Rigamarole - A Foot In The Crease - Episode 2.22

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Without a doubt, the 2006-2007 NHL season has been the year of jersey retirements. As we’ve talked about so many times since this show began at the conclusion of the lockout, the NHL is in the midst of a changing of the guard. Dominant players from years gone by are slowing giving way to young, up and coming talent. In the last three years, we have seen some of the games greatest players retire. Now it is time to honour them for their truly outstanding contributions to the game of hockey. Honouring or retiring jersey numbers is a great way to acknowledge their accomplishments; however, the format that many of these retirement ceremonies are taking is one that I don’t quite agree with.

So far this year, we’ve seen ceremonies for Luc Robitaille, Steve Yzerman, and Brett Hull, curiously enough all former Red Wings; no wonder they won all those championships. The Habs honoured Ken Dryden and Serge Savard, two older stars, but let’s face it, the Habs had so many great players, there is a long waiting list to get your jersey raised at the Bell Centre. Despite the classy, emotional and moving nature of all of these ceremonies, the games themselves didn’t end up getting started until on average an hour and a half after the schedule start times and that’s where my problem with them lies.

Limit these ceremonies to a maximum of 45 minutes and start them a half hour prior to the scheduled start time. 45 minutes is plenty as most of the players being honoured are reluctant to see so much attention devoted entirely to them. This way a 7:30 game once the ice is cleared and players are afforded 25 minutes to warm up, would get underway closer to 8 o’clock. By starting at 9 o’clock as we have seen several times and not finishing until 11:30, the quality of the game suffers, the play is listless and the passion is sucked right out of the building. A great start to the evening turns into a long day at the office for the players as they struggle to match the excitement. But hey, all that was just rigamarole.