See how I got you to mention the lockout there Kinger. It was the subject I really wanted to write about but figured people would bitch at me for it. So I let you mention it. Oh yes, I am the puppet master. There are not enough comments yet for me to warrent writing a whole article trying to defend myself. Hopefully we will get some chatter this weekend. For now here is the CBA article. I will begin with a few quotes I found.
"In professional sports now, if you can't control your expenses, you're in trouble. If you put a gun to my head, I wouldn't buy any team, including the one I own. And we're in better shape than most, because we don't carry any debt."
The notoriously parsimonious Bill Wirtz, owner of the Blackhawks.
"Bob Goodenow will kill me but if we're going to be realistic about things probably 75 per cent of the league is overpaid. But we're not paying ourselves. There are people giving it to us and no one is putting a gun to their heads. Something has to be done if we're going to fix this. I don't think there can be a stoppage. I don't think the game can afford it, especially in Canada where it's vital we at least have this many teams up here."
The always quotable Brett Hull.
"I can't wait to find out if some of these guys can operate in a system where you can't just go out and spend what you want to spend. I can't wait for that day when it comes down to who can do their job."
Canucks' general manager Brian Burke
"That was economic suicide, and the stupidest thing I've ever seen. They're spending $80 million, and we're a better team than they are. I think we're in a position long term where this team has an opportunity to dominate long term. If (fans) are waiting for us to spend $80 million they should move to New York and buy season tickets for the Rangers. They have a lot of overpaid, egotistical athletes and don't make the playoffs. Two things make me happy: the Kings winning and the Rangers losing."
Kings' president Tim Leiweke on the Ranger's approach to team-building.
"I don't want to talk about today's market anymore because nobody can make sense of what the market is. It's all over the map. There's a bunch of lunatics out there throwing money away. I'm sick and tired of it. It's lunacy. Punch me in the head and tell me I'm stupid, but that's the way I feel. There's no sense to it anymore."
Oilers' general manager Kevin Lowe.
"There will never be a salary cap. I've told the players to be prepared for a long lockout by the owners. It may last a year, it may last two or three years, but we will never accept a salary cap. This isn't the NFL. I'm confident the players are prepared for whatever happens."
NHLPA president Bob Goodenow.
The punch me in the head quote by Kevin Lowe is a classic. Okay now my take. The Pens free fall actually began back in 1991 when Howard Baldwin bought into the team. He and Roger Marino became 50-50 partners in the Pens and never agreed on the direction of the franchise. In fact back in 1998 when Plan B was taking form Baldwin signed off on taking 10 million from the RAD found to improve Mellon Arena instead of getting in on Plan B and trying to get a new arena. Baldwin did this without Marino's knowledge and they were frozen out of Plan B. Marino and Baldwin got into a bitter dispute about the direction of the franchise and after becoming 120 million in debt foisted the franchise onto Mario. Mario perhaps made the dumbest move he has ever made by buying the franchise. This brings us to present day. In todays NHL there are a handfull of teams, similar to MLB, that spend ridiculous amounts of money on midlevel players. This has undermined the owners inflounce in CBA discussions as it can be said that the owners have made their own bed. There is no TV money in hockey, attendence is down and players are being paid an extraordiany amount of money considering the league is drowning. With the exception of MLB the NHLPA is the strongest union in America. Bob Goodnow leads the union and has said under no circumstances will the players accept a hard cap. Goodnow claims that the players are prepared for the future and have dug in to prepare for the long run. We are witnessing historic times as the NHL may not exist next year. Owners are lossing massive amounts of money and will still have to pay their leasses on public stadiums even if they lock the players out. The Pens and a number of other teams will not be able to afford these payments for very long and could effectivly become defunct. There has been talk of other leagues starting up but the reality is the players will not be able to command the salaries in the new league like they do in the NHL. The players better wake up here. It is one thing if the owners are attempting to take advantage of players but the reality of this is almost all NHL teams are in the red. 76% of league revune is redisttributed to the players. That is higher then any other league. Are you going to tell me a guy like Ryan Malone is prepared for future without hockey?? I don't think so. Guys like Jermey Roenick who has been making millions since the league started is ready but not Malone. Like the situation with the teams, the NHLPA is top heavy. The guys who make all the money have all the inflounce and would welcome a lockout if it meantg perserving their paycheck. The vast majority of players are opposed to the lockout as they will be in the unemployment line after not to long. Everybody says the NFL system is ridiculous. I guess it is if your a player but what about what David Stern did with the NBA. There is a hard cap with max contracts that are guarenteed. That seems resonable to me. The problem is Gary Bettmen is no David Stern. In fact Bettmen and Selig rival for worst commisioner in sports. Bettmen will not have the stones to wait out Goodnow and the players which means the result of the CBA negotiations will be a win for the players. Roger Marino made in interesting comment not to long ago saying, "Hockey is dead and they haven't thrown the dirt on its face yet," he says. "You can't break even in hockey. In football, everybody makes money, because it's structured the right way. In hockey, the union is so damn strong. They had a strike in ‘94 that almost killed the game, and then they didn't improve it. They don't have the leadership there." Marino left Pittsburgh after suffering a reported loss of $40 million.
The result of the upcoming CBA will either result in the end of the NHL or a similar agreement to the 1994 one that will lead to the end of the Pens.