In a sport that lacks sufficient media coverage and usually falls short of having the unbiased analysis needed to truly grow the sport, hockey fans are often left listening to and reading over opinionated idiots. No media platform offers more tired preconceived bull s*** than The Hockey News.

What was once a proud magazine that delivered compelling narratives has turned into a cesspool of verbal diarrhea that blows in any direction with neither purpose nor principle. Now don’t get me wrong, there is a place for over opinionated stupidity. You’d just figured it wouldn’t come from an entity that has been covering hockey since 1947.

Adam Proteau’s little jab at the Rangers/Sather’s acquisition of Richards is just another case of lazy journalism, which has been the best adjective to describe THN since Ken Campbell was hired.  This is essentially the same formula THN rolled out last year when they emphatically claimed that the Rangers fate were tied to that of Marian Gaborik. It’s almost like this guy regurgitated THN’s 2010 pre-season rankings.

And were they even close to being right last year?

Of course not. To no surprise the Rangers succeeded without Marian Gaborik, and probably could have defeated the Caps in the post-season had Ryan Callahan not been injured.

Anyway, it’s not just Proteau that’s dragging THN’s “analysis” down. Last year you had Griggs saying “there’s not a lot to get excited about when it comes to the future on Broadway. Unless you like overpaying free agents.”  I mean there’s not a single hockey publication in the world that would agree with that statement. Seriously, how much effort does it take to read up on our prospects and learn that we have one of the best minor leagues systems out there?

Then you have Ken Campbell, who uses frequent leaps in logic (like rookie initiation dinners as a reason to be anti salary cap) to prove otherwise worthless points. It almost feels like that these writers hate on us for two reasons.

A) They’re jealous that the Rangers actually spend money more efficiently than their beloved Maple Leafs/Canadiens.

B) They’re just using negativity to generate page-views.

Take your pick.

To me, nothing screams phony more than someone who always goes against the establishment.  But in writing as in life, the loudest people in the room are seldom the smartest.

The official verdict: I think The Onion might have better hockey coverage than this disaster of a publication.

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