Welcome back to another custom -tailored deep
dive. We are really glad you could join us today.
Absolutely. Our mission for this one is highly
specific, and to be honest, it's a fascinating
web to untangle. It really is. We're taking a
massive Wikipedia article detailing the 2008
-2009 National Hockey League season, and we're
going to extract the most... surprising, pivotal
and just, you know, important nuggets of knowledge
from it. Yeah. There's a lot to dig through there.
Right. So whether you are a dedicated hockey
follower who remembers the era vividly or you
just appreciate a compelling story about the
underlying business of professional sports, this
deep dive definitely have something for you.
Definitely. We're looking at a year that serves
as this massive transition point. Yeah. I mean,
it's a story. Sweeping rule changes, mathematical
anomalies, and a completely secret behind -the
-scenes financial collapse. It's a remarkable
snapshot of a sports league in the midst of evolution.
Just to set the broader context for you before
we get into the nitty -gritty, this was the 92nd
season of operation for the NHL and the 91st
season of actual play. But from a structural
standpoint, there is a very important detail
to note right off the bat. What's that? This
specific campaign was the very first season since
prior to the 2004 lockout, where every single
team played each other at least once. Wait, so
for the three years prior to this, you could
go multiple seasons without seeing certain teams
or, like, superstars come through your home arena?
Precisely. Following the lockout, the league
had implemented the schedule that was heavily
weighted towards divisional and conference matchups.
Oh, to save money on flights and hotels? Right,
to reduce travel costs. and build localized rivalries,
teams only played against two divisions in the
opposing conference each year. But fans and players
pushed back hard. They wanted to see all the
stars. So this return to a pre -lockout schedule
format restored a true league -wide interconnectedness.
Every building saw every team. That makes a lot
of sense, especially when you were trying to
market a new generation of players to the entire
continent. Okay, let's untack this a bit more.
Let's start with the business of hockey. And
the absolute chaos happening off the ice. The
off -ice stuff is wild this year. Because the
financial landscape of the league was shifting.
And you have to remember, late 2008 was a turbulent
time globally. The financial crisis. Right. But
on paper, the NHL was actually growing. The salary
cap increased for the fourth straight season.
It went up by $6 .4 million to hit... 56 .7 million
per team. With a salary floor of 40 .7 million.
Meaning the absolute minimum a team was legally
allowed to spend on player salaries was over
40 million. Right. So the ceiling is rising across
the league. But over in the desert, the Phoenix
Coyotes were quietly sinking. Sinking is almost
an understatement. The sheer scale of that financial
collapse and the lengths the league went to in
order to keep it under wraps, it's a masterclass
in crisis management. Or crisis concealment.
Yeah, perhaps crisis concealment is a better
way to phrase it. The public narrative and the
private reality were existing in two entirely
different universes. Walk us through that because
the timeline is fascinating. Okay, so during
the annual Board of Governors meeting in December,
the broader economy was obviously a major topic.
Reports were circulating that the Coyotes were
projected to lose up to $35 million on this season
alone. $35 million in one year? In one year.
And Commissioner Gary Bettman was directly asked
about this massive projected loss by the media.
His public response was, and I quote, they're
going to get through the season just fine. Wait,
Bettman is publicly saying they are fine in December?
Yep. But logistically, how long did the league
actually know the ship was sinking before that
meeting? They had to know things were dire well
before December. Oh, they knew intimately. In
fact, the documents filed later with the Phoenix
bankruptcy court revealed the true timeline.
Which is what? The NHL had officially taken control
of the Coyotes franchise on November 14th, 2008.
Wow. Which is weeks before Bettman made that
public statement of confidence. From the very
start of the season, the league was fully aware
of the profound financial crater the team was
in. So they were essentially running a shell
game for the press while holding the team together
with duct tape behind closed doors. Pretty much.
How much money are we talking about here? How
deep was the hole? It was staggering. The team
had pledged all of its assets to a New York company
called SOF Investments LP. All of their assets?
Everything. to cover an $80 million debt. And
if you zoom out even further, since 2001, the
franchise had lost an estimated That is just
catastrophic for a sports franchise. Right. So
to keep the lights on and the players paid during
this specific season, the NHL had to secretly
advance money to the club from league revenues.
They were just funneling money in. Yeah, they
even made a direct loan in February 2009. Over
the course of the schedule, the NHL quietly pumped
an estimated $44 .5 million into the franchise.
That is wild. And the owner, Jerry Moyes, He
eventually goes rogue, right? Yeah. He tries
to blow up the NHL's quiet management of the
situation? He did. Against the express wishes
of the NHL, Moyes petitioned the club into bankruptcy.
Why would he do that if the league was paying
the bills? His strategy was to sell the team
to Jim Balsillie. The BlackBerry guy. Exactly.
The co -CEO of Research in Motion. While Silly's
explicit intention was to buy the team out of
bankruptcy, pack them up and move the franchise
to Hamilton, Ontario. So you have the commissioner
projecting total stability on television while
behind the scenes the league is floating the
team. tens of millions of dollars. They were
also laying off 18 Coyotes employees and firing
the CEO. All while fighting off an owner trying
to force a relocation through bankruptcy court.
It really seemed like the league was constantly
fighting to maintain control off the ice. It
was a very tense year in the corporate offices.
And the Coyotes weren't the only headache. You
had the Sean Avery situation in Dallas. Oh, the
Avery suspension. Yeah. In December, Avery was
suspended for six games by the league. for making
what were termed off -color remarks to the media
before a game against Calgary. Which became a
massive media circus. Huge. And the Dallas Stars
management was so fed up with the distraction
that they just announced he would not be returning
to their roster at all. Which created a very
interesting logistical and financial puzzle.
Right, because of how contracts work. Exactly.
Avery was suspended, reported to the miners,
and then Dallas placed him on reentry waivers.
For those trying to remember the business rules
of that specific era, because things have changed,
reentry waivers were a huge tactical mechanism
that doesn't exist anymore. That's a great point
to clarify. In 2008, if a team called a player
up from the minors on reentry waivers and another
team claimed him, the claiming team was only
responsible for paying half of his salary. Wow.
The original team was on the hook for the other
half. Oh, I see where this is going. Right. So
when Dallas put Avery on reentry waivers, his
former team, the New York Rangers, immediately
claimed him. Because they knew him. Yeah. They
got a player they knew fit their system well,
and Dallas had to foot half the bill for him
to play in New York. A brilliant piece of roster
management by the Rangers, really capitalizing
on Dallas's desperation to just distance themselves
from the PR nightmare. Very savvy. So the front
offices are dealing with bankruptcies and waiver
wire mechanics. But ironically, the lead was
doing the exact same thing on the ice. They were
aggressively rewriting the rulebook to control
the flow of the game itself. They introduced
some very specific fundamental changes for this
season. The overriding philosophy behind the
changes was a dual focus. What were they aiming
for? Stimulating offensive production and increasing
player safety. Okay, let's start with the offense.
A prime example was the adjustment to face -off
rules. They mandated that the first face -off
of any power play would permanently take place
in the defending zone of the team that committed
the penalty. Which immediately forces the penalized
team onto their heels. Exactly. Because previously...
depending on where the puck was when the whistle
blew, you might get a neutral zone draw. Right,
which is much easier to defend. Yeah, it allows
the penalty killers to easily win the puck, dump
it down the ice, and kill 15 seconds right off
the bat. This new change guarantees the attacking
team starts with instant territorial advantage.
It maximizes the value of drawing a penalty.
And what about the safety front? On the safety
front, they targeted the icing rules. The high
-speed races to the end boards to touch the puck
on an icing call were resulting in horrific injuries.
Guys crashing into the boards at full speed.
Precisely. So the new rule dictated that any
physical contact between opposing players pursuing
the par on a potential icing had to be strictly
for the purpose of playing the puck. So you couldn't
just throw a massive hit. No. If a referee determined
a player was merely trying to eliminate their
opponent with unnecessary or dangerous contact,
they would be penalized. That makes a lot of
sense for preserving careers. But they also added
a fascinating operational rule regarding icing,
right? Yes. They banned TV commercials, game
breaks, and line changes immediately following
an icing call. Which fundamentally shifts the
coaching strategy. Entirely. If your team is
exhausted and trapped in their own zone, you
can no longer just ice the puck to get a television
timeout and a breather. You are forced to stay
on the ice, completely gassed against a fresh
offensive line. It directly leads to more scoring
chances and a faster pace of play. It is so interesting
how a tiny tweak to the commercial break schedule
can actually impact the numbers on the scoreboard.
Everything is connected. But amidst all these
rules designed to structure the game, We get
to the mathematical anomalies. The weird stuff.
Yeah, because hockey players are built for an
82 -game grind. It's a grueling physical marathon.
But a defenseman named Jordan Leopold somehow
found a loophole in the space -time continuum
of the NHL schedule and played 83 games. It's
one of those wonderful statistical quirks born
out of the trade system. How does the math even
work on that? Well, Leopold started his season
playing for the Colorado Avalanche. He dressed
for and played in all 64 of their games up to
the trade deadline. Okay, 64 games. He was then
traded to the Calgary Flames. Now, because the
schedules of the 30 different teams don't align
perfectly day by day. Right, some teams play
more games early in the week, some play later.
Exactly. When Leopold arrived in Calgary, the
Flames still had 19 games remaining on their
schedule. And he suited up for every single one
of them. He did. 64 games in Colorado plus 19
games in Calgary equals an 83 -game regular season.
That sounds exhausting. He was the only player
in the league to achieve that feat that year.
I imagine playing an extra game in a sport that
physically demanding is no small thing. Not at
all. It demonstrates how individuals moving within
massive corporate structures can experience these
bizarre localized outcomes. And there's a touch
of irony to it, considering Leopold had struggled
significantly with injuries in previous years.
So the guy who usually misses games ends up playing
more than anyone else. This was the season he
achieved greater than perfect attendance. I love
that. It's the ultimate trivia fact. Speaking
of things that logically shouldn't happen, we
have to talk about Chris Campoli of the New York
Islanders. The double overtime goal. Yes. November
3rd, 2008. The Islanders are playing the Columbus
Blue Jackets. The game goes into sudden death
overtime. The rule is incredibly simple. First
goal wins. Game over. Right. Yet Campoli scores
twice in the same overtime period. It sounds
like a glitch in the matrix, but it was purely
a mechanical failure on the ice. What happened?
Campoli took a shot that was so hard, it physically
broke through the netting of the goal. It went
in and went right out the back. Oh, wow. Campoli
knew it went in and started to celebrate. The
problem was the referees completely missed it.
They didn't see it pierce the net. No, they didn't
see it. So no whistle. The play just keeps going.
The game is still live. Still live. And to Campoli's
immense credit, when he realized the referees
hadn't stopped the play, he stopped celebrating.
re -engaged in the play, immediately received
another pass in the slot, and shot the puck into
the net again. That is amazing. The second shot
stayed in the net, the referee saw it, and the
game officially ended. Just incredible presence
of mind to not stand there and argue with the
ref, but just score again to prove the point.
It's a very unique kind of focus. The league
had plenty of unpredictable moments that year,
especially with their efforts to expand their
international footprint. The European trip. Yeah,
they actually opened the regular season over
in Europe. The Ottawa Senators and Pittsburgh
Penguins played a two -game set in Stockholm,
Sweden. Meanwhile, the New York Rangers and Tampa
Bay Lightning played two games in Prague. The
first goal of the entire NHL season was actually
scored in the Czech Republic by Markus Naslund
of the Rangers. And while those European trips
are great for global marketing, if you look at
the domestic results for those four specific
franchises... a rather stark pattern emerges.
What's the pattern? By February 23rd of that
season, all four of those teams, Ottawa, Pittsburgh,
the Rangers, and Tampa Bay, had fired their head
coaches. Wow. You have to wonder if that is a
coincidence or a genuine European curse. It's
a fair question. Does ripping a team out of their
normal training camp rhythm, flying them across
multiple time zones, and then bringing them back
to start the domestic schedule? disrupt the locker
room that much. It certainly adds a layer of
immense pressure. In a salary cap era, if a team
stumbles out of the gate, management panics quickly.
So who got the axe? Craig Hartsburg in Ottawa,
Michelle Therrien in Pittsburgh, Tom Rennie in
New York, and Barry Melrose in Tampa Bay were
all casualties. The Melrose situation in Tampa
was particularly explosive, wasn't it? It really
was. Melrose was returning behind the bench after
a massive hiatus. From television. Yes. When
he got a victory early in that season, it was
his first win as an NHL head coach in over 13
years. Over a decade. But the honeymoon was incredibly
short. He was fired by the Lightning after coaching
just 16 games. 16 games. 16 games. He posted
a 5 -7 -4 record. Rick Tachet was brought in
as the interim coach. And Melrose didn't just
quietly fade away, right? Not at all. Melrose
immediately pivoted, went right back to his broadcasting
career at ESPN, and sparked a highly public war
of words. What did he say? He went on a Toronto
radio station and openly accused the Lightning
manager. of constant interference in his coaching
duties. It just proves that the drama off the
ice is often as intense as the checking on it.
Undoubtedly. But to the league's credit, they
also pulled off some phenomenal successes that
year. The Winter Classic had been a massive hit
the previous season, so they brought it back
for New Year's Day 2009. They initially looked
at Yankee Stadium for the Rangers, but the old
stadium had winter weatherization issues. The
pipes couldn't handle it. Right. They also looked
at Beaver Stadium at Penn State, but they ultimately
landed in Chicago at Wrigley Field. Which provided
just a stunning visual backdrop. The defending
Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings play the
Chicago Blackhawks. It's worth noting that Soldier
Field, home of the NFL's Bears, had been an early
candidate in Chicago. Oh, really? Why didn't
they play there? Well, the Bears objected because
they believed they might be hosting an NFL playoff
game that same weekend. And how did that work
out for them? In a rather cruel twist of sports
irony, the Bears were eliminated from playoff
contention in the final week of their season.
Ouch. So Wrigley Field hosted the game, and it
was an offensive showcase, with the Red Wings
winning 6 -4. And later that month, they hosted
the 57th All -Star Game at the Bell Center in
Montreal, specifically timed to celebrate the
Canadiens' win. 100th season. The league was
really leaning into its rich history. While simultaneously
watching a new generation of players completely
tear up the record books. The individual performances
were staggering. Like Mike Green, the defenseman
for the Washington Capitals. He scored a goal
in eight consecutive games, setting a brand new
record for a blue liner. And Henrik Lundqvist
of the Rangers became the first goalie to win
30 games in each of his first four seasons. We
also saw major career milestones at both ends
of the success spectrum. goaltenders. Yes, Martin
Berdora, returning from a significant injury,
won his 552nd career game. Passing the legendary
Patrick Roy for the most wins by a goaltender
in NHL history. Conversely, Curtis Joseph, playing
for the Toronto Maple Leafs, lost his 352nd game,
tying him with Gump Worsley for the most career
losses by a goaltender. Which, honestly, even
losing that many games is a testament to longevity.
You have to be incredibly good for a very long
time to even be allowed to play enough games
to lose 352 of them. Very true. But what's fascinating
about those specific names, Brodeur, Joseph,
Roy, is that it highlights the broader narrative
of the 2008 -2009 season. It really does. It
felt like a massive turning point for the personnel
of the league. If we connect this to the bigger
picture, this season is perhaps the most definitive
passing of the torch year in modern hockey history.
How so? Just look at the roster of players who
skated in their final NHL games that season.
Wow. Those are Hall of Fame legends. These men
were the absolute pillars of the league throughout
the 1990s and early 2000s. They defined an entire
era of the sport. And as they exit stage left,
look who's arriving. Stephen Stamkos is drafted
first overall and makes his debut. Drew Doty
and Alex Pietrangelo play their first games.
Steve Mason debuts and wins the Calder Trophy
as the top rookie. And the players who were already
established from that new generation fully took
over the league's hardware. Right. Alex Ovechkin
won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league MVP
with 56 goals. Evgeny Malkin won the Art Ross
Trophy as the scoring champion with 113 points.
You are literally watching the league transition
away from the heavy clutch and grab style of
the late 90s veterans. And moving into a league
marketed almost entirely on the speed, skill,
and dynamic rivalry of this new Crosby and Ovechkin
-led generation. this perfectly to the climax
of the season. The playoffs. The playoffs that
year were incredible. The league was using a
receding bracket system at the time, meaning
the highest remaining seed always played the
lowest remaining seed in each round. A format
they've since moved away from. Right. And the
narrative weight of the Stanley Cup final that
year was off the charts. We got a rematch. The
Pittsburgh Penguins against the defending champion
Detroit Red Wings. That rematch dynamic is crucial.
The year prior, In 2008, the veteran Highly structured
Red Wings had essentially schooled the young
Penguins in the finals. It was a brutal lesson
in championship pedigree for Pittsburgh. So in
2009, the central question was whether Pittsburgh
had learned from that heartbreak. Exactly. The
fact that the Penguins, representing that new
wave of young superstars, managed to come back
and defeat the dynastic Red Wings, it felt like
the official coronation of the new era. And the
individual honors from that series cemented it.
Sidney Crosby lifts the cup, becoming the youngest
captain in the history of the NHL to do so. A
record that speaks to his leadership at such
a young age. And Evgeny Malkin, who had already
dominated the regular season, becomes the first
Russian player ever to win the consmith trophy
as the most valuable player of the playoffs.
It was a definitive statement. The league belonged
to them now. The old guard had officially passed
the baton. So as we wrap this up, what does all
of this actually mean for you, the listener?
It's a great question. It shows how a single
year in a professional sports league is so much
more than just a printed schedule of games. It
is a complex ecosystem. Very complex. It's an
82 game grind or 83 if you're a Jordan Leopold
that tests the absolute limits of human endurance.
It is a business that has to navigate global
economic downturns, sometimes resorting to secret
loans and boardroom battles just to keep the
ice frozen. And it's a living, breathing history
where you can literally watch one generation
of legends hand the game over to the next. We
have pulled a ton of value out of this 2008 -2009
season today. Taking you from the hidden bankruptcy
courts of Phoenix to the double overtime heroics
on the ice. And before we sign off, this raises
an important question to think about. Let's hear
it. Consider the coyote situation we discussed.
Right. Right. That is definitely. something to
chew on, a little peek behind the corporate curtain
to close things out. It makes you look at every
press conference a little differently. It really
does. Thank you so much for joining us on this
custom deep dive. Keep asking those questions.
Keep digging deeper into the stories behind the
stats, and we will catch you on the next one.