NHL Lock-Out - Taking Care of Business

Mowich

Hall of Fame Member
Dec 25, 2005
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Eagle Creek

 

Tonington

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 27, 2006
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I've been filling the gap with QMJHL hockey. Watched the Rocket get a second consecutive shutout last night against the Sherbrooke Phoenix. Attendance is still a little on the low side though; a little better than 1500 last night.
 

damngrumpy

Executive Branch Member
Mar 16, 2005
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kelowna bc
Anyone following this knows full well the season may or may not happen.
Owners are in trouble because their ego's engaged in a greed fest to get
the best and even if they had to buy a team, they would pay Well they
handed out money like it was candy and now of course the whole thing is
out of control.
Fifty fifty is fair if applied fairly, it is not being done fairly however. The owners
are saying fifty fifty when they know that is not the case. They want to scale
back existing contracts that were already signed previously.
If it were fifty fifty however existing contracts be honored then a deal is possible.
At present there is no deal and there won't be for some time.
Yes greed is at the bottom of this but isn't greed a primary factor in good ole
free enterprise? Besides the owners engaged in ego inflation and greed even
before the players. Now they are about to pay the price.
The real problem is Gary Bettman who insists on keeping teams in markets that
will never be hockey towns, anymore than Detroit will ever build a stadium for
ping pong players. The NHL is troubled and will be for a long time to come.
 

#juan

Hall of Fame Member
Aug 30, 2005
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I'm beginning to not give a shi t. Both the players and the owners are over paid and
not nearly enough money gets down to the minor hockey teams who provide a good
number of the players to the NHL teams. Enough is enough....:roll:
 

TenPenny

Hall of Fame Member
Jun 9, 2004
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Location, Location
I've been filling the gap with QMJHL hockey. Watched the Rocket get a second consecutive shutout last night against the Sherbrooke Phoenix. Attendance is still a little on the low side though; a little better than 1500 last night.

I like going to the Q games here in Saint John, it's entertainment that I can almost afford.
 

JLM

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 27, 2008
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Vernon, B.C.
I'm beginning to not give a shi t. Both the players and the owners are over paid and
not nearly enough money gets down to the minor hockey teams who provide a good
number of the players to the NHL teams. Enough is enough....:roll:

Yep, selfishness and greed by those who should know better.
 

wulfie68

Council Member
Mar 29, 2009
2,014
24
38
Calgary, AB
Anyone following this knows full well the season may or may not happen. Owners are in trouble because their ego's engaged in a greed fest to get the best and even if they had to buy a team, they would pay Well they handed out money like it was candy and now of course the whole thing is out of control.Fifty fifty is fair if applied fairly, it is not being done fairly however. The owners are saying fifty fifty when they know that is not the case. They want to scale back existing contracts that were already signed previously.
If it were fifty fifty however existing contracts be honored then a deal is possible. At present there is no deal and there won't be for some time. Yes greed is at the bottom of this but isn't greed a primary factor in good ole free enterprise? Besides the owners engaged in ego inflation and greed even before the players. Now they are about to pay the price.
No. The season may not happen because the player's fake union (real unions don't have their members go to Europe/some other employer as soon as issues arise, to take on other employment and say "f*** ya" to their less skilled brethren, and real unions don't negotiate individual contracts based on perceived skill, but collective deals based on seniority) isn't willing to recognize that although revenues have grown to 3.3 billion, 18 of the 30 teams are still losing money. Now we can point to some incompetence in management of those teams but when a problem is that wide spread, it speaks about the trouble the industry (in this case sport) is in.

The real problem is Gary Bettman who insists on keeping teams in markets that will never be hockey towns, anymore than Detroit will ever build a stadium for ping pong players. The NHL is troubled and will be for a long time to come.

Wrong again. Gary Bettman is just a front man for the ownership. The REAL idiot in this parade is Donald Fehr, who allegedly wants to remove the salary cap, which will either bankrupt most small market teams (including every Canadian market except Toronto) or relegate them to "feeder" status for the teams with a lot of money, similar to Fehr's old sport, baseball.

Don't get me wrong: I feel for the players, in that they may be facing a pay cut but at the same time, I have limited sympathy for guys that make in 1 season what will take me most of my career to earn. The average salary last year in the NHL was 2.2 million and the minimum was 550K. With that type of money, those guys shouldn't have to worry after hockey, if they have any brain cells devoted to spending, saving and investing, and even if they blow it all, they can do like the rest of us and get another job: how many here retired in their mid 30's?
 

TenPenny

Hall of Fame Member
Jun 9, 2004
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Location, Location
real unions don't have their members go to Europe/some other employer as soon as issues arise, to take on other employment and say "f*** ya" to their less skilled brethren,

You mean other unionized guys don't take other jobs when on strike? I suggest you open your eyes.
 

talloola

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 14, 2006
19,576
113
63
Vancouver Island
Anyone following this knows full well the season may or may not happen.
Owners are in trouble because their ego's engaged in a greed fest to get
the best and even if they had to buy a team, they would pay Well they
handed out money like it was candy and now of course the whole thing is
out of control.
Fifty fifty is fair if applied fairly, it is not being done fairly however. The owners
are saying fifty fifty when they know that is not the case. They want to scale
back existing contracts that were already signed previously.
If it were fifty fifty however existing contracts be honored then a deal is possible.
At present there is no deal and there won't be for some time.
Yes greed is at the bottom of this but isn't greed a primary factor in good ole
free enterprise? Besides the owners engaged in ego inflation and greed even
before the players. Now they are about to pay the price.
The real problem is Gary Bettman who insists on keeping teams in markets that
will never be hockey towns, anymore than Detroit will ever build a stadium for
ping pong players. The NHL is troubled and will be for a long time to come.

yes, you have definitely being paying attention. they offered the players around 43% of the
share, which was insulting, then after some time offered them 50% as though that was a big
concession from 43%.
The players assoc was receiving 57% so now that fifty fifty is offered, that is a 7% drop for
the players assoc. and as you said, behind that 50/50 offer are many details that are in the
favour of the NHL, and the players would not hold the position they were at, when this whole
thing started a few weeks ago.
Just to say that they are all greedy is too general, it is what it is, and they must come to
a 'fair' agreement, at least now that the 50/50 is at least on the table, they can now haggle
over all those little details that bettman seems to think the players assoc won't pay any attention
to.
Many teams are spending millions supporting other NHL teams that are just about drowning in debt, so
how anyone thinks they can also begin to support amateur hockey is unreasonable.

Amateur hockey is an entity all on its own, nothing to do with 'professionals' at all.
Professional hockey is 'big business', lots of money coming and going, but the decisions
made by bettman to mire many of his teams into deep debt is a big problem, which will take a long time
to sort out.
Hopefully he is finished putting teams into cities that do not care about hockey.
 

JLM

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 27, 2008
75,301
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Vernon, B.C.
You mean other unionized guys don't take other jobs when on strike? I suggest you open your eyes.

You mean like the same way they shop at Walmart! :lol::lol::lol:

I doubt if anything will get properly resolved as long as Bettman is in the picture. I had a boss one time who even when he was magnanimous and fair he was still reprehensible.
 

Just the Facts

House Member
Oct 15, 2004
4,162
42
48
SW Ontario
I agree with Kreskin, I find myself just not caring. Also like Tonnington says, there's lots of great local hockey, that can't compete with the NHL on skill level, but can certainly rival it on the entertainment level.
 

talloola

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 14, 2006
19,576
113
63
Vancouver Island
I really don't care if they take the next 5 years off.

Until something shows up here, or there as an announcement on the tv/radio, I don't think
about hockey at all. Life goes on, and they are dispensable in any of our lives. When they
do return I will watch again, but I have cancelled 'center ice', and will not be renewing it
when they do come back, not because I am mad at anyone, but because I am involved with my
animals, my garden, my backyard planning.

I am moving in another direction now, and I will be getting another chocolate labrador puppy in
the spring, so we are preparing a special area for the dogs in the backyard, so, our little yard
will be crossfenced, a place for them to do their business,(that I will clean up after them),
to play and have fun, and a place
for us to have our sitting area, water feature and everything pretty, I love it all.
My five cats, with their special screened in room, and run of the house make me so happy, and the
dogs, whom I look after very well, do the same.
It is all very clean, and a good life for the animals, and us.

I am a true animal person, we are close to two school grounds, so after school hours, we can
do retrieving with our labs, take them into the hiking trails next to the school, good excercise,
just wish I had horses, but can't manage that, probably a good thing,
because at this time of the year, horses are not much fun, just in the summer.

So the hockey will be here, and we'll watch when we feel like it, but this lock out has made me
back up and find other things to do, nothing lasts forever.
 

Nuggler

kind and gentle
Feb 27, 2006
11,596
140
63
Backwater, Ontario.
:smile: Good on ya, Taloola.

Our local animal shelter sometimes has purebred labs, and we've come close, but realize we can really only have one dog due to lifestyle, and no cats, due to allergies.

Retriever training used to be a blast back when. I somewhat miss it.

The hockey world might find itself without a solid fan base pretty soon. It lost my interest years ago.

Life goes on.
 

talloola

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 14, 2006
19,576
113
63
Vancouver Island
:smile: Good on ya, Taloola.

Our local animal shelter sometimes has purebred labs, and we've come close, but realize we can really only have one dog due to lifestyle, and no cats, due to allergies.

Retriever training used to be a blast back when. I somewhat miss it.

The hockey world might find itself without a solid fan base pretty soon. It lost my interest years ago.

Life goes on.

yeah, life goes on. We use to do serious field trial training many years ago, but now we do it for

the excercise and enjoyment, and of course its so good for the dogs.

I bred and showed labs for a few years, showed two dogs to their championships.

Labs are the best, loyal, beautiful, smart, great hunting dogs, and very smart.

Hockey is canada, it will survive always, but they must do something about the expense
of putting a child thru hockey, and it seems that is happening now.
The registration will improve again when the expense goes down.

The fan will always come to the NHL games, lots of corporate money being spent now on
season tickets, and the waiting list for season tickets is very long, so although it is
expensive for the everyday family, the corporate family tops up the numbers and keeps it going.
 

captain morgan

Hall of Fame Member
Mar 28, 2009
28,429
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A Mouse Once Bit My Sister
yes, you have definitely being paying attention. they offered the players around 43% of the
share, which was insulting,

I fail to see why the players should be guaranteed any specific percentage of the revenues as they are taking no financial risk whatsoever. It costs 100's of millions to buy a team, construct a facility and assume the operating costs for a NHL franchise.

If the NHLPA believes that they are entitled to a set % of revenues, then ante-up into the game and put your money on the table... Don't like that option?.. A career in the real world awaits and you'll probably notice that your employer won't be paying 7 figures for your services
 

TenPenny

Hall of Fame Member
Jun 9, 2004
17,466
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63
Location, Location
I find it infuriating that the players can't even take a fifty-fifty split on the profits when they're all ready getting millions. Fighting over money is ruining the game.

Obviously, you aren't following the issue, because they both asked for 50/50. That's not what they are going on about.
 

talloola

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 14, 2006
19,576
113
63
Vancouver Island
Obviously, you aren't following the issue, because they both asked for 50/50. That's not what they are going on about.

thats right, and it isn't the players, it is the players association, which
entails many many issues other than players contracts.

pensions, health insurance, and many more issues that are on the table.

a players career, on the average is only about 8 years, some more, some less,
I have never understood the jealousy and criticizm thrown at players because
of the amount of money they earn.