Don't cheapen the blue and white

There will be more than one logo gracing the practice jerseys of the Toronto Maple Leafs this fall. For now the maple leaf will be the dominant logo but the upper right-hand corner will sport a Purolator logo.

When I read this in the Toronto Star today I couldn't believe it. I didn't think Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE), the owners of the Leafs and the Raptors, could make any more money than they do until I read this article. Actually there is one way both teams could make extra money -- they could actually make it to the post-season, something neither team has done in a very long time.

There was a time when sponsorship played little, if any role in hockey. Look back at some highlight reels of the Leafs in the 1970s and you'll see the boards surrounding the ice covered in nothing but white with the odd black mark here and there from the puck. Those were different days back then as even helmets weren't mandatory.

By comparison today everything is sponsored, the boards are covered with logos, all through the Air Canada Centre signs flash the names of companies and  telecasts broadcasting the games are filled with ads of one kind or another. The only thing not flashing a company logo is the players themselves.

But that will change this season in Toronto.

I understand the financial difficulties smaller market teams across the NHL are going through. Reports this week indicated the New Jersey Devils were prepared to declare bankruptcy. There are rumblings in Long Island about the team moving if it can't get a new arena built and Phoenix hasn't made money since it left Winnipeg for the desert in the late 90s. Will fancy logos on their practice uniforms tip the scales and make those teams profitable? I doubt it.

MLSE is sporting a sponsorship logo this season because it can charge top dollar and make a whack of cash from it. The company isn't stupid and that's why it's one of the league's wealthiest franchises. But to hockey purists, and there are a lot of us out there, putting one logo over top of the maple leaf, no matter how small, is sacrilege. Before long one logo will turn to two, will turn to three and before long you won't even recognize the jersey. And trust me, if MLSE can make a bundle of cash on practice jerseys can you imagine what they would make on their game jerseys? Cha-ching!

It's a slippery slope and one I believe will lead eventually to logos on game jerseys.

In Europe there are hockey teams that have their practice and game jerseys plastered with logos. Keep in mind over there football (soccer) and rugby jerseys have been this way forever. In North America there's a tradition in hockey and part of that tradition is one jersey, one logo.

Put sponsorship whereever you want but leave the maple leaf alone. Don't cheapen the blue and white.

Don't rush Sid the Kid back

Many Pittsburgh Penguins fans and even more media types keep speculating about the return of Sidney Crosby, the team’s captain and most popular Canadian hockey player.

Crosby received a brutal check to the head at the Winter Classic game played in January. A week later he was hit again in the head by Lightning defenceman Victor Hedman. He was pulled from the Penguin’s lineup and it was announced he had suffered a minor concussion.

‘Minor concussion’ is a term that’s loosely used in hockey circles but anyone in the medical community could tell you a concussion is anything but minor. When your brain gets bounced around and bruised it’s serious. When it happens to possibly one of the best players in the game it’s a big deal.

A few years ago my wife suffered a concussion after she slipped on the stairs and hit her head falling. The pain and suffering she went through for a good year seriously impacted her life and those around her. Her doctor told her that she had to go symptom free for as long as she had symptoms in order to be considered healed. It took her almost two years before she felt like her old self.

There have been far too many hockey players return to the game while exhibiting symptoms. Last year Boston’s Marc Savard returned to play in post season play after spending a large part of the regular season recovering from a concussion. This year his symptoms returned and just this week he announced his season’s over after he knocked his noodle once again. Should he have returned as early as he did? In my opinion, no.

I think the NHL should implement a rule governing concussions. If a player suffers a head injury he’s out for a minimum of six months. A second concussion would put him out for a season. It may sound a little drastic but for anyone who has ever suffered a head injury I don’t think they’d think of it as such a bad idea.

Eric Lindros was one of the premier players in the NHL before he suffered his first, second, third, fourth, fifth, (shall I go on?) concussions. His brother Brett got his head knocked around too and retired from the game early. Could you imagine how much more success these two players could have achieved if they’d just recuperated longer after their injuries?

At 23 years of age Sidney Crosby is too young a player and far too great a talent to have his career shortened by head injuries. If rushed back he would risk another concussion and the next one could be his last one. Everyone is different so just because Lindros was able to endure countless concussions and still managed to play off and on doesn’t mean Crosby will be the same. He may be one of the best conditioned athletes in the game but no amount of conditioning could help him when he was checked in the head. Game shape doesn’t necessarily equate to head shape.

If I don’t see Crosby back on the ice this season it wouldn’t be the end of the world. Granted it could shorten the Penguin’s season but at least fans will get to see their beloved captain return healthy again next season.

Crosby’s as competitive an athlete as they come so being out has got to be tough for him. But I’d rather see him enjoy a long, successful career than to bow out early because it was the ‘manly’ thing to do and come back early. He should stay out for as long as it takes and not rush back to the game. His health should come before hockey.