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Sharks should shelve Nolan appeal
San Jose general manager Dean Lombardi is right about one thing: he and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman aren't likely to snuggle in together and share a spool of cotton candy any time soon. But Lombardi is seriously misguided in his charge that his testy relationship with the commissioner had an impact on the league's recent 11-game suspension of Sharks' forward Owen Nolan. "It's no secret that Gary Bettman has an intense dislike for Dean Lombardi," Lombardi said after Nolan announced that he would appeal the ban. "We're not condoning what [Nolan] did, but the punishment is not consistent with the act." No, it's not consistent. After what Nolan did to Stars forward Grant Marshall, Nolan and Lombardi are lucky the Sharks' captain got off so easily. (I suggest an alternative punishment, and go over details of the blow, in this week's Inside the NHL in Sports Illustrated .) The punishment wasn't harsh; if anything, the leniency of the NHL was a gift. Nolan should be ashamed to appeal. Lombardi and Bettman have long differed in their approaches to the game. Bettman is a bottom-line commissioner. He's deeply concerned with generating revenue for his owner-employers, regardless of the cost to the product on the ice. Lombardi, like most fans, has a distaste for that business-first marketing style. "Of course it's a business," Lombardi said to me earlier this season, "but it's also a sport of passion, and we have to acknowledge that. The way this league has become all about selling, selling, selling has taken away some of the fire." Bettman and Lombardi have locked horns over more specific issues as well. Last fall, Michael Barnett, who is Wayne Gretzky's agent, was rumored to be in line for the Coyotes' general manager position when Gretzky assumed ownership in Phoenix. Barnett is also the agent for several NHL players -- including Nolan -- and Lombardi rightfully spoke out against this potential duality as a conflict of interest. After all, here was the GM-in-waiting for one NHL club, representing players and negotiating contracts with other NHL clubs. While Lombardi's outspokenness was honest and refreshing, Bettman stewed because the incident reflected poorly on the league. Ultimately it contributed to Barnett publicly taking himself out of consideration for the Coyotes' job. Lombardi further irked Bettman when he signed Nolan to a contract that gives the player financial protection in the event of a work stoppage during the 2004-05 season. Owners are bracing for a potential lockout when the collective bargaining agreement expires in 2004 and Bettman disapproves of the Nolan contract because it could set a precedent that would greatly strengthen the players' leverage during a work stoppage. Players who are getting paid during a lockout have less incentive to surrender to owners' demands. In both cases Lombardi did the right thing for his club and for Sharks' fans. He was doing his job, just as Bettman, and his league advisors, were doing their jobs when they banned Nolan for 11 games. For Lombardi to suggest a personal motive in that suspension is embarrassing. It's an ugly charge and has no evidence of truth. Lombardi should drop the appeal, and be thankful Nolan only got 11 games. Watch the tape, Dean. If I were commissioner I would have given him a lot more. Sports Illustrated staff writer Kostya Kennedy covers the NHL and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.
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