Down Goes Brown Grab Bag: Matthews Sings Bon Jovi, HOF Elections, and the Trouba Standoff

(Editor's note: Welcome to Sean McIndoe's weekly grab bag, where he writes on a variety of NHL topics. You can follow him on Twitter.)

The third star: The NHL schedule—No, they almost certainly didn't do it on purpose, but it was still funny.

Well played, — Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn)November 9, 2016

Well, at least it was funny right up until that big upset win by the predator. Uh, I mean Predators.

The second star: Phil Kessel for president—Surely Phil can cheer us up…

Yeah, not even sure that's working. Do we have anything that isn't election-related?

The first star: Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner sing Bob Jovi—I guess that will have to do.

Fourth liners and goalies are fighting each other, and all Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner want to do is sing some Bon Jovi together — Jeff Veillette (@JeffVeillette)November 6, 2016

Even the man himself approved. And maybe there's a lesson there for all of us. As silly as it is, there's something almost inspiring about that clip. Even when everything around you is awful and ugly, you can still find the good in the world. If two teenagers can do it, maybe we all can too. Maybe there's still some hope.

The Maple Leafs lost their next game 7-0.

It's Hockey Hall of Fame induction time, with events all weekend leading up to Monday's ceremony to welcome four new members. It's also a reminder that the HHOF induction process is weird.

Members are chosen by a committee that meets in secret to debate the merits of various candidates. Each member can nominate one name per category, and it all ends in a complicated vote in which a successful candidate needs to ultimately get support from 75 percent of the committee.

That's all fine. The committee is a who's who of smart hockey people, including former players, executives, and media. And while fans love to argue over who does and doesn't get in, the HHOF tends to do a reasonably good job of making its selections.

But there's one crucial piece missing: Anything at all about how the vote went. We just get the names of inductees, and that's it. That's not enough. Fans need to know who was nominated, how many votes they got, and who came close but didn't quite make it.

Some people have been pushing this idea for years, in the name of transparency. That's not the case I'm making. Transparency is great, and the HHOF should absolutely have more of it, but that's a fight for another day.

No, the HHOF should tell us how the voting went because it's way more fun for fans that way. We love to argue over this stuff. We love to second-guess. We even love to get angry because our favorite player isn't getting enough support.

And since the hockey world apparently needs to be reminded of this from time to time, here goes: "Fun" is the whole reason pro hockey exists. That's it. There's no bigger picture here. All of these monuments and record books and jobs and millions of dollars are here because fans think this stuff is fun. So when in doubt, do what you can to keep them thinking that.

Baseball does it right. They release full voting results every year, for every player. That gives baseball fans days of material to argue about. And it helps fans understand who's close and who's not, and whose case is gaining steam and whose is fading. That leads to all sorts of fun stuff, like the ongoing Tim Raines campaign that's been going on for years.

Granted, baseball does a media vote with hundreds of members casting ballots, so it's not really the same approach as hockey. The Pro Football Hall of Fame's approach is a closer comparison, and they don't release full results. But they do announce nominees and later finalists, which at least gives fans some idea of who came close and who didn't.

Hockey should figure out a way to do something similar. Fans deserve to have a better sense of what's going on behind closed doors. This year, Eric Lindros and Sergie Makarov finally made it after years of being snubbed, and Rogie Vachon made the cut a full 34 years after he'd retired. Had they come close all those years? Did their candidacies ebb and flow? Were they falling just short year after year before finally making it? What about guys like Jeremy Roenick or Mark Recchi or Paul Kariya who haven't made it in yet? Fans have no idea, and never will.

They should. So be it resolved that the Hockey Hall of Fame should find a way to help fans follow these sort of multi-year story arcs. Releasing full results for all players receiving votes would be good. Giving us some indication of which players came close each year would at least be an improvement.

Maybe the committee would rather not have their work scrutinized and picked over and—let's face it—endlessly whined about by fans. Too bad. We're the reason the Hall exists in the first place. Make it as fun for us as possible.

Jets' rookie Patrik Laine is kind of good. He recorded his second hat trick of the season this week, which prompted the NHL to tweet out this:

Patrik Laine is 4th player in NHL history to record multiple hat tricks before 19th birthday (Jack Hamilton, Dale Hawerchuk, Trevor Linden). — NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL)November 9, 2016

Jets' fans will appreciate any comparison to Dale Hawerchuk, and Trevor Linden wasn't so bad himself. But I have to admit, I'd never heard of Jack Hamilton. So let's make him this week's obscure player.

As it turns out, Hamilton was a young center who made his debut with the Maple Leafs during the 1942-43 season. And he was young—just seventeen, to be exact, back before the NHL had imposed the current age limit. He scored one goal in 13 games, then returned to earn a full-time spot for the 1943-44 season. He scored 20 goals that year, including those two hat tricks, all before he turned 19.

Hamilton spent the 1944-45 season in the NSDHL, then returned to the Maple Leafs for one more year, during which he scored seven goals. That was it for his NHL career, although he'd bounce around the minor leagues until 1958. At one point the Maple Leafs traded him for the rights to winger Danny Lewicki, who'd debut with the Leafs and later go onto become a regular with the Rangers.

Both Hamilton and Lewicki still rank in the Maple Leafs all-time top ten for goals scored by a teenager. It's not known whether they ever sang Bon Jovi on the bench.

The issue: Earlier this week, Jets' defenseman Jacob Trouba signed a two-year deal, ending a stalemate that began with a trade demand and had kept him out of the lineup all season.

The outrage: Did you see those quotes from Trouba and the Jets? What was up with that?

Is it justified: This week's signing feels like a clear loss for Trouba. He'd wanted a trade, and he didn't get one. And he didn't get much of a contract either, settling for a two-year deal that will average $3 million a season and still leaves him as a restricted free agent when it's over.

So hey, well played by Jets GM Kevin Chevaldayoff. He waited his young player out, and got him signed to a favorable deal. And he can still turn around and trade him if he chooses to. Nobody should be surprised that the Jets won here—the CBA gives players like Trouba virtually no leverage—but they still got the job done.

But what raised a few eyebrows were some of the quotes that followed the announcement. For example, here's Cheveldayoff appearing to quash any possibility of a trade.

Kevin Cheveldayoff says 'Jacob Trouba is a Winnipeg Jet' when asked if Trouba might be traded after signing a new deal.

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris)November 7, 2016

And here's Trouba apparently agreeing.

Trouba says he has rescinded trade request. 'I signed that paper to be here for two years.'

— gary lawless (@garylawless)November 8, 2016

Does that make any sense? Is this really one big happy family again? Are these guys serious?

Well, no. They're not. They're lying. And that's OK.

Look, it's nice to hear an honest and insightful answer out of someone involved in a major news story. As the media, it's our job to do our best to get exactly that. And all things being equal, it's better for the league if people just skip the nonsense and tell us the truth.

But sometimes things aren't equal, and sometimes there's just no benefit in anyone saying what they really feel. It doesn't do anyone any good if Trouba says "Look, I hate it here and I want out and I'm pissed off that it didn't happen, but I had no choice so here I am". That would be a great soundbite, and it would give people like me plenty to write about it, but otherwise it doesn't help anyone.

Similarly, if Cheveldayoff says "Yes, of course we're still open to trading him, and getting him on a cheap deal might make that easier, but we're going to make him sweat for a while because we're in freaking Winnipeg and we need to send a message to other players that you can't just force your way out of here."

So yes, of course both sides put a happy face on things. It's the only smart thing to do.

We see this all the time in the NHL. Some coach on a ten-game losing streak gets a vote of confidence from a GM. Some veteran gets sent to the press box, and they say that they're just happy the team won. A player gets traded from a Cup contender to the last place team and says that they're fine with it. And we all roll our eyes, and ask "Can you believe he really said that?"

Well, yes, we should believe it. Here's a rule of thumb. The next time somebody in the hockey world says something that strikes you as obvious B.S., ask yourself this: Can you realistically picture them saying literally anything else that wouldn't have made the situation far worse? If the answer is no, then let it go. Ignore what they said, because it's meaningless, but don't criticize them for saying it.

Your kindergarten teacher was wrong when they said that honesty is always the best policy. In the NHL, at least, we can accept that sometimes it's OK to lie.

We're into week five of the NHL season, which means we've had enough time for certain teams to realize they might be screwed. The Canucks recently lost nine straight. Nobody can figure out what's wrong with the Predators. The Islanders are a mess. The Stars and Panthers are too.

Misery loves company. So today, let's travel back to 1987, as Hockey Night in Canada reminds us that this sport can be a heart-breaker.

• Our host is the adorable mid-80s version of broadcasting legend Steve Armitage. We only get to hear one word of his introduction: "Heartache". I'm assuming there was more, but honestly, that pretty much sums it up. I think HNIC should do more of this. We could save a lot of time if we just started every Canucks game with an announcer looking into the camera and saying "abject misery and anguish" and then cut right to the opening faceoff.

• Our first clip is a fun one, as Glenn Healy makes a routine save and then gets body checked back into his own net by a Rangers forward. He immediately charges after the referee, demanding that we spend ten minutes standing around waiting for a replay review to be inconclusive.

• Our next angry goaltender is Doug Soetaert, who's chasing down a referee and furiously pointing at him. Hey, at least you didn't throw sticks and garbage cans at him, right Doug? That was a joke, by the way. You should never actually… what are you doing, Doug? Put the sticks down, Doug. Oh no.

• We now cut to the true stars of this video: Angry coaches. Two of the first we see are Quebec's Michel Bergeron and New York's Phil Esposito. A few months later, Esposito would pull off a trade for Bergeron, in what still stands as the only coach trade in NHL history. We need to bring those back. Dave Tippett for Peter Laviolette, WHO SAYS NO?

• You know how in old video games they'd use the same generic graphic for most of the coaches? That was the NHL in 1987. Half of these guys are going to look like Dan Maloney. Just warning you in advance. Here he is coaching the North Stars.

• Next up is a quick shot of longtime coach and GM Bryan Murray. He's coaching the Capitals here, still a few years away from being fired in the middle of a season and replaced by his own brother. NHL coaching in the 1980s was weird, man.

• And here's Jacques Demers, who appears to be wiping away tears, presumably because the other team's coach won't fight him.

• Hey, it's Obscure Player alumni Ilka Sinisalo!

• And now Dan Maloney is coaching the Canadiens. Seriously, he was coaching half the teams in the league at this point. Call it the Ominpresent Dan Maloney Theory. Prove me wrong.

• A fun game to play whenever you see a clip of a coach or player flipping out is to find the guys on the bench making weird faces behind his back. I'm a big fan of this guy.

• Soon we get to legitimate crazy person Doug Carpenter, who'll make a few appearances in this clip because he had the best exasperated coach face since Don Cherry. Here, he's taking off his jacket, which is veteran crazy coach move. You can't throw a really good tantrum with extra layers. This guy knows what he's doing.

• By the way, Carpenter was a season away from being fired and replaced by Jim Schoenfeld, who was, it would be fair to say, not a calming influence. Here's some free advice: Stop hiring red-headed coaches, New Jersey, they are all insane.

• Did the Devils listen to me? No they did not.

• Scott Stevens is really angry because he just elbowed some dude's head into the eighth row and the referee told him that might be considered dirty someday.

• No idea who Dan Maloney was coaching in that clip. By the way, The Ominpresent Dan Maloney Theory would be a great name for a band.

• Now we're back to Esposito, who walks away from the referee to go stand in front of Kenny Rogers. Meanwhile, this poor guy has seen too much.

• Now we get to the king of the crazy NHL coaches, the legendary John Brophy. In this clip, he's absolutely furious and seems to be threatening the referee with imminent death. Or, as Maple Leaf fans came to know it, "a good mood". They must have won that night.

• By the way, the Maple Leafs' last three full-time coaches of the 1980s: Dan Maloney, John Brophy and Doug Carpenter. This means something. I have no idea what.

• "How long do I have to stay still before I can tell him he's crushing me up against the wall?"

• I don't know what Bergeron is doing with his fists here, but we can take a moment to appreciate the seamless way he works in a gum spit? Some guys are just pros.

• Finally, we close by going back to a player: Bruins tough guy Jay Miller. He's unhappy with getting tossed out of a game, and decides to try to kick over a trash can while wearing skates on a concrete floor. It goes about as well as you might expect. Come on, Jay. You went full Tuukka. You never go full Tuukka.

• And that does it for our clip of human misery and sadness. See, Canucks fans? It could be worse. Ah, who are we kidding, it will be worse. Just practice your disappointed policeman face and it will be OK.