Welcome to another deep dive. And if you happen
to find us today by searching for terms like
2013 -14 NHL season or maybe NHL realignment
or even hockey broadcast rights. Or the Los Angeles
Kings Stanley Cup. Right, exactly. If you searched
any of those, well, our SEO keywords in the episode
description are doing their job perfectly. Yeah.
Because today we are acting as your personal
guides through one of the most transformative
years in modern sports history. It really is
a fascinating year to look at. Our single source
for this journey is a comprehensive, heavily
detailed Wikipedia article covering that entire
2013 -14 National Hockey League season. And the
mission for this deep dive is pretty simple.
We want to extract the most fascinating insights
to understand exactly why this specific year
completely rewrote the NHL rulebook, both on
and off the ice. It is an absolute pleasure to
be here to unpack this with you. What is truly
compelling about this particular season is how
it serves as a master class in adaptation. When
you examine the events of this year, you are
watching a historic institution try to survive
and really thrive by balancing player safety,
unprecedented logistical nightmares, and a rapidly
changing billion -dollar media landscape. It
was a monumental turning point. Just to set the
stage for you listening, this was the 97th season
of the NHL. And they didn't just, you know, tweak
a few minor things. They fundamentally reshaped
the league's geography. Let's unpack this. We
really have to start with the geographic puzzle.
Right. Because the catalyst for all this sweeping
change actually began a couple of years prior
when the Atlanta Thrashers moved north to become
the Winnipeg Jets in 2011. That relocation threw
a profound wrench into the least existing structure.
For years, the NHL had 30 teams divided neatly
into six divisions. But when you move a franchise
from the American South all the way to the Canadian
Midwest. The math just doesn't work. Exactly.
That six division blueprint completely falls
apart. The travel schedules became incredibly
punishing and the time zone differences were
creating severe broadcast issues for local networks,
not to mention just exhausting the players. Yeah,
flying back and forth across the continent constantly.
So the league proposed a radical shift. Eliminate
the six divisions entirely and consolidate into
a four division format. Which gave us the layout
we are familiar with today. the Pacific and Central
in the Western Conference and the Atlantic and
Metropolitan in the Eastern Conference. Right.
But looking at the source, this was not an easy
transition. The league approved this plan in
late 2011, but the NHL Players Association. The
NHLPA? Yeah, the NHLPA actually vetoed it. Which
seems wild. Why wouldn't players' unions stand
in the way of a plan designed to fix their own
travel issues? Because of the mathematical realities
it created for their careers. The proposed realignment
created two divisions of eight teams in the East
and two divisions of seven teams in the West.
Oh, I see where this is going. The union recognized
that if you are playing in an eight -team division,
your statistical odds of qualifying for the playoffs...
And getting those playoff bonuses. Precisely.
Your odds are inherently lower than if you play
in a seven -team division. They felt it was fundamentally
unfair. Plus, they were still pretty concerned
about how the new cross -continent travel schedules
would actually shake out in practice. So it was
really about protecting their livelihoods and
their bodies. It took over a year of intense
negotiations to find a compromise. They finally
agreed to move the Columbus Blue Jackets and
Detroit Red Wings to the Eastern Conference and
shifted the Winnipeg Jets to the West. Okay.
But the real key to getting the players to agree
for the 2013 -14 season was the introduction
of the wildcard playoff format. So for someone
who might not be a massive hockey fanatic, how
exactly did that wildcard math solve the fairness
issue? Well, instead of just taking the top teams
from each division, the new system guaranteed
playoff spots to the top three teams in each
of the four divisions. Making 12 spots. Right.
And the remaining four spots, two in each conference,
were designated as wildcards. These went to the
teams with the next highest point totals in their
conference, regardless of which division they
played in. Oh, that's smart. It leveled the playing
field. It ensured that a great team wouldn't
miss the playoffs just because they happened
to be stuck in a particularly competitive eight
-team division. It's just fascinating how much
logistical wrangling goes on behind closed doors
just to get the teams on the ice. But the sweeping
changes weren't limited to the standings. The
actual rulebook got a major overhaul this season,
too. It certainly did. And reading through the
source material, some of these rules seem surprisingly
focused on aesthetics. Like a player could get
a minor penalty just for having their jersey
tucked into their pants. Why was the league suddenly
policing how players wore their sweaters? It
might seem like a trivial aesthetic issue. But
it was actually rooted in standardizing the league's
image and, more importantly, preventing players
from subtly modifying their equipment to gain
an edge. The league wanted strict uniformity.
Along those same lines, they added an unsportsmanlike
conduct penalty for any player who intentionally
removed their helmet before engaging in a fight.
Which feels like a clear stepping stone toward
broader player safety. Absolutely. Especially
considering this was also the season they finally
mandated visors. That was a monumental step forward.
The rules stated that all players with fewer
than 25 games of NHL experience had to wear facial
protection. So they grandfathered the veterans
in. It was a clever implementation. It phased
in mandatory safety gear for the next generation
of players without forcing established older
veterans to suddenly change the equipment they
had relied on their entire careers. Speaking
of player safety, that brings us to one of the
most significant mechanical changes in the modern
era of the sport. The introduction of hybrid
icing. A huge change for the game. For you listening,
traditional icing used to be a literal foot race.
A player shoots the puck all the way down the
ice and a defender and an attacker sprint to
see who can touch it first. If the attacker wins,
play continues. But those foot races were terrifying
to watch. They were incredibly dangerous. You
routinely had two massive, highly competitive
athletes skating at absolute top speed, completely
focused on the puck, crashing violently into
the end boards. Yeah. Career -ending injuries
were a constant threat. So the league implemented
hybrid icing. Under this new rule, the race is
no longer to the puck at the boards. There is
a toe. The linesman evaluates the race as the
players reach an imaginary line connecting the
face -off dots. If the defender is clearly going
to win that race, the official blows the whistle
early and stops play. So it preserves the exciting
element of the foot race, but it totally eliminates
that catastrophic impact at the end. That makes
perfect sense. Yeah. Now there was another physical
change on the ice this season that I found entirely
unexpected. They actually changed the physical
dimensions of the net itself. It is a subtle
but profound structural change. The opening of
the goal where the puck actually enters remained
the standard six feet wide by four feet tall.
But the league altered the frame resting on the
ice behind the goal line. They made the base
four inches shallower, reducing the depth from
44 inches to 40 inches. Okay. And they also narrowed
the width of the base by eight inches and tightened
the radius of the corners. Which means the net
takes up less physical real estate on the ice.
It's almost like they slightly expanded the playable
area behind the goal, what fans lovingly call
Gretzky's office. Yes, exactly. By shrinking
the back of the net, players suddenly had just
a little more room to maneuver, making wraparound
attempts and passes from behind the net slightly
easier. A four -inch tweak fundamentally changed
the geometry of the offensive zone. Changing
the geometry of the net is one thing, but this
season the NHL decided to change the venue entirely.
They took hockey outside in a way we had never
seen before. He certainly went all -in on the
outdoor spectacle. Prior to this, the winter
classic on New Year's Day had become a highly
successful beloved tradition. But for the 2013
-14 season, the NHL announced an unprecedented
six outdoor games. Six. I mean, you had the traditional
winter classic at the colossal Michigan stadium,
the Big House. Over 105 ,000 fans watching the
Toronto Maple Leafs play the Detroit Red Wings.
A massive event. But then they rolled out an
entirely new brand called the Stadium Series.
Anaheim played Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium.
Yes, they literally made an ice rink in Los Angeles.
Pittsburgh played Chicago at Soldier Field. And
then there were two games at Yankee Stadium in
New York. If we connect this to the bigger picture,
the logistics of pulling off six outdoor games
across the continent in a single winter are astounding.
But what really stands out in the source text
regarding those Yankee Stadium games is a highly
ironic, distinctly corporate quirk. Oh, the Rangers
situation. Yes. The New York Rangers played two
games in the Bronx, one against the Devils, one
against the Islanders. Yet the Rangers were officially
listed as the away team for both matchups. Wait,
they were playing in their own city, but they
weren't the home team. Why would they agree to
that? It came down to a deeply entrenched contract
clause with Madison Square Garden. According
to the source, the Rangers have a contractual
obligation that supposedly prevents them from
playing as a home team and thereby receiving
home game income at any other venue in the New
York area. But doesn't the Madison Square Garden
Company actually own the Rangers? Couldn't they
just waive their own clause? The text notes that
this claim is highly dubious for exactly that
reason. MSG could theoretically waive it. But
whether it was due to complex legal firewalls,
tax implications, or just stubborn corporate
precedent, the reality on paper was that the
Rangers had to be visitors in their own city
just to satisfy the lawyers. That is corporate
bureaucracy at its finest. And there was another
great irony with the Heritage Classic in Vancouver,
right? Yes, between the Ottawa Senators and the
Vancouver Canucks at BC Place. It was highly
promoted as an outdoor spectacle. But due to
heavy rain and inclement weather, organizers
had no choice but to close the stadium's retractable
roof. So their heavily marketed outdoor game
was technically played indoors. Classic. So you
have all these massive events. Plus, right in
the middle of February, the league completely
paused the season for nearly three weeks to send
players to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Which made an already grueling 82 -game schedule
feel even more like a relentless marathon. And
unfortunately, that marathon took a very real,
very scary toll. In March of that season, during
a game between the Dallas Stars and the Columbus
Blue Jackets, Dallas forward Rich Peverly suddenly
collapsed on the players bench. He was a chilling
moment for everyone watching. Peverly had a known
history of heart issues. And midway through the
first period, he suffered a cardiac event. Terrifying.
The medical staff's immediate response saved
his life. And the NHL handled the situation with
the only appropriate protocol. The game was immediately
abandoned. You simply cannot ask athletes to
continue playing a game after watching their
teammate fight for his life on the bench. It
was absolutely the right call. Peverly thankfully
recovered. But from a strict Lee operations standpoint,
that game still mattered for the standings. How
do you go about rescheduling a game that was
abandoned midway through the first period? They
rescheduled the makeup game for a month later.
on April 9th. But here is where it becomes a
fascinating anomaly in the sports record books.
Okay. Because Columbus had already scored a goal
prior to the medical emergency, a goal credited
to Nathan Horton, the league decided that the
makeup game would begin with a full 60 minutes
on the clock. But Columbus would start with a
1 -0 lead. So Nathan Horton gets credit for a
goal in a game that effectively begins with his
team already winning, even though all the other
statistics from the abandoned game were wiped
from the record. Exactly. The source explicitly
notes that all other stats from the original
date were expunged, but that single goal remained
on the board. Columbus ultimately won the rescheduled
match 3 -1. It's a striking example of how complex
a highly regulated sport becomes when real -world
emergencies interrupt the process. Speaking of
complex logistical nightmares, there was one
statistic in the source regarding the Buffalo
Sabres that I need you to explain, because honestly,
it looks like a typo. They're a goaltending situation.
Ah, yes. Not a typo. That year, the Buffalo Sabres
used an astonishing nine different goaltenders
in a single season. Nine. How does a professional
franchise even cycle through that many goalies?
You usually have a starter, a backup, and maybe
one emergency call -up. It became an absolute
carousel of injuries and trades. To give you
an idea of the spectrum, they started the year
with an Olympic caliber star in Ryan Miller.
Right. By the end of the year, they were dressing
emergency call -ups from the minor leagues, like
a player named Connor Knapp, just to have someone
sit on the bench. When you lack stability at
the most crucial position on the ice, the entire
system crumbles. It is no surprise Buffalo finished
at the very bottom of the league standings that
year with only 52 points. Yeah, that sounds miserable.
While Buffalo was scrambling just to find someone
to wear the pads, this season also showcased
some incredible historical milestones. We really
saw a passing of the torch. We did. You had the
legendary Jeremy Jagger not only scoring his
700th career goal, but actually breaking a record
held by Gordie Howe since 1967. Jagger scored
his 122nd career game -winning goal, setting
a new all -time NHL record. An incredible testament
to Jagger's longevity. And on the other end of
the spectrum, he had an 18 -year -old rookie
named Nathan McKinnon bursting onto the scene
for the Colorado Avalanche. McKinnon went on
an absolute tear, recording a point in 13 consecutive
games. In doing so, he broke the record for the
longest point streak by an 18 -year -old in NHL
history. a record previously held by Wayne Gretzky
himself. It is the perfect illustration of traditional
sports. Icons like Timo Solan and Saku Koivu
were playing their final games, while future
superstars like McKinnon and Nikita Kucherov
were just taking their first strides. The cycle
continues. But while the tort was being passed
on the ice, the executives in the boardroom were
orchestrating a paradigm shift of their own.
We have to talk about the Canadian television
broadcast rights. This is arguably the most consequential
long -term business development of the 2013 -14
season. The league's broadcast agreements with
the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the CBC,
and Bell Media's TSN were expiring. NHL Commissioner
Gary Bettman recognized that in an era of streaming
and time -shifted viewing, live sports were the
last remaining DVR -proof television programming.
He knew the value of these rights was skyrocketing.
He was reportedly aiming for a package worth
over 3 .2 billion Canadian dollars. But the CBC,
which had aired the iconic Hockey Night in Canada
for over 60 years, was in a really tough spot.
They were facing severe federal budget cuts.
They were. And according to the source, Bettman
actually recognized their financial limitations.
He offered the CBC a simplified package that
would have allowed them to keep a national doubleheader
on Saturday nights, though they would lose digital
rights and some. That seems like a fair compromise.
Which is a huge gamble for a network facing budget
cuts. Wow. On November 26, 2013, the NHL announced
a monumental 12 -year agreement granting exclusive
national broadcast rights to Rodgers. The final
price, $5 .2 billion Canadian dollars. A $5 .2
billion monopoly. And the aftermath for the CBC,
as described in the source, is just brutal. They
completely lost their rights fees. Moving forward,
Rogers allowed Hockey Night in Canada to remain
on the CBC channel for four years, but Rogers
controlled the entire production. Essentially,
Rogers gave the CBC six hours of free airtime
each Saturday night to broadcast the games. Why
would the CBC agree to just be a free distribution
channel for another company's product? Because
it allowed the CBC to use the commercial breaks
during those highly watched games to promote
their own sitcoms and news programs. They had
lost so much leverage that their only remaining
play was to act as a free billboard for Rogers.
just to keep their own network afloat. Bell Media
and the CBC were completely shut out of national
NHL control. It was a ruthless, profound shift
in the financial power dynamics of sports media.
It really puts into perspective how cutthroat
the business side is. But after all the boardroom
drama, the geographic realignment, and the outdoor
spectacles, a champion still had to be crowned
on the ice. Let's look at the final accolades
of the year. Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh
Penguins was the undeniable standout. He was.
Crosby captured the Art Ross Trophy, which is
awarded to the league's top point scorer, registering
104 points. He also won the Hart Memorial Trophy
as the regular season MVP and the Ted Lindsay
Award, meaning he was voted the most outstanding
player by his own peers in the NHLPA. And in
the crease, Tuka Rask of the Boston Bruins won
the Vizina Trophy, which is essentially the award
for the best goaltender in the world. His team,
the Bruins, won the President's Trophy for accumulating
the most points during the grueling 82 game regular
season. A fantastic season for Boston. But as
any hockey fan will tell you, the regular season
is just a warm -up act. The Stanley Cup playoffs
are an entirely different beast. Precisely. And
the playoffs this season culminated in a battle
between the Eastern Conference champion New York
Rangers and the Los Angeles Kings from the West.
The Kings' path to that final was nothing short
of epic. They didn't just breeze through the
playoffs. Not at all. The source details an incredibly
arduous journey for Los Angeles. They actually
fell behind 3 -L in their very first playoff
series against the San Jose Sharks and had to
mount a historic comeback. Just to survive the
first round. Exactly. They ultimately survived
three separate game sevens, all of them on the
road, just to reach the Stanley Cup final. It
was a remarkable display of resilience. And once
they got to the final, they defeated the Rangers
four games to one to capture the Stanley Cup.
That was the Kings' second championship in just
three seasons, cementing them as a mini -dynasty
of that era. And Justin Williams won the Conn
Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP, living up to
his reputation as Mr. Game 7 for his clutch performances
when facing elimination. It was a spectacular
conclusion to an exhaustingly chaotic year. So
what does this all mean? We've covered a lot
of ground today. From the Players Union vetoing
geographic realignments to the bizarre logistics
of an indoor -outdoor game. We've looked at the
terrifying reality of medical emergencies on
the bench, a team desperate enough to use nine
different goalies, and a 5 .2... billion -dollar
corporate takeover of a national broadcast. A
lot of moving parts. For you listening, whether
you are a sports fanatic or a corporate strategist,
this 2013 -14 NHL season is the ultimate masterclass
in adaptation. The NHL completely re -engineered
its product. They physically altered the goalposts
to open up the ice. They redrew the map of their
divisions. They figured out how to monetize massive
outdoor spectacles. And they leveraged their
cultural power to secure a media deal that guaranteed
the league's financial future. It is a powerful
case study in organizational evolution. This
season proved that a traditional, century -old
institution could radically alter its core format
and still achieve wild success. But this raises
an important question for you to mull over. In
an age where audiences constantly crave novel
spectacles and executives demand bigger broadcast
deals, how much further can a historic sports
league stretch its traditional boundaries before
it loses the very identity that made fans fall
in love with it in the first place? That is a
fantastic question to leave off on. Thank you
so much for joining us on this deep dive into
the 2013 -14 NHL season. Keep questioning the
information around you, keep looking for those
aha moments, and we will catch you on the next
one.