Anyways, with regards to the owners proposal, the problem with it is as follows:
1) It allows for crappy teams to remain crappy teams. They're going to use the excuse about being close to the cap as a reason to not improve their team. It allows for continued mediocrity while hiding behind the stance of fiscal sensibility.
2) The rich teams are still going to be rich. What does a salary cap do for teams that make money anyways? It's going to allow them to make even more money. Say what you want about revenue sharing, but you can bet that owners are going to pillage away more money for their own coffers.
3) Next bargaining agreement. You can almost guarantee that when it comes time for the next agreement, owners will look towards a lower salary cap, claiming that the current cap is too rich for them. The books are always going to be doctored in favour of the owners and until a TRUE independent third party looks at the books they'll continue to be doctored. Hey, Arthur Levitt may be respected in terms of Finances and he might be a Chief Economist, but he had a guideline going into the audit. That was already admitted. Once again, no free reign, but he was given the "Under the following guidelines of revenue...." speech that we've had to listen to.
4) Why should owners who mismanage their franchises be rewarded for their own stupidity? C'mon. These teams get shots at the top draft picks available and that is even more than enough of a reward. But to then be rewarded with a profit and then tell the fans that they are doing this for the future is farce and a slap in the face. Being someone who owns season's tickets, I can tell you that if the salary cap comes into place, there is no way that the price of tickets will do. They will still remain high and the product will still remain the same.
5) We've heard what the players have offered, but the only thing we've heard from the owners is about 6 different types of proposals that tie salaries to revenue. I don't have an issue with that, but what else were the owners offering. To me, if that doesn't speak in volumes that there was never anything other than a salary cap on the owner's minds, then shame on you for believing the OWNER'S propoganda machine.
6) Hey, if there is a true revenue sharing plan in place, it will work. Do you honestly think that Ed Snider wants to have a 60 million payroll and then pay an additional 20 to 30 million in luxury tax? Do you think the Ontario Teacher's Pension Plan (who OWNS the Toronto Maple Leafs) would want the same? C'mon, these people/organizations didn't get the way they are by being stupid. To suggest that these teams would continue to pay an exoborant amount of money on payroll and then pay a tax on top of that and lose out on revenue is assinine to say the least. They are smart business people who want to make money. So the notion that these teams would continue to lose money to keep a high payroll is completely ludicrous and can be thrown out the window.
7) The fact that Gary Bettman has banned ANY owner from speaking shows that there is something to hide. Do you not find it suspicious that Bobby Clarke or Glen Sather or Kevin Lowe or Wayne Gretzky or Mario Lemieux haven't said anything? These guys know hockey and they know how the league operates. Fear of being fined a million bucks while Gary plays a game of chicken just shows how out of touch Bettman is. Bettman isn't well liked and there have been incidents in the past where guys like Lou Lamorello and Harry Sinden have questioned Gary's hockey sense. When you have Lou, who is probably the best GM in the game, questioning the comissioner's hockey knowledge and sense, you know that your league is in trouble.
So, you can respond anyway you want to this Stich. I'm sure you'll probably call of us lackeys, make your attack personal and then hide behind a moderator when your crap gets called on. You're nothing more than a punk and troll who attacks people when they disagree with you. Just crawl back under the rock you came out from. Better yet, crawl back into the hole that came from. Nobody here will miss you.....