those dynasty-bound Islanders who were every bit as good talking about their respective games as playing them. Well, not Trottier so much, but boy, did those Islanders love telling you what they thought.
The three were included among the NHL’s Greatest 100 announced and introduced at the All-Star festivities in L.A. over the final weekend in January, which Bossy attended with his 7-year-old granddaughter.
“It was an honor that adds on to the Hall of Fame, the jersey in the rafters, the four Cups, the nine consecutive 50-goal seasons,” Bossy said. “It keeps tying the bow on a career that ended 30 years ago. My last game was April of 1987, so it’s all cool.
“I believe I belonged there with the 99 other guys. I wasn’t in awe of anyone, but it was an honor, too. I guess the best part of it was when P.K. Subban introduced himself to me and said, ‘Hey, you’re Mike Bossy!’ Or Chris Pronger telling me that I was his favorite player when he was growing up.”
Bossy scored 50 or more goals in each of his first nine seasons. No one has scored 50 that many consecutive years. He scored 38 in 63 games his next and final year, wracked by the back injuries that forced him into retirement at the age of 30 — with a career total 573 goals in 752 games, his .762 goals per game the best in NHL history.
The way people call Ted Williams the greatest hitter of all time is the way people call Bossy the greatest natural goal scorer who ever lived.
“A lot of people ask me whether I think I’d be able to score 50 now, with the way the game is played. My answer is, ‘Of course,’ ” he said. “I’d probably score 60. I’m not going to say no.
“But I’m not comparing generations, I’m not comparing myself to today’s players any more than you could compare Maurice Richard in 1955 to me when I played.”
Bossy works for TVA in Montreal, where he does analysis of Canadiens games. He has been a media personality for myriad outlets in Canada and in New York since his retirement. He never had the ambition to go into hockey management or coaching, though there was that time he would have joined the Rangers as an assistant had Trottier asked him when No. 19 went behind the Blueshirts’ bench in 2002.
“I’ve always been the type willing to watch, advise and give my two-cents worth, but I’m too passionate and too critical to be involved on a day-to-day basis,” Bossy said. “I don’t think players would enjoy seeing me or listening to me every day.”
But I sure would.
The NHL’s instinct to privatize protected lists for the expansion draft is a direct insult to the fans, who pay the freight and who sure do have the right to scrutinize decisions of the league’s general managers.
To paraphrase Anthony Hopkins as Colonel Ludlow in “Legends of the Fall”: Private nature? That’s a public enterprise you’re running, commissioner.
Or maybe your teams should stop asking for and taking the public’s money.
Like maybe in Arizona, the state whose taxpayers are expected to just keep on giving to keep the Coyotes — also known as Gary Bettman’s Folly — in the desert.
What’s next? GM’s of losing teams asking that game results be kept private?
Correct me if I’m wrong, but wouldn’t it be a great PR move for Florida netminder Reto Berra to wear No. 8?
Finally, the Red Wings’ new arena will be named Little Caesar’s after another company owned by the Ilitch Family.
Do you think anyone will have a problem if I refer to it as The Pizza Hut?