chiavsfan said:
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.