CarlRacki said:
Cap or no cap, the NHL will continue to have the best players in the world. The players will always go to where the money is, and unless things change beyond all imagination, that's always will be the NHL.
Keep in mind, even under the owners' current proposal the average NHL salary will be four to five times more than most Euro leagues pay their best players. Do you really think a third-line quality player from Finland is going to stay there for $200K a year when he can earn seven times that in the NHL?
We'll see, won't we.
I'm not sure the Fins and Swedes will ever compete with NHL salaries.
But something may be afoot in Russia.
And I'm not sure what's going to happen when Bettman closes the league down for the year.
Will the players go to the WHA, if there's a WHA.
Will the players start their own league?
I doubt it. But we're entering uncharted waters here. And more than any other pro athlete, I believe in the NHL players' resolve.
So we'll see.
It's quite clear that the owners are in a position of power and that they are using every ounce of it. I think that, eventually, the players will fold. What isn't clear is how much they'll give up. What isn't clear is when the players will fold. Or if fans will punish the NHL for scrapping a season or more.
If the NHL opens next year with a bettman power move - rosters full of ECHLers and other scabs wearing Original 6 jerseys - I might stop watching the NHL altogether.
Chances are, some NHLers will cross early and that the players will eventually cave in to save some semblance of a PA.
Still, I really wouldn't bet the farm against the players jumping to the WHA or starting their own league in such a case.
And it would be interesting to see what fans would watch.
Scrubs and scabs in NHL jerseys.
Or the best players in the world in other jerseys.
I mean, if you're ESPN, what would you air?
If you're CBC, what would you air?
The owners are gambling that the players will swallow their insulting proposal because it's still the best financial optiun. It's a good bet, I suppose.
But what happens to the hundreds of millions of dollars in equity the owners posses if the players go out and create a product 100 times better than what the NHL offers.