Gretzky sums it up perfectly...

[ScottyBowman]

certainly not 9 million dollar man Holik, or 10 mil Pronger

Sakic? yes
Forsberg?yes
no one derserves the money these players are getting, but there are a handful in which I'd pay, as a fan, to watch.

I'm not a Blues fan but to say that Pronger didn't put butts in the seats in St. Louis being a top 3 nhl defenseman for the last 8 years is ignorant.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

I'm not a Blues fan but to say that Pronger didn't put butts in the seats in St. Louis being a top 3 nhl defenseman for the last 8 years is ignorant.

how is he putting butts in the seats??

don't get me wrong, he's an unbelievable d-man...but I certainly dont pay top dollar to see him shut down the other team's top line...

 

[hfboardsuser]

I am not bashing Gretzky, however ask yourself this, who's contract was the first to break 5 million? Who repeatedly set pay benchmarks in the NHL, not saying that he shouldn't, but the reality is that he had to know that his contracts would have consequences in the future. For Gretzky to now complain about NHL contracts is nothing but hypocrytical.

Consequences? Sure, by setting the standard for players like Gretzky. But you can't tell me with any validity that there has been a player since him or Lemieux that has been that good, and thus deserving of that money.

 

[ScottyBowman]

how is he putting butts in the seats??

don't get me wrong, he's an unbelievable d-man...but I certainly dont pay top dollar to see him shut down the other team's top line...

To each his own but I know many fans that love to see great defensemen. I actually have much more respect for a Lidstrom/Pronger than a 1 dimensional offensive player. To play 30 mins a game and to play SH, PP, and ES takes a lot of skill and flexibility. Their are a few great offensive players that are not put out in SH situations because they are that one dimensional.

 

[Luc Labelle]

I am not bashing Gretzky, however ask yourself this, who's contract was the first to break 5 million? Who repeatedly set pay benchmarks in the NHL

Ok, he has set benchmarks for players that are capable of scoring over 200 points in a season or average close to 2 points per game over a career. He has really thrown the system out of whack because every 200 point player is demanding to meet that benchmark he set... Mario Lemieux and, and, and that's all folks.

 

[Icey]

The players and owners are both part of it. According to the players they want to be part of decision making...NHL is responsible for not marketing the NHL very well...Players are responsible for poor product, and not facing REALITY and pretending everything is okay in the NHL for the last 5 years. Not excuse for the NHL but they see the writing on the wall and want to fix it the players would rather be in the land of Oz where everything is good and not see how unhappy the fans have been.

Don't blame the players because the NHL has turned into the trap and clutch and grab, for that you have the league, the owners, the GM's and the coaches. Clutching and grabing is coached and tolerated. The players play the way they are coached to play, and when they don't they are benched, so to blame the players on the game in not right.

The players have not said that everything is alright with the league. They have admitted for years the league has problems, its just the owners and players disagree to the degree of the problems and whose problem it is to fix. The owners seem to want a fool proof system because they can't trust each other. Right now they are all on the same side, but once this is over do you really think that Detroit is going to be looking out for the best interest of Nashville when signing a player? They don't trust each other and Bettman knows it and the only way he can assure anything is through a salary cap.

Fixing the league has absolutely zero to do with the fans. The league does not care about the fans and the players don't care about the fans and that is reality. Both sides care about one thing and one thing only and that is money. The owners want to make the most money they can in the shortest amount of time, same for the players. It's what you, I and every business owner out there does every day.

 

[Icey]

Ok, he has set benchmarks for players that are capable of scoring over 200 points in a season or average close to 2 points per game over a career. He has really thrown the system out of whack because every 200 point player is demanding to meet that benchmark he set... Mario Lemieux and, and, and that's all folks.

Even Gretsky wouldn't be putting up those kind of points in todays game, he'd barly be breaking 100. When was the last time a player put up 200 points in a season?

 

[Luc Labelle]

Even Gretsky wouldn't be putting up those kind of points in todays game, he'd barly be breaking 100.

Only if he came out of retirement, but in his prime he would still put up closer to 160 even in today's NHL. If you did mean Gretzky in his prime, then you are saying that Gretzky at his best was only marginally better than Martin St. Louis.

 

[Cawz]

Don't blame the players because the NHL has turned into the trap and clutch and grab, for that you have the league, the owners, the GM's and the coaches. Clutching and grabing is coached and tolerated. The players play the way they are coached to play, and when they don't they are benched, so to blame the players on the game in not right.

Can you explain to me how the owners and GMs are more to blame than the players?

Clutching and grabbing is coached and tolerated, and done. Dont absolve the players. They are also to blame for doing it.

Even Gretsky wouldn't be putting up those kind of points in todays game, he'd barly be breaking 100. When was the last time a player put up 200 points in a season?

Thats Gretzky, with a 'z'. And when was the last time a player put up 200 points? Only when the greatest ever was playing. Thats why he deserved what he was paid. Which by the way, the league could afford, unlike today.

Thats why saying he's a hypocryte doesnt work. The league wasnt in as dire straights back then. Different circumstances.

 

[Lil' Jimmy Norton*]

Gretzky has always been all about the paycheck just like Mario. I have more respect for someone like Paul Kariya who took a huge paycut to win.

How many Stanley Cups has Kariya won.....???? Gretzky...4 Cups.....Lemieux....2 Cups...!!! What are you talking about...Kariya...give us all a break Scotty ! :lol

 

[ScottyBowman]

How many Stanley Cups has Kariya won.....???? Gretzky...4 Cups.....Lemieux....2 Cups...!!! What are you talking about...Kariya...give us all a break Scotty ! :lol

Seriously, what are you mumbling about? We are talking about paychecks, not career achievements.

 

[ladybugblue]

Seriously, what are you mumbling about? We are talking about paychecks, not career achievements.

Hence questioning why Kariya made more for maybe 30 goals a year?? It doesn't make sense especially given where hockey ranks in most of the markets distance 4th, 5th or 6th in major sports in the US.

 

[OpinionatedMike]

Anyone who says The Great One isn't worth whatever it is he made is....not worth talking hockey to.

More so anyone that like to argue about no one putting up 200 points a season should do some research, there is an argument out there that points per game were up league wide BECAUSE of Mario and Wayne (I'm not saying it's true, but there is an arguement out there for it)

Do fans in Florida or Carolina sell out when Trevor Linden comes to town? I'm sorry, I don't think so, they MAY in Vancouver, and that's fine, then pay him a little more for that.
Can Chris Pronger draw seats? Maybe... (Most defenceman don't, sorry, but no one is going to a game to see Brendan Witt)

It's offence that people want to see, is it the fault of teams that they play clutch and grab? Maybe, they are paid to win, so they are trying to win with "lesser" talent.
It's a complete circle.

Players want a good paycheck - Fans want to pay to be excited - Teams want to win - Skilled players are hard to come buy - Teams pay for less skilled players that can trap well - Game becomes boring - Boring team makes the first round - Boring players want pay increase

That's why you have less skilled players making 3 Million a season. And therefore you see the Iginlas making 9 Million since only a small amount can defeat the trap with skill.

If you were the BEST EVER at your job, you'd demand the BEST you could get too. The problem doesn't exsist because Lidstrom, Pronger, Sakic, (heck even) Holik, are getting paid too much, it's because Aki Berg, Craig Conroy, and Trent Klatt are.

 

[AlexandreDaigle]

"Guys are talking now about starting up the World Hockey Association again?" he says. "That's the same WHA with the $10 million salary cap? And some players took jobs in the Eastern League, with a cap of $500 a week? But they don't want one in the NHL? Boggles my mind. If you believe in no cap, then how can you play in a league that has one? Besides, the union already has said it will accept a cap."

The PAers here can't/won't/don't want to deal with that fantastic point so they're resorting to attacking Gretzky over history.

Put it aside, let it lie, and look at the original quote which is accurate and scathing.

 

[wedge]

there's a big difference as being the first to get 5 millions and having 40 players getting it today.

Gretzky was THE superstar. Only Los Angeles had to give him the money. Today, every team has to give 5+ million to a player, often 2 or 3. When Gretzky got this money, the franchises were healthy and they were earning millions each year. Now, it's not longer the case. Nobody will say that there is not a single player in the league who deserves 5 millions. Nobody has a problem with Sakic, Forsberg and company to have 5 millions. Our problem is seeing Lapointe, Holik and Yashin having these huge contracts without being franchise players.

Yes, Gretzky got a lot of money. But he is not the problem, because he was the best. The problem was about all these other players who wanted to have more money than him. I've never heard of Gretzky holding out because he wanted a big contract. I've never heard of Gretzky having problems signing a big contract.

I remember reading about his first 21 years old contract. A few years later, his TEAM offered him a better contract... He never asked it. So how could you say that Gretzky was all about money.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

To each his own but I know many fans that love to see great defensemen. I actually have much more respect for a Lidstrom/Pronger than a 1 dimensional offensive player. To play 30 mins a game and to play SH, PP, and ES takes a lot of skill and flexibility. Their are a few great offensive players that are not put out in SH situations because they are that one dimensional.

I agree that it takes alot of skill to do what Proger and Lidstrom does, but the average fan likes to see goals and great skill with the puck

 

[SENSible1*]

To each his own but I know many fans that love to see great defensemen. I actually have much more respect for a Lidstrom/Pronger than a 1 dimensional offensive player. To play 30 mins a game and to play SH, PP, and ES takes a lot of skill and flexibility. Their are a few great offensive players that are not put out in SH situations because they are that one dimensional.

Wayne had 73 shorthanded goals in his career.

 

[Benji Frank]

This coming from the guy who in his day, his salary was out of control to compared to everyone elses. It doesn't matter what kind of player he was, the fact is that in his rookie season he made $1.7M (1989) and after that never made less than $3M. He accumulated over $43M during his career and now he's telling the players to take a salary cap. Sorry but that just the pot calling the kettle black.

I'm sure the rest of the thread is saying much the same thing ... but this is too funny!! Gretzky won 4 or 5 cups, hart and scoring leader about a dozen times each. he could score more points in a season then the bulk of players (not including maybe the top 3 or 4 per season) now score in in 3 or 4 seasons!! He was the reason hockey became so big in the US!!! Do you know how many people made a fortune off him??

There are very few athletes in history who have done to their sport what Gretzky did to hockey, but I bet if you looked at all-time earnings just for playing not including endorsements, you probably will have to look way down the list before you find Gretzky's name........

 

[chiavsfan]

Yikes, if I knew that that little quote would have ended up in a 5 page thread, I would have posted it earlier

 

[LadyByngJeanRatelle]

Same with Mario. Even though his Penguins have no money and have had to trade players away season after season as a salary dump, he continues to draw his $5.25M salary and then plays only a handful of games. If Mario was so concerned about a salary cap why is drawing that kind of salary and not a $1M salary?

Sorry I couldn't let this one go, but are you serious that Mario's only in it for the money?

Did I miss something, or didn't Mario defer a boat load of money to keep the franchise afloat. If Mario was as greedy as you say he was, why didn't he fight for all the money he was signed for by Pittsburgh? Why did he defer money, and why did he take over the franchise?

Why hasn't he moved Pittsburgh to a more profitable location?

Why not pay himself $5.25 million a year? He's better than any player in the NHL currently making that amount. At $5.25 million he's a bargain. Plus he's the owner. He's making no money off the penguins in a management sense, why can't he as a player?

Player's take absolutely no risk in any sense of the word, concerning NHL finances. The players believe as long as they get their money, whether or not the owners make a profit is not a priority to them. Owners take all the risk. First they have to pay all their players, and maybe if there's enough leftover they'll possibly make a profit (doubtful in most cases).

I'd love to see in reversed. Owner's get their cut first. Then the remaining $ is divided out to the players. If there's not much money left for the players......

See how they like it.

 

[HockeyCritter]

Didn't the PA make a huge stink about Lemieux's $5.25-million salary, claiming he was "under valuing" himself and thereby under valuing the market?

 

[guymez]

The PAers here can't/won't/don't want to deal with that fantastic point so they're resorting to attacking Gretzky over history.

Put it aside, let it lie, and look at the original quote which is accurate and scathing.

I completely agree with you. Every pro PA post has attacked the messenger and not addressed the message.
I guess that speaks volumes about just how defendable the NHLPA postion/player actions really are.

 

[BAdvocate]

Gretzky has always been all about the paycheck just like Mario. I have more respect for someone like Paul Kariya who took a huge paycut to win.

Update:

We have a new dumbest post of the year winner.

And the previous dumbest post of the year winner now holds the record for shortest time having the dumbest post of the year at 2 hours & 3 minutes.

 

[King'sPawn]

As others have recently said... the difference between Gretzky "taking advantage of the system" and players doing it now, is that the system was relatively stable compared to the time Gretzky did it.

Teams weren't making MORE money with a lockout compared to having a full NHL season.

Players weren't making several million dollars more than they produced.

During the shortened season in the 90's, did Gretzky play in another league with a cap, while stating he would never play in the NHL if it had a cap?

This isn't an issue of whether or not Gretzky "earned" what he got more than any other current player. The issue is that the PA is turning their collective noses to a cap, while playing in other leagues in less financial trouble, that HAVE A CAP.

Jeez, and people are calling Gretzky the hypocrite.

 

[LordHelmet]

Comparing salaries from 20 years ago to salaries today is pointless without factoring in inflation. In 1980 you could get a new car for $6,000 - now the same thing costs about $20,000... If you adjusted Gretzky's salaries for 20-25 years of inflation, he'd easily be in the $15MM range..