Article content continued

What if the owners had a little, however small, influence in drafting JV18 in the first place and know his family?

What if the owners see a local kid who the fans will rally around in a huge way if, and when, he has NHL success?

What if it was the owners who were concerned about a market backlash if the player was sent down?

Or better yet, what if it was the owners themselves were the ones looking down on it when a young player is sent down?

What if the owners didn’t want the player to be sent down and finally said they were willing to agree to it as long as it wasn’t for too long?

Huh.

Could all of this cause the messages and decision making from the front office and coaching staff to look, well, mystifying?

You’ll never get a straight answer on this — on, or off, the record. But just picture what it would say about the operation if it was happening.

Either way, it sure does make for an interesting game of what if?

BEST LEAVE YOU WITH THIS

Igor Larionov wrote a year ago about how important it was that Scotty Bowman did not bench his young players when they made mistakes.

“I remember Datsyuk made a couple turnovers in a game when he first came to Detroit at age 23.

“Players on the team like Brett Hull, Brendan Shanahan, Steve Yzerman and myself had to tell him, “Pavel, just keep doing what you’re doing.” Thankfully, Scotty Bowman had the wisdom to see his potential.

“If he was on a different team with a different coach who did not appreciate that kind of unique skill, Datsyuk might have been out of the league.

“He would be playing in the KHL tonight.”