Looking beyond this CBA cycle, what needs to be done to prevent future strikes and lockouts?
Here's my take:
IMHO, the creek that eroded a great chasm that separates the PA and the NHL is market inequity. There are three teams that have tapped endless wells of fan support while the NHL tries to strike rich in a new frontier. Half the league operated at a loss from 2009-2011.
http://sports.nationalpost.com/2012/09/18/the-nhl-economy-financial-disparity-from-the-bottom-up/
Fix the business of the league. Remove the need for a salary cap by making the economic playing field more level. Make the fan markets more fair, and then the player markets will be more fair.
If we accept that there has to be any degree of parity between the richest and the poorest teams without a salary cap, the deep wells of fan support have to be opened to more teams.
Let there be two teams in Toronto. Two in Montreal. Two in Manhattan. (Well, NY is already rife with teams. Maybe just fix Devils and Islanders arena locations.) Could you go back to Hartford? Move a team to Seattle.
How would you prevent another labour stoppage? (Pfft... "labour.")
Here's my take:
IMHO, the creek that eroded a great chasm that separates the PA and the NHL is market inequity. There are three teams that have tapped endless wells of fan support while the NHL tries to strike rich in a new frontier. Half the league operated at a loss from 2009-2011.
http://sports.nationalpost.com/2012/09/18/the-nhl-economy-financial-disparity-from-the-bottom-up/
Fix the business of the league. Remove the need for a salary cap by making the economic playing field more level. Make the fan markets more fair, and then the player markets will be more fair.
If we accept that there has to be any degree of parity between the richest and the poorest teams without a salary cap, the deep wells of fan support have to be opened to more teams.
Let there be two teams in Toronto. Two in Montreal. Two in Manhattan. (Well, NY is already rife with teams. Maybe just fix Devils and Islanders arena locations.) Could you go back to Hartford? Move a team to Seattle.
How would you prevent another labour stoppage? (Pfft... "labour.")
