Comments on: What leverage do the players have?

By: jewelsfromthecrown

jewelsfromthecrown — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 02:21:00 +0000

Yeah, I mean, with Doughty, I’d seen enough to think “Why are you effing around with your franchise player?” And I still think they should have cut a deal before training camp.

Here, I see an easy way to finesse this so that the owners ultimately get what they want (50%) while still meeting the players’ primary goal (no salary rollbacks/de facto escrow paycuts), and it could all be settled with a tidy bow before Jan 1st.

But that alone won’t fix the league long term, and it won’t stop the cycle of lockouts from happening again. I like Ellen Etchingham’s histories. The NHL could use a rebel league or a truly radical union to oppose it. That would keep it innovative and honest.

I think the thing that pisses me off the most is that the lockout probably won’t fix most of the MANY things that need fixing.

So I’m pissed.

By: variable

variable — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 04:55:00 +0000

mid/late november is the ultimate deadline…because of the nhl’s desire not to lose the winter classic…

this is exactly fehr’s strength – uniting players based upon
conscience of doing the right thing and trying to soften the blow the
players are again gonna get hit with,as ethically as possible…

the nhl wants to save it’s prize possession – the winter classic…that’s the only leverage the player have…and as you have mentioned before, this is more about larger markets
fighting with smaller markets on revenue sharing – the players are gonna
pick up the bill, regardless…it’s just a matter of how fehr can
convince bettman to make the peace between the markets and resolve that
internal dispute before he can actually go forward with resolving the
players equitable share…

every single proposal from the league at this point has been a sham – a ploy…

i don’t expect anyone to blink -at least for awhile…

remember, fehr has the intestinal fortitude and the leadership
capabilities of convincing the players to hold out until they can get a
fair deal…or should i say a “fehr deal”…

just listen to westy…he’s in for a dime, in for a dollar with fehr and his beliefs and goals….

…and isn’t westy a business/finance grad from princeton…?

By: Dan H.

Dan H. — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 16:28:00 +0000

Usually I think the unions are the devil. In this case while I detest Fehr for his baseball fame (another wonderful non season), I find myself firmly on the players side.
Owners sign big contracts (see Minnesota this year) and then want either the big market teams to pick up their bit, or have the players take a 22% hit in this case to ALL Salaries? Eat my shorts would be my quick and only response to that. The cap is there to make all teams fair. If you want to sign at the basement, that’s your issue but don’t bitch if you’re not competitive. If you sign big contracts you can’t afford, well that’s tough. We all have budgets (besides the government) that we have to live by. Own up to your signings or trade your high priced talent for assets.
/rant off.

By: BringBackTheShieldJersey

BringBackTheShieldJersey — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 15:12:00 +0000

As I’ve written elsewhere, they can cancel hockey forever now that the Kings have won the Cup. An exaggeration, yes, but I can watch the 2012 playoffs for quite a while without getting bored. Furthermore, I already know the Kings will win 16 out of 20 games, and most importantly, that they win the Cup. Watching a game knowing your team will win is so much less stressful.

By: Flubber McGee

Flubber McGee — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 04:40:00 +0000

I agree. The players SHOULD stick to their guns, and they SHOULD hold out long enough – however long it takes – to make the next CBA lockout proof. They won’t, and it’s hard to explain why, but mainly because the player’s union has proven from the past that they don’t have it in them to hold out that long. Two or three years would ruin the league as we know it. Someone, somewhere, would form a competitor-type league (i.e. the WHA, etc.). If the NHL did come back after two years, yes, again, you are right, contraction will happen, and we may only see twenty teams. The “small markets” may no longer exist. How’s that for lockout proof?

Of course, the main reason both sides won’t hold out forever until infinity is because the old CBA, as funky as it might have been in its idiosyncrasies, didn’t stop the flow of money. Both sides – the league as a whole – are making a shitload of money. Straight cash, homie.