The day the NHL died
Barring a miraculous last minute change of face by either the NHLPA or the NHL owners, the 2004-05 NHL season will be cancelled some time next week. And in doing so, the NHL and NHLPA will have successfully cut off their nose to spite their face.
Both sides know the league is in trouble. Both sides know that they can't estimate how much damage will be caused by the cancellation of the season. But somehow, both sides feel that jumping head first into that great unknown is somehow better for their side than working to reach a middleground in this fight between millionaires and billionaires to split up a $2 billion pie.
And once again I have to say shame on both sides for being so stubborn, short sighted, selfish, greedy, and ultimately stupid.
There is no good reason for this to have played out like it has.
There is no good reason that the NHLPA couldn't play under a salary cap system akin to what the NBA or NFL, and most pro sports, especially pro hockey, leagues in North America have.
Heck, locked out NHLers like Chris Chelios apparently have no problems playing in the ECHL which has a salary cap. So why should they take a stand against a salary cap in the NHL?
And there is no good reason that the NHL couldn't have foregone a hard cap in the short term in lieu of a revenue sharing and luxury tax system (albeit one with a lot stronger teeth in the revenue sharing portion) that was for only the short term. For instance, instead of having the CBA revert to a hard cap should certain financial triggers be tripped, why not just allow the CBA to be reopened by the NHL should they be hit?
At a minimum, that would give the owners even more ammunition in the next round of negotiations. Both in PR sense and a practical sense.
It will be a sad day when the NHL dies.
But I won't cry for the owners or the players. I'll cry for the working stiffs that make $10,000 a year off the game and have to go through financial hardships because the players don't feel it's fair to have their average salary capped at over $1 million per player per year. And that they have to go through hardships because of the fact that NHL owners can't stop themselves from spending on players like drunken sailors on shoreleave despite the fact that the Rangers and Blues and Leafs have proven that merely spending money will not allow you to sip from Lord Stanley's beer mug.
I'll also cry for my son and all the kids who are wondering why there isn't hockey on TV this year and why they can't go see their favorite players play at their local NHL arena.
I hope that both sides spend this offseason thinking about all the damage that they've done to the game they say they love and all the hurt they've brought to so many people that have helped line their pockets over the years and they hope to have line their pockets in the future.
Both sides know the league is in trouble. Both sides know that they can't estimate how much damage will be caused by the cancellation of the season. But somehow, both sides feel that jumping head first into that great unknown is somehow better for their side than working to reach a middleground in this fight between millionaires and billionaires to split up a $2 billion pie.
And once again I have to say shame on both sides for being so stubborn, short sighted, selfish, greedy, and ultimately stupid.
There is no good reason for this to have played out like it has.
There is no good reason that the NHLPA couldn't play under a salary cap system akin to what the NBA or NFL, and most pro sports, especially pro hockey, leagues in North America have.
Heck, locked out NHLers like Chris Chelios apparently have no problems playing in the ECHL which has a salary cap. So why should they take a stand against a salary cap in the NHL?
And there is no good reason that the NHL couldn't have foregone a hard cap in the short term in lieu of a revenue sharing and luxury tax system (albeit one with a lot stronger teeth in the revenue sharing portion) that was for only the short term. For instance, instead of having the CBA revert to a hard cap should certain financial triggers be tripped, why not just allow the CBA to be reopened by the NHL should they be hit?
At a minimum, that would give the owners even more ammunition in the next round of negotiations. Both in PR sense and a practical sense.
It will be a sad day when the NHL dies.
But I won't cry for the owners or the players. I'll cry for the working stiffs that make $10,000 a year off the game and have to go through financial hardships because the players don't feel it's fair to have their average salary capped at over $1 million per player per year. And that they have to go through hardships because of the fact that NHL owners can't stop themselves from spending on players like drunken sailors on shoreleave despite the fact that the Rangers and Blues and Leafs have proven that merely spending money will not allow you to sip from Lord Stanley's beer mug.
I'll also cry for my son and all the kids who are wondering why there isn't hockey on TV this year and why they can't go see their favorite players play at their local NHL arena.
I hope that both sides spend this offseason thinking about all the damage that they've done to the game they say they love and all the hurt they've brought to so many people that have helped line their pockets over the years and they hope to have line their pockets in the future.
posted by James W at 5:33 AM
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