No more assignments to the Springfield Thunderbirds.
Now, we’re talking conditioning stints in Leavenworth, exchanging bag skates for breaking rocks in the hot sun.
At the very least, the confirmation hearings for Florida Panthers owner Vinny Viola as he seeks to become Donald Trump’s Secretary of the Army will create a new dialogue in swamp-draining Washington.
“Mr. Viola, before we get your thoughts on logistical priorities for our military, can you explain why in the world you thought trading Dmitri Kulikov to Buffalo for Mark Pysyk made any sense at all?”
Or perhaps, “Yes sir, we understand your stance on new forms of West Point training. But why did you think it was a good idea to fire Scott Luce after he drafted Alexander Barkov, Nick Bjugstad, Jonathan Huberdeau, Aaron Ekblad and Vince Trocheck?”
Oh, the fun we’ll have as Viola, only moderately successful as an NHL owner so far, attempts to take his rightful place alongside Linda McMahon, Kanye West and Rex Tillerson as the Trump administration nuzzles up to Vladimir Putin and expansionist Russia.
Seriously, you couldn’t make this stuff up.
We’ve been in uncharted territory for a while now as The Great Orange Fog prepares to assume power, and now the NHL gets to join in the festivities. Roberto Luongo should be able to snag great tickets for next month’s inauguration.
Viola, who bought the Panthers in 2013 and this year gave the team’s logo more of a military-style look, graduated from West Point in 1977, became a billionaire through electronic trading and helped fund the Combating Terrorism Centre after 9/11. In other words, he has the money required to join Trump’s billionaire-boys cabinet, plus a serious military background that makes him a qualified candidate for this office.
Indeed, as evidence mounts that Putin-inspired hacking helped nudge Trump towards the U.S. presidency, it’s fascinating that Viola has for some time been a proponent of America becoming much more proficient and aggressive in the world of cyber warfare.
Remind me not to log into the Panthers’ website.
Viola is obviously a serious guy, although signing up for the $185,100/year job to run the Army for a president who appears to embrace white nationalism, dabbles in fake news, has been accused of sexual harassment and has no problem associating with a bloody Russian dictator does reveal some intriguing political leanings for the Panthers proprietor.
This wouldn’t have, of course, raised quite as many eyebrows around the NHL except for the way in which Viola has taken his 103-point Florida team and run it into the ditch this season. You could blame Gerard Gallant, the departed coach, or his management team led by Tom Rowe, but Panthers officials have made it very clear that Viola and his family are also very involved with all hockey decisions the club makes.
So let’s assume Trump was more impressed with Viola’s military background and success in the financial world than with the Erik Gudbranson trade.
The Panthers immediately announced that while the Viola family will continue to own the Panthers, co-owner Doug Cifu will step in and become chairman and governor of the team. Not sure what that means, although it seems unlikely to spark an immediate increase in the team’s woeful attendance average of 14,318 fans per game.
It’s just never dull with these guys. Just think, only last week we were debating whether reports of Dale Tallon returning to power was going to be the biggest south Florida hockey story of the month.
Now we can look forward to Jaromir Jagr rewriting the Army’s conditioning protocols. The Panthers have won three of their last 10 and presumably Viola will be looking for a better winning percentage and improved possession stats in this new career opportunity.
The crossover from sports to U.S. politics is a well-worn path and includes former athletes like Bill Bradley, J.C. Watts, Jack Kemp, Kevin Johnson, Steve Largent, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse “The Body” Ventura. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, meanwhile, was a very vocal opponent of Trump’s during this year’s election and a vocal advocate for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, as was Cleveland NBA superstar LeBron James.
Up here in the Great White North, former Montreal goaltender and Toronto Maple Leafs president Ken Dryden served in Prime Minister Paul Martin’s cabinet earlier this century. Red Kelly, while playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 1960s, was twice elected as a Member of Parliament.
So there’s certainly some precedent for Viola’s nomination in terms of politics harvesting people from the sports world and, specifically, the hockey world.
That said, Trump has been, at the very least, a wildly polarizing figure as he prepares to take office, and the formation of his cabinet has already attracted a great deal of scrutiny and controversy.
Now Viola, and the NHL by association, gets dumped right in the middle of that. At least if the NHL does decide to go to Pyeongchang for the 2018 Winter Olympics they’ll now have some influence in preparations along the DMZ.
Then there’s the programming opportunities. One can only guess that this will make sports broadcasting history as the first Senate confirmation hearing ever carried live on the NHL Network.