The Toronto Maple Leafs finally opened up the checkbook and signed Eric Lindros to a one-year deal. This is a great pickup for the Leafs, especially if the $1.55 million base salary reported in the article is true. For such a small risk (heck, Darcy Tucker makes more than that), the upside is tremendous. With the earlier signing of Jason Allison, that gives the Leafs quite possibly the best 1-2-3 center combination in the NHL behind Mats Sundin.
Why is it that various media outlets continue trying to put their own spin on the "what's wrong with the NHL" story? Our latest example comes from The Hockey News , in a piece by Jay Greenburg entitled, "Excitement Level On The Decline." Take the opening sentence: Attendance is down and yet still up from before the lockout, leaving it arguable whether buildings in New Jersey and Florida are half-full or half empty. It's no surprise that attendance is down from last season, particularly if you compare the first half of 2005-06 to the first half of this year. Coming out of the lockout, there were legions of fans starved to see the on-ice product, particularly in light of the massive rule changes. This year is more indicative of business as usual, so the fact that the league is above pre-lockout levels is a positive. Toss in the projection that overall revenues are increasing despite a 1% decrease in attendance, and I'd say that paying fans have come back ...