Anyone see hockey central today, pretty heated argument between doug and nick, I think it was closest to owners side vs player side we seen in the media.
Doug took offense that nick says the players are getting screwed, then it went off.
I am not on either side here, i have defended players some, and owners, and i think they both are at fault, but I will say for the love kypreos gets and hatred doug gets as a bad gm, as media people i think doug is the least biased, kypreos has clearly been spending alot of time talking to his friends in the pa, almost discussing it like hes still one of them. I get really good impression of the pa mindset when he discusses it, and clearly hes been talking to alot of players, and they do feel like they are constantly getting screwed over and treated like garbage. Not the best mindset when negotiating.
That's too many games in too short of period. Starting the playoffs in June would take you until the end of July. Even in Canada interest would drop off to next to nothing. Our summers are short and a large % of people head out to lake country.
lake country? For real? Not for us Albertans, we will stick around and watch hockey
The league, at 50/50, is still by far the most attractive league in the world.
Flipside to this common argument:
Maybe some of these owners should own SEL teams if they can't afford big league salaries
OR
Maybe some of these markets should only have AHL teams if they can't support big league salaries.
-50/50 linked
-transition period to flush out exsisting contracts
-fixing back diving contracts loophole
-contractual limits to favor the players
Theres such an easy give and take with all of these essential elements that it's mindblowingly stupid how they aren't at the table every day trying to hammer this out.
I do have to say that the league are being very stubborn right now. If they countered and the PA said no, they could fire back in the media saying we gave them this in return for this and they would win major PR points. It would be a win/win for the league. This doesn't have to be so hard:
Terrific. Terry bross agent for shane doan is telling team 1040 in Vancouver that he's actively telling pa members that if you're willing to lose 1 season then " lose 2"
"Don fehr Is a visionary.. He doesn't think about tomorrow .. He's thinking of 3-5 years down the roaad"
He worships fehr and kept blabbing about how MLB players paved the way for huge contracts for other players.
I'm surprised people buy into that garbage. These guys don't have forever to play hockey. I'd respect being a "visionary" if they were in a typical 9-5 job and working 40 years there. When you only have 5 years to make money, are you really sure you have the pulse of the organization you represent? Not....so sure.
Maybe some of these owners should own SEL teams if they can't afford big league salaries
OR Maybe some of these markets should only have AHL teams if they can't support big league salaries.
Totally agree. There's about 6 markets and 150 players or so that have no business paying or receiving big league salaries.
Maybe some of these owners should own SEL teams if they can't afford big league salaries
OR
Maybe some of these markets should only have AHL teams if they can't support big league salaries.
Maybe the players should go to the SEL and..
oh wait, they can't get anything close to what they would make here signing their worst deal
maybe these owners could very well afford "big league salaries" as they make tons of money from other businesses but are just trying to limit (and accept they still will lose money) their losses when it comes to the nhl
This really is just a slap in the face to the fans at this point. They realize that the fans, the people who pay for ridiculously priced jerseys and merchandise, ever-increasingly expensive tickets, TV packages, etc. are the ones who make this entire thing possible, right? I mean, try owning a team and having no fan support. There's teams that are "struggling" as is, and in most cases, even the worst off team, financially, still has a substantial fan-base, season ticket holders and people who buy merchandise and come out to games each night. Imagine if they had NO fan support. It's not even possible. Try asking for 60M on your next contract in a league that nobody spends money to watch. Guaranteed dollars, at that. Good luck.
Everyone involved in this dispute is a selfish child. The only difference is that the owners are just that; business owners who, just like in their other businesses, expect to make a profit, break even or, at the very least, not lose money out the wazoo. Meanwhile the players are some of the most blessed young men on the planet, living a dream life and being compensated like kings. If the owners claim they're legitimately not turning a profit, I can understand how they can say "okay, before we agree to a new CBA there are some things that must be addressed in order for us to sustain this business and, essentially, keep the doors open for our employees to keep coming to work". The players, on the other hand, I only hear saying "but I only make 2.5M!! It's not fair to ask me to take a penny less in order for the league to survive (long term)!!" I don't like either side; at this point I strongly dislike both, but I have an even bigger issue with the PA (not necessarily the players; I don't know which players are the hardliners and which guys truly just want to play but aren't being heard out, etc.) thinking that, somehow, as lucky millionaires, they're entitled to concessions simply because "hey, if there's going to be a negotiation, we better get something too!"
This really is just a slap in the face to the fans at this point. They realize that the fans, the people who pay for ridiculously priced jerseys and merchandise, ever-increasingly expensive tickets, TV packages, etc. are the ones who make this entire thing possible, right? I mean, try owning a team and having no fan support. There's teams that are "struggling" as is, and in most cases, even the worst off team, financially, still has a substantial fan-base. Imagine if they had NO fan support. Try asking for 60M on your next contract in a league that nobody spends money to watch. Everyone involved in this dispute is a selfish child. The only difference is that the owners are just that; business owners who, just like in their other businesses, expect to make a profit, while the players are some of the most blessed young men on the planet, living a dream life and being compensated like kings. If the owners claim they're legitimately not turning a profit, I can understand how they can say "okay, before we agree to a new CBA there are some things that must be addressed in order for us to sustain this business and, essentially, keep the doors open for our employees to keep coming to work". The players, on the other hand, I can hear saying "but I only make 2.5M!! It's not fair to ask me to take a penny less in order for the league to survive (long term)!!" I don't like either side; at this point I strongly dislike both, but I have an even bigger issue with the PA (not necessarily the players; I don't know which players are the hardliners and which guys truly just want to play but aren't being heard out, etc.) thinking that, somehow, as lucky millionaires, they're entitled to concessions simply because "hey, if there's going to be a negotiation, we better get something too!"
This truly is the thing of it all that the pro-PA people don't get.
Maybe some of these owners should own SEL teams if they can't afford big league salaries
OR
Maybe some of these markets should only have AHL teams if they can't support big league salaries.
Interesting. So youre pro PA but think the league would be better if there were less owners and therefore less teams. Are you under the impression that rosters would get bigger just so the terminated players wouldnt feel left out?
Gotta sign for 48 games at this point just for the sake of the sport and having a season.
Didn't think it'd get to this point
Nobody thought it would get to this point. I completely understood the last one. We needed drastic changes. This time around is nuts. We keep saying "it won't go past October.....November 15th....Thanksgiving.....December...etc." Then it simply does. It's amazing. It truly is amazing.
Edit: And this time, it's as if people don't care. Hardcore hockey fans are pissed and nobody else cares. Greed has taken over.
Nobody thought it would get to this point. I completely understood the last one. We needed drastic changes. This time around is nuts. We keep saying "it won't go past October.....November 15th....Thanksgiving.....December...etc." Then it simply does. It's amazing. It truly is amazing.
Edit: And this time, it's as if people don't care. Hardcore hockey fans are pissed and nobody else cares. Greed has taken over.
totally agree. forgot how much i loved fishing and how great of a outlet it is until recently
Down the road we will look back on this as a huge failure on both ends. Hockey was gaining so much momentum. It actually meant something and average fans were tuning in, even if it was little by little. They had a name behind the television deal that was no longer OLN and garbage like that. NBC Sports.... and a Winter Classic that people loved.
Even as a diehard myself, I find myself just not caring. Like IDuck said, I find myself enjoying time to myself. Doing the things I like to do. Investing into a team for 82 games + is a lot of work. If they don't want to pay me back by agreeing to a deal and still making good money... then I can easily move on my own way.
I'm not saying this out of anger or anything... but my investment back into this game will be a decently long road. I used to hate missing any playoff games. Now.. I'm just going to think about he NEXT lockout.
Bringing up rookies as replacements..lol good lord. forest meet trees
Every single NHL star played in juniors somewhere.
Every single NHL player is replacable. There is nothing special about today's star players. There's constantly more players working their way up to take their place.
Every single NHL star played in juniors somewhere.
Every single NHL player is replacable. There is nothing special about today's star players. There's constantly more players working their way up to take their place.
I wouldn't say that. They aren't as easy to replace as you think. There is a lot of great talent in today's game. That's what brought fans back.
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