Boston Globe piece - Blame the Players

[Gee Wally]

from our own hubofhockey....Kevin Paul Dupont.

I don't always agree with him..but I really liked this piece in todays' paper :

http://www.boston.com/sports/hockey/articles/2005/02/17/ice_breakers/

Click to read more...

 

[Pepper]

from our own hubofhockey....Kevin Paul Dupont.

I don't always agree with him..but I really liked this piece in todays' paper :

http://www.boston.com/sports/hockey/articles/2005/02/17/ice_breakers/

That article was well-written, to the point and made it perfectly clear who's fault this is.

KPD!

 

[officeglen]

Thanks for the link. Completely agree with the article.

This was the time for reasonable people to make a reasonable deal, and the players and the agents and the Players Association's administrators took reason directly from the penthouse to the outhouse.

Is anybody able to explain the NHLPA thinking? Certainly Goodenow couldn't yesterday. What will the players do next - stay in shape he says. We wanted fair and couldn't get fair and its not fair and it's so unfair, so we stay in shape waiting for the fair.

 

[ChiHawks468]

That is a great article. Nail on the head kinda stuff!

 

[chiavsfan]

Best parts of this article

, some of the Players Association's brave brethren have jumped to job openings on this side of the Atlantic, muscling minor leaguers and even minor minor leaguers out of jobs that once really did put bread and milk on the table of guys who lost work. Now there's true brotherhood solidarity. No doubt those dimwitted minor league losers deserved getting kicked to the curb. Hey, that's why they're minor leaguers, just chumps in the evolutionary hockey player chain. This much is certain: The dollars the players passed up yesterday will only continue to shrink.

Complete and right on the head....sorry PA folk

This was the time for reasonable people to make a reasonable deal, and the players and the agents and the Players Association's administrators took reason directly from the penthouse to the outhouse. The league guaranteed up to $1.3 billion, assuming a load of risk along with that offer, and the union couldn't make peace with a $6.5 million gap that represented a potential extra expenditure of $195 million on the part of the owners. As in all negotiations with sports labor, the players never assumed a cent of risk. Which is why they are players, not partners, even if they don't want to believe that.

This was the same invisible partner, with recent gross annual revenues of some $2.1 billion, that less than 24 hours before pledged to guarantee up to $1.275 billion in wages, and pitch in roughly another $60 million in payroll benefits. For the sake of discussion, let's round the whole ball of wax off at about $1.3 billion -- or potentially 62 percent of $2.1 billion. And that 62 percent is based on the assumption -- perhaps not a good one -- that the league could start up essentially where it left off, raking in $2.1 billion a year.

But by shortly after 4 p.m., the chance of a late fix was lost when union boss Bob Goodenow stepped to a podium at a Toronto hotel and spewed the same ol' rhetoric he has throughout the course of the lockout -- and during the months and years leading up to the labor strife. Never during the proceedings, said Goodenow, did the union have a partner in negotiations If anyone out there was still listening to the Players Association prattle, it had to end there. No partner. The players may be that stupid, but not the customers who pay their salaries. It only became more absurd when Goodenow said the union made no further offers off its $49 million figure, because of the league's take-it-or-leave-it stance on $42.5 million. He stopped talking because the invisible partner demanded the last word. Oh.

 

[SENSible1*]

GREAT ARTICLE! Thanks for the link.

 

[e-e]

 

[KingsFan7824]

Pretty much gets to the heart of it.

I blame the owners for ruining the game financially, on multiple levels, and bringing the game to the point of a full season lockout.

I blame the players for not ending this mess yesterday, with what will turn out to be the best deal they're going to get from this point forward.

What can be said, it's just a shame. So many questions left to be answered because of yesterday. Not even sure where the starting line is for the league as a whole.

 

[amazingcrwns]

This was a great article KPD wrote, can't say I really disagree with anything he said.

 

[John Flyers Fan]

Do NHL players figure the NBA and the NFL have it all wrong? Answer: They must. Could those two leagues be telling NHL leadership to buck trend? Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

The deal the NHLPA offered was better than what the owners in the NBA current;y have.

The NFL hard cap was not negotiated ... it was enforced after the union crumbled.

 

[flyercide]

The NFL hard cap was not negotiated ... it was enforced after the union crumbled.

hopefully, we've just witnessed the end of the PA. not the NHL. if i didnt believe the NHL was in such dire straights id probably stop following hockey after this... but i truly feel that the problem lies within the PA. and it needs fixing. unfortunately us fans have to suffer however long it takes.

 

[WhalerBoy]

The deal the NHLPA offered was better than what the owners in the NBA current;y have.

The NFL hard cap was not negotiated ... it was enforced after the union crumbled.

RE:NBA- Gee, how big of the PA to offer SO much. Better than the NBA one you say? Maybe thats cause the NBA actually has a tv contract, actually has a greater fanbase. Listen to this.....REVENUES!!! I have no problem with an athelete making millions more than I do, because no one will pay $80 to see me play shinny. But I do have an issue with workers, yes workers, overestimating their worth and underestimating the costs associated with being an owner. Like KPD said, hard to tell if its stupidity or greed. Im guessing its a nice mix of both.

re: NFL- Lets hope this one gets enforced as well. Im not sure if the union will crumble fast or soon, but they will crumble if the owners wait them out. I hate the stratedgy as a fan, but I see the business sense in doing so. Make the crumble, break, dissolve whatever. Just do it Ownership.

Fix the finances, then fix the game.

 

[Pepper]

The NFL hard cap was not negotiated ... it was enforced after the union crumbled.

NHLPA should have seen the this coming...They crumbled and will face the same destiny as NFL.

 

[Lorenzo1000]

Great article. Probably the best article written about this whole mess. This should be sent to every player in the NHLPA. Maybe they'll wake up then.

 

[gobuds]

good article indeed, personally I like this one better:

http://nypost.com/sports/40738.htm

 

[chara]

The deal only gets worse for the players.

The owners will declare an impasse, impose their own CBA and open up camps in September but surprise, surprise with NO replacement players.

If players want to show up, so be it. If not, they'll be fined and then they can go on strike. The league will then cancel games as need be, like this past year but this time they won't have to negotiate a new CBA. They'll just wait for the players to come back and they will come back, especially when a lot of the richer older guys, who have little to gain professionally and financially, just quit outright.

 

[Old Hickory]

Good article Kevin!

 

[chiavsfan]

About the Brooks article...I saw go ahead and have the Marquee player in question root out the "traitors"...this would cement the PA greed

 

[flyercide]

if i didnt believe the NHL was in such dire straights id probably stop following hockey after this...

i misrepresented myself. i am a diehard hockey fan & will always follow hockey no matter what happens. i gave-up baseball i am not giving up hockey.

 

[NHLFanSince2020]

If there are any pro-PA people left out there (helloooooo (echo) helloooooo (echo)), how can you NOT see the lengths the NHL went to with their latest offer?

This was the same invisible partner, with recent gross annual revenues of some $2.1 billion, that less than 24 hours before pledged to guarantee up to $1.275 billion in wages, and pitch in roughly another $60 million in payroll benefits. For the sake of discussion, let's round the whole ball of wax off at about $1.3 billion -- or potentially 62 percent of $2.1 billion. And that 62 percent is based on the assumption -- perhaps not a good one -- that the league could start up essentially where it left off, raking in $2.1 billion a year.

So, let's think about it this way.

Before the lockout, the PA was getting 76% of league revenue.
The PA offered a 24% rollback.
After the 24% rollback, the PA would be getting 52% of league revenue with unlimited room to move higher.

If the PA accepted the NHLs latest offer, the PA could make up to 62% of league revenue, and that 62% would probably be much higher considering shrinking revenue.

Oh well, the NHL will get a deal that makes much more sense now.

 

[Jussi]

That was a good article. Sums up the PA's stupidity/greed pretty nicely.

 

[NHLFanSince2020]

The NHL will get a deal that makes much more sense now.

I am going to recant this statement.

I meant to say the NHL will formulate a plan that will satisfy both parties.

I believe with the impending linkage deal and susbsequent eventual growth of the sport due to upcoming league changes, both parties will be financially rewarded similarly.

 

[BAdvocate]

Best parts of this article

Actually I thought this was the best part:

And make no mistake, this is on the players. And it's on their agents. And it's on their union. It would be absolutely unfair and foolish, even pernicious, to put it solely on Goodenow and his sidekick, Ted Saskin. They may be the figureheads in all this, but the rest of them are the dunderheads. But this is the same bunch that got led down the primrose path by Alan Eagleson many moons ago, so in the words of Forrest Gump, that's all I've got to say about that.

I too blame the players. Not once did they share in the responsibility for the escalating player contracts. How many holdouts, arbitration cases, & 110% minimum salary increases does it take before they are held accountable.

Even during Goodenow's press conference, the blame for 'setting contract value' was placed solely on the shoulders of the owners. At least when owners spend irresponsibly they are doing it for the good of the team, the city, & the fans. When they dump a player because they feel his arbitration award is too high, they are called cheap. I'm even guilty of calling Bruin's management cheap.

When players holdout for more money, or take a team to arbitration they are doing it for their own selfish reasons. Usually at the expense of their teammates, their team, their city, & their fans.

For those who watched Goodenow's press conference after Bettman's, you may have noticed he never apologized to the fans, he only told the reporter who asked if they were going to apologize like Bettman had, that "of course we apologize to the fans".

It was sad when Hockey changed from a game to a business, but it was understandable. Now hockey players have changed into businessmen. Selfish businessmen. that is sad.