Samueli’s reinstatement comes at an odd time for him and the Ducks
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The most puzzling aspect of the NHL’s announcement that it has reinstated Henry Samueli as owner and governor of the Ducks on Thursday was its timing.
Why now?
Samueli was suspended indefinitely on June 24, 2008, after he pleaded guilty to a felony count of lying to the Securities and Exchange Commission in its investigation of backdated stock options at Broadcom, the computer chip maker Samueli co-founded. He won’t be sentenced until after the trial of his Broadcom co-founder, Henry T. Nicholas III, and that’s not scheduled to start until April.
Samueli’s attorneys are trying to revive a plea deal that would keep him out of jail, but what if that plea bargain isn’t reinstated and he’s sent to jail? Will the NHL suspend him again? The league would look foolish if it comes to that, though that certainly wouldn’t be a first. Did NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman simply feel Samueli had been suspended long enough and that there was no reason to leave him in limbo while Nicholas’ legal proceedings drag on? No one at the NHL would say.
Even if Samueli doesn’t go to jail, he still has the felony plea on his record. Still, he wouldn’t be the first felon to own a sports team: George Steinbrenner pleaded guilty to a felony count of making illegal campaign contributions to Richard Nixon and managed to maintain ownership of the New York Yankees.
The ownership of Samueli and his wife, Susan, has benefited the Ducks, who won the Stanley Cup in 2007 and have made the playoffs the past four straight seasons. The Samuelis were not allowed to have contact with team personnel but were allowed to watch games in their suite at the Honda Center, and they frequently did.
“It’s wonderful to have them back around again because we haven’t had any contact with them for so long,” General Manager Bob Murray said. “They’re fun. They’d come down after games. They’re energetic. They’re full of life. Coaches like it, players like it, we like it, so that’s good.”
They’re returning to a team that’s flailing. The Ducks have dropped to the nether regions of the Western Conference, and speculation began a few weeks ago that Coach Randy Carlyle will lose his job.
Murray — who succeeded Brian Burke a year ago, while the Samuelis were suspended — said he’s tired of the team’s inconsistency. “Patience is wearing thin,” he said. But he quashed speculation about Carlyle’s dismissal being imminent.
“There’s going to be a lot of players going through the turnstiles going out the door before coaches go out the door here. And our players better get that through their thick skulls,” Murray said by phone Thursday from Toronto, where he was scouting junior players.
“That stuff about buying into programs and this and that and stuff I’m reading — you know what, why don’t they try playing better first?
“If you go down our lineup and you put a check mark next to those who you’d say have contributed up to an acceptable level, how many would you say that we have? When we get a whole bunch of check marks, then we can talk about something else.”
No more than two or three players would get check marks now: first line right wing Corey Perry and grinder Mike Brown come immediately to mind. It’s a major excavation to dig out additional names after that.
Murray also downplayed recent remarks by goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere and defenseman Scott Niedermayer hinting they might want to play elsewhere.
Niedermayer told the Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger “it’s a possibility” he would be traded to the Devils before the March 3 trade deadline and rejoin his brother, Rob, if the Ducks don’t reverse course. He also said he’s not thinking about that because he hopes the team will “get back into the playoff picture and compete.”
Murray said Niedermayer won’t be traded. “He’s going to retire a Duck when he chooses to retire,” Murray said.
Giguere told the Los Angeles Daily News last week he’d rather retire than be a backup but softened that a few days later to say he wants to stay with the Ducks and regain the starting job from Jonas Hiller.
Murray said he’s not angry that Giguere said he wants to play but said it’s time for the struggling goalie to get his act together. He also said Giguere will get a start during the team’s current trip.
“What Jiggy’s got to do, first and foremost, is help himself and help the hockey team. He’s got to get playing well, like he used to play. He’s in control of that,” Murray said.
“Whoever wins games is staying in the net. It’s been made perfectly clear. Whoever takes that net and holds it, is going to get it. We don’t care who.”
But Murray also said that when playing well Giguere “is not a backup. Never has been, never will be.” If Hiller keeps the No. 1 job the Ducks couldn’t afford to keep Giguere as a $6 million backup this season and next. Something would have to give.
“Yeah, we’ll explore it,” Murray said. “I’ve talked to Jiggy about it and I’ve talked to his agent about it. That time hasn’t come yet. We’re not there.”
They might be soon enough.
-- Helene Elliott