The Mizzou–Kansas Border War hockey showdown – one of the few places you can still see Mizzou and Kansas play each other – will take place in Independence once again on January 17th, 2013. It's true. No official word yet, of course.
The January 17th meeting will be the third and final meeting between the two rivals this upcoming season. Mizzou is the defending Mid-America Collegiate Hockey Association Division II champion. MACHA is a collection of college level club hockey teams throughout the United States.
For your viewing pleasure – shot on NOT a cell phone camera but a real camera instead – here is a fight between Dody Wood of YOOOOOUUURRRRRR Kansas City Blades and some guy named Mick Vukota who played a few seasons in the NHL and fizzled out of existence shortly after this game. Wood, meanwhile, went on to greatness in the British Ice Hockey Superleague, and retired as the most popular Blade of all-time.
This fight comes from a regular season game in 1999 – two years before the Blades' demise – and although this fight leaves something to be desired, the best part of the clip is the Kemper Arena crowd reaction. You can't see how many fans were at the game, but you sure could hear them. Ah, the old Kemper stands, the cool respite from the bitter cold outside. The scores of intoxicated hockey fans, constantly screaming for blood even during the intermission break. The thrill of a Blades goal, you could feel it from the other couple of thousand of your closest friends around you, and the despair of an opponents victory, how everything got quieter in the concourse despite the increased volume of people. Kind of like a Mavericks game now. If you go to a Mavs game, it sucks you in, and for that night you live and die with the team. But, that's not the best part of the clip. That would be the guy wearing the full Western gear, cowboy hat and everything, losing it over a hockey fight. I'm sure he's seen some crazy scraps out on the range, or gun shop, or wherever he came from. Props to you, Mr. Cowboy-Hat-Wearing-Hockey-Fan-Guy, we miss you. That, in essence, is Kansas City hockey. Those who love it, love it, and they love to see it. Those who are indifferent – when giving it a chance and with enough hockey saturation within the city – will grow to enjoy it. Remember when you were a burgeoning hockey fan in the middle of America (or wherever), what experiences did you have that brought you back to the sport? Maybe you didn't fall in love with it at first, but now you can't get enough. This city does not satiate your appetite, not by a long a shot. But you won't let your hockey fandom just disappear. Nope. Something keeps bringing you back. Back to the Sprint Center. Or the IEC.
So, as we approach the Greatest Month of Hockey in the History of Kansas City Since 1976™(debatable), and you go out to the Ice Breaker Tourney, or a Mavs game, or (possibly) the NHL exhibition game, remember to take someone along who may not enjoy the game as much as you do. Show them what they are missing.
Or, just go to a Mavs game whenever. Watching minor league hockey fights might be the best fights you see all season...
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Thanks to the random people that upload old IHL clips to YouTube. You really don't know how cool it is to have your existence validated because something you care about meant something to someone else enough for them to take the time to upload it online. Or something like that.
An article early last week in the Kansas City Business Journal took a look into ticket sales for October's preseason game at the Sprint Center. And, hey, sales are good despite the looming storm clouds of a lockout. Sooo, bully for that!
Of course, NHL21's own Paul McGannon was interviewed on the issue, and the most surprising thing about that is NHL21 still apparently exists despite not really still existing. You may remember early this summer the formation of KCIce, spearheaded by McGannon and former KC Blade Ken Morrow, McGannon's foray into youth ice sports and ice rink management. Perhaps NHL21 still does exist, it's just McGannon with a plaque above his bathroom door (or whatever) that says NHL21. Anyway, he had something to say about the new CBA, and let me tell you, he's siding with the players on this one:
“We’re hopeful that the new collective bargaining agreement will be Kansas City-friendly, meaning we’d like to see some revenue sharing in there, like baseball and football, that would help a city like ours flourish in the NHL,” McGannon said.
Kansas City friendly? Well, that depends on the owner. David Glass takes the MLB's shared revenue and does with it what he pleases. And Clark Hunt benefits as much as any other NFL owner in the league, but, again, that money does not have to go towards team salaries or stadium repairs, etc. Obviously.
But, to be fair to the situation, McGannon is referring to the desire of the players and poorer owners to have revenue sharing – along with the current hard salary cap. This, in turn, would disperse a portion of all league revenues to every team, instead of allowing the rich to get richer. Sure, this would be great for a small market like Kansas City...if there were a team. What McGannon is implying is that he hopes to see an NHL team in KC over the course of (let's say) the next six to eight years – the likely duration of a CBA. And why shouldn't he? As little influence as he may have over NHL ownership in Kansas City (which should be pretty obvious by now), he, like us all, expected to have a team shortly after the construction of the Sprint Center.
Is a team in the next six years realistic? Well, the Coyotes are in an odd position with Greg Jamison right now as he keeps gaining and losing possible investors. Plus, there is no guarantee that things will go smoothly with new ownership in Glendale. A franchise like New Jersey is financially struggling. Florida is always in a bad place because they are Florida. There is always talk of expansion, but there's just as much talk of contraction. Anything is possible, but it's not like McGannon is doing much to help the situation. So, really, he's just like the rest of us. Hopeful. For now, let's just hope we have a preseason game to go to this season and just go from there.
So don't be afraid to buy tickets, because you will get a refund anyway.
