What The Dallas is Going On?

See what I did there? ^_^ Ha ha...No? o_O Oh, never mind...

Tough economic times are hitting everyone in their wallets of North America, if not the world. None more so than professional sports teams. The financial difficulties of teams in the post-lockout NHL are well documented: The Phoenix Coyotes debacle, Dallas Stars sell-off, and New York "Three Mile" Islanders are all feeling the pinch, and the newest casualty is the New Jersey Devils (If they didn't spend that money on NEW jerseys, they wouldn't have this problem)!

Yes, the three-time Stanley Cup Champion New Jersey Devils. Yes, the team that forced the league to change its rules to open up offenses, which didn't really fulfill its original purpose: The New Jersey Devils! David Shoalts of The Globe and Mail blogs the New Jersey Devils' owner Jeff Vanderbeek failed to pay off the $100 million loan before September 1st of this year (Don't believe me? Here is the link!). The hockey club has another 180 days to pay it, or admit it defaulted on the loan.

$100 million is a large sum to loan out, and given the track record of the New Jersey Devils the impending default comes as a surprise, even to me: Recent championship success, close to the media capital of the world, and reliable stars Martin Brodeur and hotshots Ilya Kovalchuk and Zac Parise would help steer any hockey team back in black (I wonder what the New Jersey Devils jersey would look like with black as the base colour?). Keep in mind there are negative factors: The controversial contract dispute involving Ilya Kovalchuk when he first signed with the team, a new stadium away from New York and plugged in the "unfavorable" part of Newark, and recent playoff failures in the last five years dulled the once proud luster on the Devils' logo.

The sensational headlines are not helping matters either:

• The Province (BC): The New Jersey Devils are "Blowing Up"!
• Wall Street Journal: Devils, Stars could skate into bankruptcy together

Things were so bad the team called an old friend on the Bat-Phone:

• NHL.COM: [Petr] Sykora offered tryout by Devils 

 No, things aren't bad. I like Petr Sykora, but the only memories I have are of the 99-2000 season with the "A" line: Petr Sykora, Patrik Elias, and Jason Arnott. They symbolized the offensive output for a Devils team that would eventually win the Stanley Cup that year. Under the strategy of defensive hockey New Jersey could get away with it, but Sykora was no Kovalchuk, or Parise for that matter. In 445 career NHL games, Sykora amassed 145 goals and 205 assists; these numbers are nowhere near staggering, but after playing last season with Dynamo Minsk of the KHL perhaps the Devils believe there is some ability left in the thirty-four year old, former first-round pick.

If things get desperate and the Devils default, they may call me! I'm just kidding, but I'll just leave my phone on just in case...

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS AND OTHER HOCKEY RELATED STORIES: Check out NHL.COM, BLOOMBERG, and the Devils' Official Website ^_^