NHL and NHLPA pull their heads out of Asses!
Breaking News! A tentative deal has been reached by the NHL and the PA, and it only needs to be ratified by simple majorities on each side to be implemented. Now everyone is assuming it will be ratified, simply due to the fact that union leadership has recommended it. The question is why didn't they accept a better deal in February that would have saved the season? There are players coming out of the woodwork to critics union leadership now that it appears that B. Goodenow will be told not to let the door hit him in the ass on his way out. Legace and Avery have been the most quoted but there have been others. They are asking very legitimate questions, if the new deal has a salary cap then why did we lose an entire season over the mantra "salary cap over my dead body"? I'm 99 percent sure that this deal could have made in September 2004, actually the players would have gotten a better deal in September, the league would have made more concessions to save the season.
Details are still sketchy but all the Player claims of 'we're doing this for future generations of players' seems to be total horse shit. This deal has sold out the rookies, with an $850,000 cap and bonuses that are very difficult to achieve the players dumped on the rookie class of 04-05 and 05-06 which is why Bob Goodenow will be leaving shortly. Older players hold Bob in a very high regard due to this 94 strike deal that was a sweetheart of a deal for the players, but those players are disappearing fast. Within a couple of years there will be virtually no one around from that time and Bob will simply be the man who locked rookies into a low cap and lost an entire season.
There are few things in life that cannot be expressed by a good poker analogy. Bob and the players were sitting on mid-range suited connectors, maybe a 9-10 of spades. What they soon realized was that there attempts to re-raise themselves into winning the pot were not going to work this time. The owners held a high pair and were in a mood to gamble, they were willing to call every bet with a smile on their faces. Indeed a month ago Gary threatened to 'move all-in' against the players when he said if a deal was not done 'soon' (by mid-July) then the owners would cancel the entire next season. The damage was done so why not let it all hang out? No doubt about it, the league won this war. But the scorched earth policy the union perused has left the league with few spoils and outside of Canada the pickings will be slim for quite some time.
PS Before we start saying things like "I'll never watch hockey again".....remember this.
Details are still sketchy but all the Player claims of 'we're doing this for future generations of players' seems to be total horse shit. This deal has sold out the rookies, with an $850,000 cap and bonuses that are very difficult to achieve the players dumped on the rookie class of 04-05 and 05-06 which is why Bob Goodenow will be leaving shortly. Older players hold Bob in a very high regard due to this 94 strike deal that was a sweetheart of a deal for the players, but those players are disappearing fast. Within a couple of years there will be virtually no one around from that time and Bob will simply be the man who locked rookies into a low cap and lost an entire season.
There are few things in life that cannot be expressed by a good poker analogy. Bob and the players were sitting on mid-range suited connectors, maybe a 9-10 of spades. What they soon realized was that there attempts to re-raise themselves into winning the pot were not going to work this time. The owners held a high pair and were in a mood to gamble, they were willing to call every bet with a smile on their faces. Indeed a month ago Gary threatened to 'move all-in' against the players when he said if a deal was not done 'soon' (by mid-July) then the owners would cancel the entire next season. The damage was done so why not let it all hang out? No doubt about it, the league won this war. But the scorched earth policy the union perused has left the league with few spoils and outside of Canada the pickings will be slim for quite some time.
PS Before we start saying things like "I'll never watch hockey again".....remember this.
posted by WesinCalgary @ 11:48 PM
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