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I do it for the money
View Poll Results: Scale of 1-10, How important is money to the average NHLer?
Of the guys I grew up with who went onto the NHL or other pro leagues, most started to play for the money due to how much crap was involved in the game. Only one guy i played with walked away after being drafted high in the NHL draft because he did not enjoy the game any more. I saw him a couple of years ago, he got into finance and is very happy and this is something I can not say about the guys I played with who made it to the NHL. Most do not even live in cities that have NHL teams.
Who is that? now you can say it. He is happy with his life.
Players themselves say this. Want a long list of players who've made a ton of cash while never succeeding in the postseason?
They say it because it's a tired cliche. To suggest that players have not cashed in on big playoff runs, or that teams do not value guys that really bring it in the playoffs is absurd. Obviously it's not the whole deal, but being a playoff performer is certainly reflected when it comes time for a new contract.
Do any of us have a job that isn't about the money? We work for a living. Of course you want to do well and get praised for what you. You may have passion for what you do or at least for accomplishing professional goals, but it is still working for a living.
But the much bigger question here is, are the posters here actually that naive to think that the main reason NHL players (and by extension, all sports athletes) do what they do is because of some mystical concept of 'love of the game' rather then the obvious, which is to make money from their skills and abilities which are highly valued in society.
I'll never understand why we hold athletes to this standard.
I make more money than I need (obviously not millions, but still - I ain't poor) in my career as a data analyst. Should I be ashamed of myself because I don't have a love for data and bureaucracy? 'Course not.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CanadienKid25
Now if you ask any NHLer they will say money is secondary. If this were true, I don't think we would be this far into a lockout.
I could take a 20% pay cut tomorrow and still pay all my bills, live in a decent place, and have nice things. Does that mean that I should just go ahead and let my employer have more money just because I don't "need" all of the money I'm making, even if I did have a love for data analysis? 'Course not.
At what age do hockey players start playing for the money? Is it the day they turn pro?
I've reasoned myself into believing that most NHLers (90% + ) play for the $$. At some point in their life, they stopped playing for the love of the game and started playing for the money. Now if you ask any NHLer they will say money is secondary. If this were true, I don't think we would be this far into a lockout. I know there are a lot of factors involved in the lockout but I trying to focus this question to the individual player, not he big picture. My question is when does this happen; that a player starts caring about money? draft day? signing the pro contract? signing the second contract? first UFA contract?
I thought about putting up a poll but I'm not sure how to separate the answers. Once again, looking at it from an individual case-by-case scenario.
This is also not necessarily a black and white issue. Just like other professions, you can love what you do, to the point where it is something that you'd be doing as a hobby either way, but still have some of the joy sucked out of it due to it also being your livelihood. There is a whole greyscale in between only being there for love of the game, and only being there to build your bank account. As with anything, the overwhelming majority of players likely fall in that grey area, and likely float around between the two extremes over time.
I worked for years in an industry I loved, doing something I still do on my own time for my own enjoyment. That doesn't mean that there weren't days/months/weeks where I hated getting up in the morning and going to work, and other days/weeks/months where I couldn't wait to get at it.
... but you have to admit it would have made it much easier getting up in the morning if you were making $2.3m for 9 months work, right?
I think the problem is fans think NHL players just roll out of bed, pop on their equipment, throw a couple jokes around with the guys and play the game. Then they go back to their private spaceship [mod]
I'll tell you I'd rather have a similarly high paying private sector job than be a hockey player.
Last edited by Hank Chinaski: 10-27-2012 at 03:30 PM.
Reason: keep it PG-13
Money being of secondary important, doesn't mean it's even close to not being relevant.
I'm sure most doctors love helping people, but if you suggested they take a pay-cut for a poor reason I bet they'd freak just as much.
That's a bit different if we're talking lockout rationales, I assume that there are lots of openings for talented doctors (otherwise the pay wouldn't be so good!). If their hospital closes, they'll have somewhere else to go and earn equal pay. That doesn't exist in hockey, despite what the cream of the cream in the KHL earn.
... but you have to admit it would have made it much easier getting up in the morning if you were making $2.3m for 9 months work, right?
Ignoring the absolutely ridiculous claim that an NHL player's job is 9 months of work, no, I don't know that it would make it easier. I can't say that I've ever woken up dreading going to work, and felt better or worse because of my payscale. That doesn't even really enter into my mind.
That's not even considering that every job I've ever had has been exponentially less demanding, difficult, and all-encompassing as that of an NHL player.
Ignoring the absolutely ridiculous claim that an NHL player's job is 9 months of work, no, I don't know that it would make it easier. I can't say that I've ever woken up dreading going to work, and felt better or worse because of my payscale. That doesn't even really enter into my mind.
That's not even considering that every job I've ever had has been exponentially less demanding, difficult, and all-encompassing as that of an NHL player.
I consider my 'job' at least 10x more difficult than a hockey player. In fact there are multitude of professions that are WAY more demanding as well. Lets consider how much actual time they are 'working'. Hitting the gym doesnt count either. I know people who are in the gym more often than athletes.
The money is obviously the most important thing, is only natural since in our society you need money to...well...buy food and live...
As earlier posters mentioned, I'm sure some players genuinely enjoy playing more than others
That being said, I don't think you can call out many players for not being competitive or "not caring"...you simply don't get to be the top of any field without having passion and caring about winning...add on top of that 16,000 screaming fans and I'm sure all of these guys want to win and care in during games....
The difference is which guys sit depressed in the offseason after losing in the playoffs and which guys are just happy to be with their family...I'm fairly sure there are many more in the latter than the former
To get a gauge on a player's commitment, you might want to look beyond workouts and play. Does he commit himself to hockey related endeavors in the off-season? Camps for kids, owning a minor/amateur team . . .
The money is obviously the most important thing, is only natural since in our society you need money to...well...buy food and live...
As earlier posters mentioned, I'm sure some players genuinely enjoy playing more than others
That being said, I don't think you can call out many players for not being competitive or "not caring"...you simply don't get to be the top of any field without having passion and caring about winning...add on top of that 16,000 screaming fans and I'm sure all of these guys want to win and care in during games....
The difference is which guys sit depressed in the offseason after losing in the playoffs and which guys are just happy to be with their family...I'm fairly sure there are many more in the latter than the former
I'm always amazed by the number of players in all the major sports, that don't watch the game after they are eliminated. At most a very few claim to watch some of the final. The large majority don't watch at all and just say they are played out.
I'll never forget Nicklaus response one year, when asked if he watched Tiger in the Masters on Sunday. He said he was playing golf with his grandson that day.
I'll never understand why we hold athletes to this standard.
I make more money than I need (obviously not millions, but still - I ain't poor) in my career as a data analyst. Should I be ashamed of myself because I don't have a love for data and bureaucracy? 'Course not.
I could take a 20% pay cut tomorrow and still pay all my bills, live in a decent place, and have nice things. Does that mean that I should just go ahead and let my employer have more money just because I don't "need" all of the money I'm making, even if I did have a love for data analysis? 'Course not.
Point taken. If your company was trying to do this to you, would you take a year off in protest until they agreed to keep paying you the same? At some point in this lockout, players will start losing in the long run. I have to think that guys who are 30+ have already given up more than they will get back.
Responses to my question "when do players start playing for money?" have shown that we think all pro-players play for as much $$$ as they can get, since it is their livelihood. So my poll question is, how important is money to the average NHLer?
I am not saying it is Money vs. The Cup, just wondering how important the above average fan thinks money is to an average NHLer.
Taking into account their age/health/nationality/etc., select an appropriate answer on a scale of 1-10, 10 being extremely important (think Parise leaving a Stanley cup finalist where is has played for 7 years to follow the money to Minny) and 1 being the lowest(think Paul Kariya signing for the equivalent of pennies with Colorado to try and win the cup).
Didn't Kariya sign for a year in colorado so he could hit UFA the next year and get paid?
Money is very important to the players whether people want to admit it or not. As for Parise leaving NJ, they have no real G prospects and Brodeur is almost done. Why sign for so long if they could end up being a barely playoff team each year until they get a goalie?
A professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialized set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. Would NHL hockey be better if the talent were all amateurs?
The owners of all sports are undertaking legal cases with armies of specialized lawyers and attempting to negotiate huge savings in salaries from what they would presumably otherwise be paying if left to their own devices in a standard marketplace economy. They are paying these lawyers millions of dollars to win these battles and then they lock players out and attempt to extort concessions from them.
In that environment, where the players are obligated, even forced, to act as businessmen, it seems rather brutal to attempt to hold the players to some fanciful standard of the good the game and not playing for money when what it really means is you want the players to surrender - not out of good business sense, not out of prinicple, but because you want your tv shows back.
Didn't Kariya sign for a year in colorado so he could hit UFA the next year and get paid?
Money is very important to the players whether people want to admit it or not. As for Parise leaving NJ, they have no real G prospects and Brodeur is almost done. Why sign for so long if they could end up being a barely playoff team each year until they get a goalie?
While you may not agree with my comparisons, you catch my drift right?
