Lanny MacDonald*
Guest
Tom_Benjamin said:There will be another league next year. Maybe just in Canada, maybe not. All the league will have to do is top European salaries. If major league hockey goes back to being mickey mouse and the players only get a few hundred thousand, they'll play. The WHA will have a lot less trouble raising money in a few weeks. Cancel the season and it is almost certain next season doesn't start either. That's an opportunity.
If they get the best North American players scattered in ten cities they'll put on a really good product and the money will grow from there. They'll get a TV deal. All this labour dispute can do is wreck the business of NHL hockey. It won't wreck hockey or the business of hockey. That represents a fabulous opportunity for some other billionaires to invest a few million for a chance of knocking off the NHL. If the NHL stays out and the league produces a credible product they will get their money back in spades by selling expansion franchises.
Meanwhile those fat bleeps who tried to foist an unfair deal on them are out $3 billion and many have worthless empty ice palaces on their hands. If they want to risk that, well it's their choice. Are the players willing to kill the goose who lays the golden eggs? Well, it isn't their goose, is it? They are apparently willing to forego their golden eggs to win a fight. Whatever it takes.
Tom
What a dreamer! You really are. Answer these simple questions.
1) Where are the players getting the money to bankroll their new enterprise? It takes a big chunk of coin to run a league, even a 10 team league with 250 players. Where does this capital magically appear from?
2) Why would the players decide to play in this league, where the star players would be getting a couple hundred thousand dollars a season, turning their backs on the multi-millions in the NHL?
3) So the stars decide to play in this new league of yours for a fraction of what they would make in the NHL. What about the other 450 players? Are they just going to idly sit by and watch their bonly chance at making big money fo down the toilet? Are they going to go take jobs at WalMart while the superstars continue to screw them over, playng in their new league?
4) Where are these buildings going to come from? How are the players going to manage to dig up these buildings and draw more than flies to their new little venture?
5) Who is going to come out and watch this "all star extravaganza"? Will the fans embrace hockey that is likely going to be nothing less than the figure skating events put on during the all star break or any "player tour"?
6) How would this get a TV deal? Seriously, if the NHL, steeped in tradition and in 30 major markets across the continent cannot get a TV deal worth a damn, how are the players going to get a TV deal? Don't forget, it is the same players that have caused the down fall of the game that are going to be getting this new TV deal. How is this even remotely realistic?
7) These billionaires you speak of, why would they consider getting into bed with the same players that screwed a two billion dollar enterprise into submission? The players wanted no part of a partnership with the NHL, why should anyone trust them as a partner in the future?
8) So now that the players league is dead, how is the WHA viable? The WHA is total pipe dream. No one takes them seriously. Why would anyone invest any money in an enterprise that is going to disappear the minute the NHL comes back on line? Seems like a complete waste of money.
This is going to be entertaining.