The NHL and the NHLPA really topped themselves this weekend
I thought that the NHL and the NHLPA couldn't be dumb enough to cancel the entire 2004-05 season.
But apparently I vastly underestimated the stupidity of both sides.
How else to explain what happened Friday night and Saturday? Seriously, how stupid can these sides get? Don't they realize that by leaking news that the season would be un-canceled, only to see things go nowhere is only going to further embitter a fanbase that is at best completely fed up with the league and at worst so apathetic that they may never care again?
And will the media please save me the rants about how one side is to blame for this or being completely stubborn and inappropriate in their stance?
Both sides need a good old slap upside the head in an attempt to knock some sense into them.
The NHLPA needs the sense to realize that they've been vastly overcompensated under the previous CBA and that things have to change and will change with the next CBA.
To some extent, they do realize this. The 24% rollback in salaries is evidence of this.
However, their fight against changes to many of the inflationary parts of the previous CBA shows either ignorance of how the NHL got where it is today or a complete disregard for how much damage was done under the old CBA.
How else can you really explain a stance where the NHLPA fights against a link between salaries and revenues and then they whine that the NHL's unlinked cap offer won't allow the cap number to grow if revenues grow in the future?
To me, it's obvious that the NHLPA doesn't care about the health and well being of the league as a whole. What I don't get is why the NHLPA can't see that a healthy 30 team NHL is actually good for the vast majority of their membership.
If you feel that the NHLPA is a union, then this has to be the first union in history that places average pay as a higher priority than keeping the number of people that are employed steady over the long haul.
The NHL needs to be taken to task for the creative bookkeeping over the years that has led to the distrust of the owners by the players. Although, the NHLPA hasn't helped matters at all with their unwillingness to review the teams' books and their own creative bookkeeping that has a much more liberal view of "revenues in the game" than most accountants would accept.
The NHL also needs to be taken to task for their stand against meaningful revenue sharing. If the NHL really wants a league made up of 30 strong franchises where they are currently located, then there needs to be revenue sharing in the same neighborhood of what you see in the NFL where teams share 40% of gate receipts with the visiting club. The NHLPA makes a solid point when it says that the NHL owners don't want to be partners with each other, so why would we trust that they want to be partners with the players?
I hope both sides are happy. And I hope both sides get what they want in the end.
Honestly, I don't see how that happens right now. I think the revenues in the game will shrink to the point that both sides will end up making far less money in the future than if they had worked together and gotten a deal done to save the 2004-05 season.
But apparently I vastly underestimated the stupidity of both sides.
How else to explain what happened Friday night and Saturday? Seriously, how stupid can these sides get? Don't they realize that by leaking news that the season would be un-canceled, only to see things go nowhere is only going to further embitter a fanbase that is at best completely fed up with the league and at worst so apathetic that they may never care again?
And will the media please save me the rants about how one side is to blame for this or being completely stubborn and inappropriate in their stance?
Both sides need a good old slap upside the head in an attempt to knock some sense into them.
The NHLPA needs the sense to realize that they've been vastly overcompensated under the previous CBA and that things have to change and will change with the next CBA.
To some extent, they do realize this. The 24% rollback in salaries is evidence of this.
However, their fight against changes to many of the inflationary parts of the previous CBA shows either ignorance of how the NHL got where it is today or a complete disregard for how much damage was done under the old CBA.
How else can you really explain a stance where the NHLPA fights against a link between salaries and revenues and then they whine that the NHL's unlinked cap offer won't allow the cap number to grow if revenues grow in the future?
To me, it's obvious that the NHLPA doesn't care about the health and well being of the league as a whole. What I don't get is why the NHLPA can't see that a healthy 30 team NHL is actually good for the vast majority of their membership.
If you feel that the NHLPA is a union, then this has to be the first union in history that places average pay as a higher priority than keeping the number of people that are employed steady over the long haul.
The NHL needs to be taken to task for the creative bookkeeping over the years that has led to the distrust of the owners by the players. Although, the NHLPA hasn't helped matters at all with their unwillingness to review the teams' books and their own creative bookkeeping that has a much more liberal view of "revenues in the game" than most accountants would accept.
The NHL also needs to be taken to task for their stand against meaningful revenue sharing. If the NHL really wants a league made up of 30 strong franchises where they are currently located, then there needs to be revenue sharing in the same neighborhood of what you see in the NFL where teams share 40% of gate receipts with the visiting club. The NHLPA makes a solid point when it says that the NHL owners don't want to be partners with each other, so why would we trust that they want to be partners with the players?
I hope both sides are happy. And I hope both sides get what they want in the end.
Honestly, I don't see how that happens right now. I think the revenues in the game will shrink to the point that both sides will end up making far less money in the future than if they had worked together and gotten a deal done to save the 2004-05 season.
posted by James W at 5:56 AM
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