View Full Version : The Lockout Thread (R)
DoyleG
15 Sep 2004, 03:08 PM
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?id=98791
Take a look at the bottom 1/4 of the story to get the reaction by the media.
peledre
15 Sep 2004, 03:47 PM
The End of the NHL as we know it begins tomorrow...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,132500,00.html
irishFS1921
15 Sep 2004, 06:01 PM
man, i was so excited for the thrashers this season, i blame jaromir jagr and his 600 million thousand billion dollar a day contract.
I'm a huge hockey fan.
The season in Germany will start on friday, I bought tickets for my favourite team's first match today.
Will be interesting for sure to see what players will come over to Europe in addition to those who already signed "in case of lockout" contracts.
I guess most european players will go "home" and some of the other stars will probably follow the money to Russia and Switzerland but maybe some will also play in Germany, Hecht and Sturm for sure.
kwik1980
15 Sep 2004, 08:32 PM
Aftonbladet, a Swedish daily, had a list of players coming over to play in the Swedish elite league. 27 players, including names like Peter Forsberg, Tomas Holmstrom, Mattias Ohlund, the Sedin brothers, and Markus Naslund are coming over to play in Sweden. If the lockout runs past Christmas, Mats Sundin, and a couple of others, are heading over as well. This is in addition to players who had already signed earlier this summer in anticipation of a lockout.
DoyleG
16 Sep 2004, 04:33 AM
Rick Nash and Joe Thorton signed with HC Davos in Switzerland some time before.
There's also a 4-on-4 league going on in which many NHLers are signing up to.
Dante
16 Sep 2004, 09:35 AM
Luckily we have the AHL in town so I go to those games. Word is that Hasek has asked Ottawa to send him down to Binghamton to play this season so we'll hopefully be seeing him.
otterulz
16 Sep 2004, 05:19 PM
Man, I was thinking that not watching the dysfunctional Rangers might be a blessing but I've realized that I still love these idiots regardless and now I can't imagine life without hockey.
What are your personal takes on the labor situation? Do you think the players are being selfish in not wanting a salary cap or were the owners too poised on their demand that it seems unfair?
newyorkastle
16 Sep 2004, 08:08 PM
I'm a huge hockey fan.
The season in Germany will start on friday, I bought tickets for my favourite team's first match today.
Will be interesting for sure to see what players will come over to Europe in addition to those who already signed "in case of lockout" contracts.
I guess most european players will go "home" and some of the other stars will probably follow the money to Russia and Switzerland but maybe some will also play in Germany, Hecht and Sturm for sure.
don't forget seidenberg!... one of my flyers.
DoyleG
17 Sep 2004, 03:17 AM
Cracks appearing in the NHLPA wall?
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?id=98883
SABuffalo786
17 Sep 2004, 02:27 PM
*hawk* *ptoo*
You play a friggin game for a living and make much more than any of us do. Shut your bitch hole and play.
DevilDave
17 Sep 2004, 06:10 PM
Cracks appearing in the NHLPA wall?
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?id=98883
Politically, I'm a liberal and 100% pro-union. But I'm also a hockey fan and I try to be a realist. And I am DAMN PROUD to be a New Jersey Devils fan after John Madden had the guts to say what few other players have been willing to say. Mad Dog - and I'm sure other NHLPA members - realize that a salary cap may need to be imposed so the league can cope with economic realities.
It makes me a bit worried that when the whole strike thing is over, it may drive a wedge between him and his teammates, but again - it had to be said.
gaijin
18 Sep 2004, 09:24 AM
can someone please explain this to me....
what the hell is going on over there?
is this a union strike or something.....?
:confused: :mad:
mswietek
18 Sep 2004, 01:23 PM
can someone please explain this to me....
what the hell is going on over there?
is this a union strike or something.....?
:confused: :mad:
Not a strike, but a lockout. The player's union and teams have been arguing over a new CBA since the last has run out. Essentially, the teams want sallary caps, and the union won't hear of it.
So the teams have put in place a lock out, meaning the owners are not allowing the players to play.
CrewDust
18 Sep 2004, 01:24 PM
can someone please explain this to me....
what the hell is going on over there?
is this a union strike or something.....?
:confused: :mad:
It's a lockout. Their contact agreement has expired and the owners want a new agreement.
Danks81
18 Sep 2004, 04:43 PM
Lockout:
Pro: Annoying Flyers' fans have lower profile.
Con: No Red Wings games for quite awhile.
Pro: No Don Cherry
Con: No Don Cherry
DoyleG
19 Sep 2004, 05:30 PM
Looks like Madden's comments were taken "out of context".
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?ID=99014&hubName=nhl
wolf6656
20 Sep 2004, 07:05 PM
Ok, the 2 of the last 4 NHL games I've been to , Islanders at Ottawa, Leafs at Carolina, those ones I paid for the tickets. I got a playoff ticket in Carolina from a scalper for less than I would pay for a regular season Leaf ticket from the box office.
The other two games were in Toronto, and my buddy got the tickets free from work.
The last two games my son went to?
Islanders at Ottawa, and Vancouver at Buffalo.
We just can't afford Leaf tickets.
I can take my kids to a ball game in Toronto, (as long as I feed them first), but I cannot afford to take them to a Leaf game. The prices are too high.
Granted, the Leafs have been making the playoffs, and have seemed to be putting a team on the ice that has had a chance to make it to the Cup Finals, although they haven't made it there in almost as long as I can remember.
Do I blame the players? No.They are going to play anyway, for whatever the going rate is. The owners want the salary cap to protect themselves; not from the players, the owners need the salary cap to protect themselves from themselves. The fans who pay for tickets at a Leaf's home game should be checked in to a mental institute.
I can drive up the street to a Kitchener Rangers junior game and be just as well entertained hockeywise, for a fraction of the cost, and I can take my kids too!
My answer to this situation (a fan's solution) is to have lower guaranteed base salaries, and higher performance bonuses. If the team makes the playoffs, all the players get a bonus,(which is amply covered by the inflated playoff ticket prices).
You get 20 goals, you get a bonus, you get 30 goals, you get a bigger bonus.
You lead the league in plus/minus stats (or any category) you get a big bonus.
Top 10 finish in the league in any stat(offensive or defensive) you get a certain bonus level.(elite players).
Top 11-25 you get a lower bonus.
25-50 you get a lower bonus.
It's not based on absolute numbers, but relative numbers. Your percentile performance against you peers.
You don't have a good year, you get your base salary, (and an incentive to improve the following year).
Ticket prices follow the team's performance. Miss the playoffs? You have to lower your prices by a certain percentage. Make the playoffs? You get to increase prices by a certain percentage.
Got 100 points in the regular season? You get to raise your ticket prices. Get only 80 points the following season? Ticket prices have to come down.
Make it all relative to performance.
The teams have an incentive to have a good year, therefore to hire the best talent available(in all facets, players, coaching, trainers etc.) If they have a bad year? Well the money is not so great the following year.
Players changing teams would get paid to play their first year according to where they fit in on their new team's stat sheets.
The bonuses for advancing through the playoff rounds should be geared to providing the incentive to succeed. The playoff ticket sales should be enough to cover the owner's incentives.
Both sides are right. This thing needs to be fixed, but it is the paying public who should be providing the input and incentive.
Don't go to the frikkin' games until you feel you are getting your money's worth.
Oh yes and Mr. Bettman, and Mr. Goodenow. Can't iron out a collective bargaining agreement? Your salary goes down. (or disappears altogether)
Come on people. Why do they call it common sense, when it seems to be so rare?
DoyleG
21 Sep 2004, 03:42 AM
A poll was done in which fans blame the players over the league by a 52-21 margin. Can't find a link to the poll.
CBC is going to have two extended editions of "The National" (Prime Time News program) in which they will have interviews with Bettman and Goodanow. They asked fans to send in their questions.
Betts will be on Tuesday night and Goods on Wed.
Khansingh
21 Sep 2004, 10:36 AM
To be fair, the owners aren't blameless. But a lot of smart ass observers say that the players shouldn't have to pay for the owners' mistakes, that the owners never should have offered those exorbitant contracts in the first place. Well great, now that that ship has sailed, what do they propose? Look, it's the owners' money. They should be able to set an upper limit on player costs and tie that to revenues. Where else but in sports can you find a system in which an employee is paid, regardless of performance, and can't be discharged without penalty to the employer?
This is a seperate issue, but why do people complain about the salaries that professional athletes make? Most fans are annoyed with the NHLPA because they want to continue to make money, even if clubs continue to lose money, hand over fist. But a lot of fans complain bitterly that sportsmen make too much anyway. And yet, no one ever seems to complain about how much actors and musicians make.
My question for Goodenow: The Players' Association has said repeatedly that it will not negotiate on the basis of a salary cap. The question having been begged so copiously, I will ask it. Why?