Bobby Holik: "Owners are Liars"

NEW YORK (CP) - The NHL and its owners "lie all the time," according to New York Rangers forward Bobby Holik .

"Lying comes very easy to these people," Holik told the New York Post in a story published Tuesday. "The owners and league lie all the time to further their agenda. "What that is, it appears pretty obvious to me at this point, is to break the union and start all over again with entirely new players."

Holik's comments came in a weekend interview about the NHL lockout, the Post said.

The comments appeared used in a Post column on the lockout.
Updated
--------------------------------

Unreal... this from the guy who makes 9 million a season as a checking center on one of the worst teams in the NHL.

If ever there was one player who's the poster boy for how badly screwed up it's this guy.

 

Who cares how much he makes? Everything he said is entirely true.

 

Some people might call Holik a thief for the amount of money he makes vs what he produces so he should try to curb the name calling.

 

I wish Holik would just go away.

If anyone owes the NHLPA, its him.

 

Holik's exorbitant salary affected noone but himself and the Rangers.

 

Just before people start bashing holik on the money issue...

If you were in his shoes you would have done the same...he didnt ask for the money Sather gave it to him:

Sather calls Holik in the morning on July 1st...offers him that huge chunk of change because he REALLY wants holik on the Rangers...was holik suppose to answer back.."im not worth that much..offer me 4 million and you got a deal."

For the Record it was SATHER who did offer the money to him and it had nothing to do with Holiks Agent who demanded that much.

 

Wow, that's naive.

 

Then maybe you can explain all of the other signings that were influenced by Holik's UFA signing.

Thanks.

 

Nothing but ad hominem attacks on Holik so far...

Shame on him for suggesting that a group of very successful businessmen might *gasp* lie to further their own goals.

 

I agree with a few others here and don't really see how Holik's salary reflects on anything he said.

As for what he said, it just makes the divide between the players and owners more apparent. There seems to be *zero* trust between them, deservedly or not.

 

Contract should be link to minimum requirement to be valid.

I guess everyone here cannot just show to their office every weekday, Do **** and expect a pay for the next 5 years..

There should be categories and goals to reach.. like 25% / 50% / 75% / 100% / 125% or 150% of the salary.

Take the example of Holik.... is last year performance with the type of player he was played with and the ice time should have got him a 25% to 50% max of his contract...

 

In society as a whole, yes. But professional sports are vastly different. They won't be outsourcing Holik's job to a country in the southern hemisphere where they can get players to play for $0.35 a day.

Even if there's a cap of say $40 million for a 23 man team, that's an average of well over a million dollars per player. This is not your everyday union. We're not talking about workers getting together to get some healthcare.

Even if it's negotiating rhetoric, in today's world, it's disgusting. From both sides. They both deserve each other.

They should both go away, no more press conferences, and when/if they figure out how many millions both sides can make, then let us know.

 

Uhh, no. Holik's salary is one prime example of why the NHL is in the current mess it's in. It's affected much more than just himself and the Rangers.

 

Again, no explanation.

Explain how. Do you understand the concept of how? Like, how has Holik's salary caused any other player salaries to inflate?

 

Whether it's true or not is rather irrelevant...but personal attacks in negotiations do NOTHING to resolve the issues. It's bush league and highly unprofessional. It only serves to illustrate why players have agents to represent them in arbitration hearings...they seem to be ineffective at keeping their feelings out of a business negotiation.

 

holik is simply sticking up for the union that in the past held out to the owners demands and allowed him to make as much money as possible.

if somebody offered you the money holik was making wouldn't you take it?

 

in a heart beat.

 

Yup, but my conscience would bother me. I would especially feel horrible if my salary contributed to the potential downfall of an entire industry. Hmmmm, I wonder how all those dot com millionaires feel about what they did to the compueter industry? That would be an interesting series of interviews to see.

 

How has Holik's isolated UFA signing put the industry in danger?

 

His salary, along with several others', sets the market for subsequent UFA signings. It's helped spur the inflation. Every third-line bum in the league now wants $9 million a year. Not all get it, but it puts upward pressure on salaries.

 

It's pretty self explainatory, is it not? His salary is an example of why the NHL needs a new system... guys like Holik should NOT be making 9 million a season. One of the reasons the NHL is in dire straights is salaries like Holik's - overpaying for less than elite talent.

If you can't connect the dots and see how Holik's salary affects the NHL as a whole, then I'm sorry, I can't help you.

Can you explain HOW his salary DOESN'T affect the NHL instead of blindly saying it doesn't without any explaination?

 

Yearly supply and demand sets the market for UFAs. Past signings are irrelevant.

None of them get it. Everybody wants as much money as they can get and have always wanted as much money as they can get. What Holik signed for is irrelevant. All that matters is how much the teams are currently willing to pay.

 

Who will speak out next? Yashin? Lapointe? ...?

 

No it isn't.

Why shouldn't Holik be making $9 million? If the Rangers are dumb enough to pay him that, then why should you care?

The only reason it would potentially matter is if it triggered league-wide inflation. But that only happens with RFAs. Signing a player like Brad Richards to too much money triggers league-wide inflation. Signing Holik doesn't.

Again, no explanation given. I'm beginning to think that you can't connect the dots of your own argument.

Simple. UFA signings don't cause salary inflation because they can't be used as comparables by players in arbitration or players holding out. Ottawa could sign Shaun Van Allen to a $20 million contract tomorrow and it wouldn't compel anybody else to give their benchwarmers the same. The only contracts that trigger league-wide inflation are to RFAs.

 

Man, I wish you were a player agent. We wouldn't be in this mess at all. Unfortunately all agents follow just the opposite view you have and will use the Holik contract to their advantage to extort as much out of a team as possible. That's the way the game is played. Holik's salary is an albatros around the neck of every club in the league.