Hicks interview

[Icey]

Exactly, but don't bother trying to explain that to the closeminded folk.

They'll never get it.

That is true but don't forget that you also don't have a RIGHT to earn a profit as so many here feel. If you are smart with your money management and business decisions then sure, you'll make some money, as many NHL teams have. However if you spend more than you bring in and make poor business decisions then you will lose money as many teams also have. And that rule applies to every business including the NHL.

The difference between a normal business and sports is that sports owners don't own the team to make money, they own it to win, and if they tell you otherwise they are just fooling themselves.

No one has ever gotten rich owning a sports team and no one ever will. Owners get rich through their other business ventures, the teams are just a side kick for them.

 

[Icey]

Don't forget Guerin around 9M to score 30 goals and beat his own teammates over the head with a stick... Like previously stated by others, Hicks is one of the guys that compounded problems for the NHL(also MLB) by thinking he could buy a championship, his ego took over when it was free agency time...Well Mr. Hicks, I may be slightly siding with the owners on this one, but you and a couple of other owners better take a look in the mirror to find where some of the problems lie in the fiscal end of this business... Hicks in my books is one owner who shouldn't be speaking...he is the Bobby Holik of owners...

You might want to try and get your facts straight. Guerin didn't hit his own teammate over the head with a stick. It was at camp 2 seasons ago and he cross checked him in scrimmage. Even the player said it was no big deal. I know this because I was at camp and saw the entire incident unfold.


Guerin's 30 was actually 34 and it was good enough to be in the top ten of all players last season.

The difference between Hicks and most of the other owners is that Hicks can spend the money but still manage to make a few bucks. I guess you think Hicks should of said sorry I won't sign that player because poor old Edmonton or Calgary can't afford to. Give it a rest, it gets so old when you repeat the same thing over and over again.

 

[The Maltais Falcon]

That is true but don't forget that you also don't have a RIGHT to earn a profit as so many here feel.

A salary cap, even one linked to revenue, does not guarantee a profit as it doesn't control operating expenses relative to revenues, only player costs.

 

[Pepper]

You might want to try and get your facts straight. Guerin didn't hit his own teammate over the head with a stick. It was at camp 2 seasons ago and he cross checked him in scrimmage. Even the player said it was no big deal. I know this because I was at camp and saw the entire incident unfold.

I have video of the incident and Guerin most certainly took a viscious swing at teammate, it looked really brutal. It looked almost as bad as Perezhogin's swing.

 

[Icey]

Do you have a video of the entire scrimmage? Because if you do you would have seen the entire incident unfold. Like I said I was in Colorado and saw the incident and it wasn't what the media likes to describe.

But either way how is it any worse than half of the other incidents that happen during games. How is it worse than Bertuzzi vs. Moore. How is worse than Roenick vs. Modano (any one of the three times he gave him a concussion). The list can go on, but I am sure you see the point. Why bring up something that happened 2+ years ago during a training camp scrimmage? Because he makes $9M and is on the PA board? Some people need to grow up.

 

[Boomhower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by likea
he states its the best offer the NHLPA will get, he does not say it was non negtiable....

If you really believe that the NHL's last offer is non-negotiable, then I've got some swamp land I'd like to show you.

No, I don't believe it, I'm just pointing out that Hicks apparantly does.

 

[Pepper]

It doesn't matter what happened prior to that incident but Guerin most definetly took a VERY viscious swing at his teammate's head, looked really bad. If you're claiming that he didn't do it you're either lying or have a real bad memory.

 

[kerrly]

It doesn't matter what happened prior to that incident but Guerin most definetly took a VERY viscious swing at his teammate's head, looked really bad. If you're claiming that he didn't do it you're either lying or have a real bad memory.

Its true, I remember seeing the clip a few times, and right about then I lost any respect I still had left for Guerin. It was not only dirty, but he looked like a whiny baby and couldn't take some hard nosed play from a kid coming into camp trying to make a name for himself.

 

[NYIsles1*]

Hicks makes me laugh. The guy claims he's lost money, but kept buying, and buying players, signing them to huge contracts. I mean, if your "business" can't afford to pay "John Doe's" salary without making a profit, you usually don't hire them. And if you can't afford to run your business, you usually close up shop.

Plus, Hicks also owns the Texas Rangers as well, who have beyond HORRIBLE contracts, still paying A-ROD's salary, and a small fan base.

Welcome to the World of Comcast, Cablevision, Little Caesars, Walmart and how they spend and lose revenue in this NHL universe.

 

[arnie]

This is the same Tom Hicks who two summers ago during the Marty Turco holdout that "this is the best offer he's going to get. No more offers will be made." and surprise surprise, along came another offer. Hicks is worse than the players recanting what they said. Give him a day or two and his tune will change, it always does.

Hicks is on the cost certainty bandwagon not because the team is losing money, but because he's spending money and the team has nothing to show for it. But this is the same Hicks who two summers ago jetted off on his private jet to lure players like Guerin, Young, Amonte and Selanne to the team. He bid against himself in the Guerin deal and made a fool of himself and he knows it. Of course this comes after the summer before when Roenick turned around and signed with Philadelphia and he panicked. He then went out and signed a bunch of guys that he knew would not fit with this team and with the exception of Turgeon and DiMaio, they have all been traded away.

Hicks is an idiot. The Stars lost $300,000 last season and because they only played 2 home playoff games. Had they played just one more, then they would have made money. Last season was also the first season they had lost money.

They have a deal that they pay a $6M arena fee regardless if they put ice down or not, so this season cost him at least $6M. I am sure there are other clubs that have similar deals.

Hicks needs cost certainty because he knows he can't control his spending and the only way his spending will be controlled is with a cap. He's like giving a shopaholic a credit card, he can't be controlled.

I don't think thst Hicks gives a hoot about cost certainty. Guys like him have big egos and want to win - at everything including negoiation. Same with a lot of the players, guys whose lives revolve around coming out on top in contfrontations. This has ceased to be about money for a lot of he particpants - it's about winning and control. When you hear the irrational statements from some of the players about shutting the league down forever rather than playing under cap, it becomes obvious that dollars and cents is not the real motivation.

 

[Icey]

It doesn't matter what happened prior to that incident but Guerin most definetly took a VERY viscious swing at his teammate's head, looked really bad. If you're claiming that he didn't do it you're either lying or have a real bad memory.

No I am not saying that at all. I am saying there was a lot leading up to it and the punk deserved what he got, but nobody was hurt. Nobody went to the hospital. Nobody was disfigured. That is what I am saying. It was no worse than half the crap that goes on during games, but I suppose because its Bill Guerin who plays for the Stars making $9M and on the board for the NHLPA is why everyone feels the need to bring the incident up every other day.