We were going to rip the meetings, but ...
NAPLES, Fla. -- We must admit, we came to the GMs meetings fully expecting to savage the league for its decision to hold this get-together after the trade deadline, thus sucking the life out of any buzz that might otherwise have surrounded the event.
In the previous two years, the GMs' midwinter meetings were held about a week before the trade deadline, providing no end to story lines surrounding the game. The number of media in attendance in those two years was significantly greater than the handful in attendance at this year's meetings.
Although it's tempting to suggest this, the reality is, it really isn't all about us. Well, not all the time, anyway.
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What we discovered this year is that it's a complicated business for the GMs who ultimately decide when these meetings, which focus on rules changes and other important game-related matters, are scheduled.
Faced with a contentious issue like fighting, not to mention a number of other proposals on the agenda this year, GMs reported after the meetings broke Wednesday that the focus was much greater than in the past couple of years.
"I think it's the best meeting we've had in a long time," Chicago GM Dale Tallon told ESPN.com.
Los Angeles Kings GM Dean Lombardi was unequivocal about his belief that the meetings need to be separate from the trade deadline.
"I like this much better. You're not able to focus [before the deadline]," Lombardi said. "The other thing, too, from a practical standpoint, it's much more efficient and professional, I think, to be in your office with your staff sitting down not having worrying about sidebar meetings. It's impossible to really focus on these issues when you're at the trade deadline."
Still, it's worth noting that in the days leading up to the NHL's trade deadline, the Rocky Mountain News, a major daily newspaper in a major NHL market in Denver, closed its doors. The U.S. newspaper industry is in a state of chaos, never mind that hockey is a tough sell at many newspapers in the best of times. So, does the NHL have an obligation to try to create buzz or excitement around one of its crucial periods of the schedule, even if it means the job becomes a little more onerous for its GMs?
"My view of events is that you create events that work around the substance, and the substance is more important, and if in fact the GMs feel that they get more out of the meeting by doing it this way, that to me is more important than creating the event," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said.
Still, the commissioner will defer to the GMs about when they believe these meetings should be held. It's not an easy decision.
"I'd be open to having these meetings right through the trade deadline, and really, if you want to have a big buzz, you could go two days before and two or three days after," Detroit GM Ken Holland said. "It's a mixed bag. Some people feel the timing of this meeting is better because people are more relaxed; we can focus on the issues on the agenda. Other people liked it a week prior because you got the managers together and there was huddling around for trade talk, obviously the buzz."
The fact many of the GMs do find time during this annual gathering to play a few rounds of golf may be moot -- and who are we to begrudge them some relaxation -- but it suggests there might be a way to accomplish the league's business while holding the meetings at a time when there might be increased interest from hockey fans, especially in the United States.
"There is great merit in the way this meeting was conducted without any distractions," Toronto GM Brian Burke said. "It's fun to watch people that love the game like this talk about rule changes and the thought that goes into it.
"When you're a rookie GM and you first come in, you realize the passion these people have for the game. That being said, there's nowhere near the buzz that there has been in the past, and I think buzz is good for our game."
Scott Burnside covers the NHL for ESPN.com.
