New NHLPA headache - most fans would accept replacements

[Jaded-Fan]

The good news just keeps coming if you are a player who thinks that the owners are going to break, doesn't it?

'First, consider what the current NHL players would do. Some might cross the line and compete as replacements, but most replacements likely would be young or fringe players — not the league's biggest stars. So it seems logical that most people wouldn't want to watch a lower-level game played by unknowns.

But keep in mind that remaining loyal to specific players has been difficult for years, as players follow dollar signs to new cities and trades make the term franchise player comically antiquated. In this climate, is the idea of fans handing over hard-earned cash to see skating temps that far-fetched?

A poll by FOXSports.com gave us the answer, and NHL players should be a little concerned.

With nearly 10,000 votes cast, 64 percent said they would pay to see replacement players. So a majority of these NHL fans would be willing to rip the Roenick off their authentic jerseys and root for whoever is on the home team. Of course, there was a caveat. In the hundreds of e-mails that arrived with the votes, most people wanted assurance of much lower ticket prices to see minor leaguers.'

http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/story/3365130

Click to read more...

 

[Levitate]

meh i feel like it'd be a farce, an insult to see scrubs playing in NHL jerseys they don't deserve

i don't think i'd bother even with lower ticket prices

 

[Lexicon Devil]

Only 64% of the public is moronic? I always figured it was alot more...

 

[BLONG7]

The players can be replaced...they always have been, and they always will...

 

[leaflover]

Not really sure what the significance of that article is.
Sounds like people are saying they'll pay AHL prices to watch AHL players.
People have already been doing that for many many years.

 

[OilerFan4Life]

Not really sure what the significance of that article is.
Sounds like people are saying they'll pay AHL prices to watch AHL players.
People have already been doing that for many many years.

I just can't imagine some owners wanting replacements out there. Anyways, Leaflover, I doubt Leaf Management would lower ticket prices because theres to much of a demand, even with some ECHL bums.

 

[NYIsles1*]

The large majority of fans who support the NHL's stance I think will support replacement players because it will serve as a means to break the union and bring the economic parity fans for the most part feel the game needs. The rest will be folks who want to see some semblance of NHL hockey even if it means rooting for laundry.

At some point or even as soon as camps open players will likely cross.

The end numbers I think will run somewhere between seventy-eighty percent who will support scabs with the thirty-twenty percent made up of people who just do not want to see replacements vs those who consider the NHLPA a true union as opposed to the association many others see it as.

If it reaches this point it will revert from an owners lockout to a players strike.

 

[WhalerBoy]

meh i feel like it'd be a farce, an insult to see scrubs playing in NHL jerseys they don't deserve

i don't think i'd bother even with lower ticket prices

Let me give you some names.....

Trevor Letowski
Jim Dowd
Jeff Cowan
Tom Kostopoulos
Mark Rycroft

these are just 5 examples of the type of players who "deserved" to wear an NHL jersey last year. nearly every night!

I think its not crazy to think the gap between the bottom 60% of the NHL and the top 60% of the AHL is all that large.

this isnt an endorsement for replacement players, but come on. Lets not pretend the NHL is full of Dale Hawerchuk's and Marian Hossa's.

 

[leaflover]

I just can't imagine some owners wanting replacements out there. Anyways, Leaflover, I doubt Leaf Management would lower ticket prices because theres to much of a demand, even with some ECHL bums.

You can count on prices remaining very close to what they are now,especially in a hockey town with so many fans to draw from like Toronto.

 

[snakepliskin]

i wonder if any union members would show up with picket signs--i can imagine some fans would like a word or finger with them

 

[Jack Canuck]

i wonder if any union members would show up with picket signs--i can imagine some fans would like a word or finger with them

That would be great. Pronger & McCabe standing outside of the arena with picket signs. :lol

 

[Epsilon]

Let me give you some names.....

Trevor Letowski
Jim Dowd
Jeff Cowan
Tom Kostopoulos
Mark Rycroft

these are just 5 examples of the type of players who "deserved" to wear an NHL jersey last year. nearly every night!

I think its not crazy to think the gap between the bottom 60% of the NHL and the top 60% of the AHL is all that large.

this isnt an endorsement for replacement players, but come on. Lets not pretend the NHL is full of Dale Hawerchuk's and Marian Hossa's.

Now, can you imagine an NHL where those guys are the best players instead of just filler?

Also worth keeping in mind is that while the Canadian teams might not be so bad, given the abundance of Canadian players, the American teams would have to stock themselves entirely with US players. They will be scraping the bottom of the barrel to even field a roster under those restrictions.

 

[GKJ]

People may say that now just because they're pissed off, but in reality anyone who is a real fan of the NHL wouldn't.

 

[Wetcoaster]

First off the NHL has to get a declaration of bargaining impasse past the NLRB and then they are constrained by immigration laws in Canada and the US who they can use in the new SHL. Only US players may be hired for US based teams - no Canadians and no Europeans - the talent pool gets shallow if an awful hurry.

And who crosses the picket lines? AHL'ers and ECHL'ers are already union members and crossing the line gets them bounced from their union not to mention that NHLPA members who cross will be banned from the NHLPA. When the labour dispute is over and the regular players are back (remember an impasse with replacement workers is only a temporary stopgap solution) what do they do about their pensions, disability insurance etc.???

 

[ryz]

And who crosses the picket lines? AHL'ers and ECHL'ers are already union members and crossing the line gets them bounced from their union not to mention that NHLPA members who cross will be banned from the NHLPA. When the labour dispute is over and the regular players are back (remember an impasse with replacement workers is only a temporary stopgap solution) what do they do about their pensions, disability insurance etc.???

If 50% of the union crosses the line right away at replacement training camp, where does that leave Goodenow and Linden? With a 300 member union? Enough to fill 15 teams? Doen't seem like they would have that much leverage if that is the case.

 

[hockeytown9321]

If the league couldn't generate enough revenue with 100% willing to pay, I fail to see how they can with 65% willing to pay reduced prices.

 

[CarlRacki]

If the league couldn't generate enough revenue with 100% willing to pay, I fail to see how they can with 65% willing to pay reduced prices.

Well, for starters, replacements would be earning nowhere near 65 percent of what regular players are earning.

I hope replacement hockey doesn't happen and I don't think it will. But if it were to happen, it wouldn't be done as a revenue producer.

 

[Jack Canuck]

If the league couldn't generate enough revenue with 100% willing to pay, I fail to see how they can with 65% willing to pay reduced prices.

Hmmm, maybe the lower salaries would help. I doubt that replacement players would be payed an average of 1.8 million dollars.

 

[Wetcoaster]

If 50% of the union crosses the line right away at replacement training camp, where does that leave Goodenow and Linden? With a 300 member union? Enough to fill 15 teams? Doen't seem like they would have that much leverage if that is the case.

How could you possibly think 50% of the NHLPA would cross. Unlike baseball and football that had the minor leagues and colleges stocked with replacements and visa problems, where do the players come from?

Also as noted any Europeans cannot be replacement players and US players could only go to US teams and Canadian teams could only use Canadians- if they can even get the provincial labour boards to allow it and that is no where near certain.

The union remains the union and players that cross have no further vote. They are out permanently.

 

[Wild Thing]

People may say that now just because they're pissed off, but in reality anyone who is a real fan of the NHL wouldn't.

I would, GKJ. I'm not a fan of the NHL - I'm a fan of hockey. I know the scrubs won't be as good as the NHL players, but they'll still be pretty damned good players, and I'll pay to watch them. Not NHL prices, but I'll pay. Partly to see some decent hockey, and partly to say "screw you" to the NHLPA.

 

[Wetcoaster]

Hmmm, maybe the lower salaries would help. I doubt that replacement players would be payed an average of 1.8 million dollars.

That is what happened during the NFL dispute. Althought the gate revenues fell off dramatically the NFL had that cash cow TV contract so some NFL teams were making more money.

In the 1994 baseball strike the teams were losing money even with the reduced payroll because scab ball did not play well at the gate and baseball did not have the lucrative national TV deal.

I would put the NHL closer to MLB.

 

[deathbear]

at this point, i'd go to a game full of replacements only to shove it in the players faces.

i imagine jersey sales with player names on the back will take quite a beating once things start up again.

 

[hockeytown9321]

Hmmm, maybe the lower salaries would help. I doubt that replacement players would be payed an average of 1.8 million dollars.

They would be playing under the NHL's last offer, one that included a salary floor. That floor can be linked to revenue, but it has to start somewhere, based off last year's revenue-$32 or $34 million(I don't remember). So in the first year, they would *have* to pay players an average of at least $1.3 million. If revenue is reduced 33%, the owners are now paying about 69% of revenue to the players, which is actually more than they paid last year.

 

[dakota]

How could you possibly think 50% of the NHLPA would cross. Unlike baseball and football that had the minor leagues and colleges stocked with replacements and visa problems, where do the players come from?

Also as noted any Europeans cannot be replacement players and US players could only go to US teams and Canadian teams could only use Canadians- if they can even get the provincial labour boards to allow it and that is no where near certain.

The union remains the union and players that cross have no further vote. They are out permanently.

i asked this in another forum but ill ask here ... could a player who is european cross the line and play? or do these immigration laws apply until after impasse is over? Can Jagr cross and play for the Rangers or is this illegal?

 

[SPARTAKUS*]

First off the NHL has to get a declaration of bargaining impasse past the NLRB and then they are constrained by immigration laws in Canada and the US who they can use in the new SHL. Only US players may be hired for US based teams - no Canadians and no Europeans - the talent pool gets shallow if an awful hurry.

And who crosses the picket lines? AHL'ers and ECHL'ers are already union members and crossing the line gets them bounced from their union not to mention that NHLPA members who cross will be banned from the NHLPA. When the labour dispute is over and the regular players are back (remember an impasse with replacement workers is only a temporary stopgap solution) what do they do about their pensions, disability insurance etc.???

The NHL has no choice but to declare in impasse. IMO it's the only way to resolve this dispute.