Article: Paying the Price (3rd & 4th liners)

[Tracy]

I just thought I would post this article to show how the lock-out affects those on the low-end of the payscale along with others whose lives are impacted. I doubt their voices are being heard by the likes of Linden and company.

Paying the Price

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[GKJ]

I'm not bashing the little guys here, they're the only ones who are going to lose with this lockout, but the fact of the matter is they need to start speaking up. Pierre Dagenais and Mike Commodore are 4th liners and 7th defenseman need to start speaking up. Go talk to the media. Go talk to whoever. The faster guys like Eric Boulton and Chris Taylor (who I beleive is the lowest paid player in the NHL) speak up, I bet the quicker this is resolved. There are more guys who make $600K than who make $6M

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

"It's very hard to sympathize with the players. There are people out there who make an hourly wage and would love to make the money we do. But we're not asking to be paid any more money than what we're worth in the environment we work in. When there are only 600 or 700 people in the whole world who can do your specialty, you're on top of the food chain for a short period of time, and things can change on a dime." Adam Mair quote from the article.

Is it just me, or do certain facts just not sink in with at least some of the players?

Adam, everywhere else in the world, players just like you are incredibly lucky to be playing for 10-20% of what you were supposed to make last year. Unfortunately, the league can't sustain the salary level to which you have become accustomed. Instead of making 5x what similiar skilled players are making in Sweden, Russia, and the Czech Republic, you will have to struggle by on 3x their average salaries.

 

[X0ssbar]

I'm not bashing the little guys here, they're the only ones who are going to lose with this lockout, but the fact of the matter is they need to start speaking up. Pierre Dagenais and Mike Commodore are 4th liners and 7th defenseman need to start speaking up. Go talk to the media. Go talk to whoever. The faster guys like Eric Boulton and Chris Taylor (who I beleive is the lowest paid player in the NHL) speak up, I bet the quicker this is resolved. There are more guys who make $600K than who make $6M

Well said.

That was a very interesting read - thx for the link sabrfan.

These guys definitely need to start voicing their opinions. These guys have the most to gain by this lockout ending. Their earnings potential aren't going to be severly impacted since they are more or less playing for the league minimum anyways - a salary cap won't effect that. Teams will be looking for bargains like them to fill out their rosters.

Time is their biggest fear in this mess - the sooner this ends the more they can collect on the money train before their short ride is over.

Of course if roster sizes are reduced or teams fold then that's a whole new hockey game - which are all the more reasons for these guys to put some pressure on this "union" to get this thing resolved.

 

[hyena]

Time is their biggest fear in this mess - the sooner this ends the more they can collect on the money train before their short ride is over.

Of course if roster sizes are reduced or teams fold then that's a whole new hockey game - which are all the more reasons for these guys to put some pressure on this "union" to get this thing resolved.

you'd think so, but that's been the case this whole time. hell, our team rep is a 4th liner, and he's been echoing BG's rhetoric as steadfastly as anyone. i just don't understand it.

 

[Murphy]

This standard line coming from the players saying career's are short, therefore we need to make an ungodly amount of money while we can is such a steaming pile of bull......

There is absolutely no reason at all that players can't go out and work a "regular" job like the rest of us great unwashed when their career's are over.

 

[GSC2k2*]

Thanks, but this article was already posted.

 

[blitzkriegs]

There are more guys who make $600K than who make $6M

True. But the 6mil guy has indirectly set the floor for the 600K guy. 10 years ago, the 600K was making 250K. Yes, the line in the sand is more lucrative for 'made' players, but the larger contracts (PA's bread and butter) have helped grow the contracts of the masses (the 3rd/4th liner). This is the line BG is selling. The floor keeps increasing with more larger salaries closer to the ceiling.

I gotta laugh at the end of that article though. The player was claiming that he was moving into an apartment with his brother (an AHL player), he has zero family expenses, has monthly bills of $1,100 per month. While he is currently unemployed, he came off a NHL salary of 350K last year. Plus, the PA stipend of 5K-10K per month.

His union stipend clearly pays his bills. This is like law partner or bond trader that makes 350K per year claiming he struggles to make his $1,100 mortgage. Obviously, these players don't understand investing... Most players from the 80's have successfully taken their earnings and become successful in business post-hockey with the same amount of money.

The players are trying to hit a salary homerun during their limited career opportunity to set themselves for post-hockey life. That's fine because that's what the entertainment industry is all about.

 

[missK]

I'm not bashing the little guys here, they're the only ones who are going to lose with this lockout, but the fact of the matter is they need to start speaking up. Pierre Dagenais and Mike Commodore are 4th liners and 7th defenseman need to start speaking up. Go talk to the media. Go talk to whoever. The faster guys like Eric Boulton and Chris Taylor (who I beleive is the lowest paid player in the NHL) speak up, I bet the quicker this is resolved. There are more guys who make $600K than who make $6M

While I agree with the idea, I doubt Chris Taylor will speak up, his brother Tim Taylor, is the Lightning player rep.

 

[GKJ]

While I agree with the idea, I doubt Chris Taylor will speak up, his brother Tim Taylor, is the Lightning player rep.

I would think the family is going to side with Chris on this one....

 

[Mighty Duck]

"It's very hard to sympathize with the players. There are people out there who make an hourly wage and would love to make the money we do. But we're not asking to be paid any more money than what we're worth in the environment we work in. When there are only 600 or 700 people in the whole world who can do your specialty, you're on top of the food chain for a short period of time, and things can change on a dime." Adam Mair quote from the article.

Is it just me, or do certain facts just not sink in with at least some of the players?

Adam, everywhere else in the world, players just like you are incredibly lucky to be playing for 10-20% of what you were supposed to make last year. Unfortunately, the league can't sustain the salary level to which you have become accustomed. Instead of making 5x what similiar skilled players are making in Sweden, Russia, and the Czech Republic, you will have to struggle by on 3x their average salaries.

Hey Buddy, strap on a pair of skates and show us how easy it is to hang with the big guys.

 

[Lil' Jimmy Norton*]

This is why Goodenow needs to be FIRED....He does not rep the 3rd and 4th liners at all. He never has and he never will as long as he is the director of the PA. All he cares about is the fat cats, and the turds that sit on his "Executive Comittee" should get a pair of stones and throw this idiot under the bus before he costs them another year of lost opportunity and pay cheques.

 

[shveik]

Adam, everywhere else in the world, players just like you are incredibly lucky to be playing for 10-20% of what you were supposed to make last year. Unfortunately, the league can't sustain the salary level to which you have become accustomed. Instead of making 5x what similiar skilled players are making in Sweden, Russia, and the Czech Republic, you will have to struggle by on 3x their average salaries.

Would it be ok if your salary is cut in half, as long as it is 5-10 times more than they pay for the same job in Russia?

 

[sveiglar]

Would it be ok if your salary is cut in half, as long as it is 5-10 times more than they pay for the same job in Russia?

No, but unfortunately it happens all the time to workers in many fields. Some have to take paycuts so the company can stay "competitive" and many lose their job outright in downsizing. The only difference is there isn't a mass media frenzy when an widget assembly worker is 'asked' (read sign this or we close the plant) to take a cut.

 

[Wolfpack]

I do not agree with the direction of this post at all. The 3rd and 4th liners won't get any sympathy from me - not when they are playing 9 minutes a night in a limited role and STILL making $1 million/yr. I don't have a problem with one franchise-type player per team making $5 or $6 million, but when 3rd pairing d-men are making $1 million+ that is JUST AS WRONG and hurts the game just as much as a star scorer making $10 million.

The salaries of grinders have risen just as fast as the salaries of superstars over the term of the last CBA.

 

[Mothra]

What I take from this is something I have been saying all along......the day to day lifestyle of players (and IMO not just the 3rd/4th liners) has changed.....people tend to live at their income level....even millionaires....on the other hand, I seriously doubt any owner has had to sell houses, move to a different country in order to get a paycheck, worry about their future and that of their family, if they can remain sending their kids to the best private schools and college, etc, all because of the work stoppage

at some point the majority of players who dont make 5+ mil or so will have to wake up....then rise up and slay the leadership of the PA

 

[John Flyers Fan]

True. But the 6mil guy has indirectly set the floor for the 600K guy. 10 years ago, the 600K was making 250K. Yes, the line in the sand is more lucrative for 'made' players, but the larger contracts (PA's bread and butter) have helped grow the contracts of the masses (the 3rd/4th liner). This is the line BG is selling. The floor keeps increasing with more larger salaries closer to the ceiling.

It's absolutely true. The biggest contracts help every contract below them.


Under any type of hard cap system it will be the 4th line 5-7th defenseman that will take it in the shorts. Each team will have a handfull of players making the league minimum, in order to create room for the "stars".

In the NFL the Mannings, Favre, and Brady's are still getting paid, it's the backup linebacker and special teams guys that get buried under a hard cap system.

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

Would it be ok if your salary is cut in half, as long as it is 5-10 times more than they pay for the same job in Russia?

You don't think this is already happening? Ever hear of outsourcing to India? My profession allows me to work in almost any industry in the US. Whenever I can't deliver enough value to my employer to justify my current salary, I'm sure I'll end up having to take a pay-cut. Of course, I won't end up with a newpaper article written about it.

Top tier hockey players really have 2 options - play in NHL, or play overseas. I have a hard time getting all broken hearted over guys that say it's unacceptable to make 5x in the NHL compared to what they can overseas.

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

Hey Buddy, strap on a pair of skates and show us how easy it is to hang with the big guys.

So let's get this straight, only NHL players are allowed to have an opinion as they are the only ones good enough to play in the NHL?

I get paid because of my education and my experience. I will never make what the lowest paid scrub in the NHL makes - and I'm totally fine with that. I just do not understand why I should not think that the players (at a very high level) should be paid based on the revenue streams they generate? Call me crazy.

Bottom line: The low end players are going to be the ones that really feel the pinch with a new economic system in place. As far as I know though, no where is it promised that a marginal NHL career was a promise to never have to work again.