getnziggywidit said:
I read this on another message board:
I read that Scott Gomez signed a contract to play for $500 a week.
I don't know how much the NHLPA players in Europe signed for but my logic is this.
If players are accepting these contracts to play outside the NHL, that is their market value.
Why should the NHL pay them anything more than that?
I understand your reasoning, however it doesn't compare. The markets of the NHL, SEL, FEL, RSL, AHL, and ECHL are all different.
While guys like Kovalchuk are going to Russia and making more
guaranteed money than they did in Atlanta, he still made more in the NHL off of bonuses than he is making with Ak Bars Kazan I would assume.
The thing that really bothers me is how the refs were respectable to not take away jobs from other refs in other leagues. The guys working in other leagues are not making as much money as the pro's, so when they lose their jobs to these pro's it's hurting them more.
It's almost funny how the NHLPA is being painted as greedy through these negotiations. The depth players that largely make up the NHL are many of the players who are speaking out against the NHLPA and for a cap. The players who appear to be keeping the movement going are all going to other hockey teams to play for money and keep in shape. If you think about that whole dynamic, it all makes sense. The NHLPA doesn't care about Madden, Commodore, Riberio -- the NHLPA cares about Brodeur, Forsberg, and Pronger.