NHL players won't fool me

TSN.ca: Poll: Fans remain on owners side

"In an Ipsos-Reid poll conducted by TSN on Tuesday, 59% of poll respondents are in the owners corner - almost unchanged from the 60% from the original poll conducted just before the lockout began. Player support has fallen from 20% to 16% over the same period."

The players need to give it up, their 24% pay cut PR ploy didn't work. The public will never support their attempts to maintain their ill-gotten lifestyles. The CBA has expired, so just because it was the status quo doesn't mean the owners are at all obliged to make the new CBA comparable. It seems the only reason it lasted so long was the NHL so badly wanted their players in the Olympics, and extending the (horrible) CBA was the only way to make it happen.

The players keep saying "we shouldn't have to be the ones stopping the owners from making mistakes" and "the owners need protection from themselves, it's not our fault". I recently read and article about how many of the worst NHL contracts were more about corporate revenge than they were about smart hockey or business decisions.

Found it! thanks Firefox history sidebar!

Sportak: 12 dumb contracts that ruined hockey

Here's one of the most blatant examples:

" NO. 5 -- SERGEI FEDOROV

Clause for concern: 'Canes' six-year, $38M offer sheet with one sneaky bonus

Having sat out most of the season without a new contract, Fedorov was pushed to the forefront Feb. 26, 1998 when he signed an offer sheet with the Carolina Hurricanes.

The contract was a six-year, $38-million pact that had an amazing signing bonus that gave him $16 million in the first season alone, in which he played only 21 games. Moreover, it included a crazy $12 million bonus if the team reached the Western Conference final.

Detroit won the Cup that year but there was no such chance for the Hurricanes, who were playing to near-empty houses. Plus, it was no secret Carolina owner Peter Karmanos Jr. was trying to hit Detroit cheque-signer Michael Illitch in the wallet.

The fact this lockout is to save teams like Carolina makes it even more foolish, doesn't it?"

So yes, the owners need protection from themselves, and that's valid. They also need protection from agents and hockey parents who believe their family deserves a lifetime of wealth for getting their kid into a pro hockey league.

The NFL and NBA, or their players, sure aren't hurting with their salary caps. The NHLPA keeps saying the league has revenues at a certain level, based on the revenue growth over the last CBA. Unfortunately, the NHL no longer has sweet TV contract revenue like they did back then. The NHLPA seems to conveniently exclude that from their projections.

I watched an AHL game on Sportsnet last night. The Edmonton Road Runners vs. the Hamilton Bulldogs. Farm teams for the Oilers and Canadiens respectively. It was a great game! It ended in a shootout after overtime didn't produce a winner! And the Road Runners have several good young players who played on the Oilers last year. The NHL has nothing to fear... those young guys are entertaining and I believe they would take the place of NHL players as quickly and with as much remorse as NHL players have been taking the place of players in Europe and Russia.

Oh, that's another thing that amuses me... NHL players won't accept a cap over here but they'll play for 10%-50% of what they make here to play in Europe. Nice of them, offering a one-time 24% rollback. They're not fooling anyone.

Written on December 22, 2004