Not one reporter asked Goodenow if he would consider a secret vote on cap issue?

[eye]

I was suprised and disappointed that not one reporter thought to aske Bob Goodenow if he would ever consider a referendum on the cap issue.

Players just want to play hockey and the more you listen to player interviews the more you realize that they are just following their leader. Very few seem to be able to think for themselves. They are pawns in the hands of their dictator and need to stand up and be honest with their fearless leader.

If players were allowed to speak the truth and not have to worry about offending Bob or answering to Bob or peer pressure - most would be honest and say they would play with a cap system. Ask any player what the ideology or principle is that they stand for against working under a cap system and they are at a loss for words. Most just echo what Bob says and it's time for them to speak for themselves. It's time for Bob to take the high road and ask all of his players to vote on the issue. After all, he is playing with their lives.

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[FLYLine27*]

I was suprised and disappointed that not one reporter thought to aske Bob Goodenow if he would ever consider a referendum on the cap issue.

Players just want to play hockey and the more you listen to player interviews the more you realize that they are just following their leader. Very few seem to be able to think for themselves. They are pawns in the hands of their dictator and need to stand up and be honest with their fearless leader.

If players were allowed to speak the truth and not have to worry about offending Bob or answering to Bob or peer pressure - most would be honest and say they would play with a cap system. Ask any player what the ideology or principle is that they stand for against working under a cap system and they are at a loss for words. Most just echo what Bob says and it's time for them to speak for themselves. It's time for Bob to take the high road and ask all of his players to vote on the issue. After all, he is playing with their lives.

Again ill repeat myself....if you took a vote from the Players and owner there would be a higher percentage of OWNERS not on the same boat as gary as there would be of PLAYERS not on the same boat as Bob. If you think more then 10% of the players arent agreeing with bob then your VERy wrong and your basing your opinion on what 3 guys said. And Bettman is playing with there lives just equal as Bob is. So that was a pointless statement.

 

[Digger12]

Again ill repeat myself....if you took a vote from the Players and owner there would be a higher percentage of OWNERS not on the same boat as gary as there would be of PLAYERS not on the same boat as Bob. If you think more then 10% of the players arent agreeing with bob then your VERy wrong and your basing your opinion on what 3 guys said. And Bettman is playing with there lives just equal as Bob is. So that was a pointless statement.

I highly disagree, but since neither of us are privy to these exact percentages there's no point trying to convince each other. Agree to disagree and all that.

Eye brings up a good point though...I've yet to hear anyone from the NHLPA (players or otherwise) logically explain WHY playing under a cap is such a horrible alternative to not playing.

Even Saskins, when Burke asked him straight out why a cap isn't good enough for the NHL when it's good enough for the NBA and NFL, couldn't give an answer more adequate than "we don't believe in it".

 

[eye]

Again ill repeat myself....if you took a vote from the Players and owner there would be a higher percentage of OWNERS not on the same boat as gary as there would be of PLAYERS not on the same boat as Bob. If you think more then 10% of the players arent agreeing with bob then your VERy wrong and your basing your opinion on what 3 guys said. And Bettman is playing with there lives just equal as Bob is. So that was a pointless statement.

And you have spoken to every player in confidence? Are you a kid? How in the world can you post a statement like this? Have you ever played the game? Players just want to play. Most don't care about the politics and Goodenow is taking advantage of them. Owners are united because they see how well similar soft cap systems are working in the NFL, NBA and CFL. Trust me, MLB is next. The have nots in MLB will be insisting on systemic change to the CBA in MLB and are following this NHL debate very closely.

 

[YellHockey*]

Even Saskins, when Burke asked him straight out why a cap isn't good enough for the NHL when it's good enough for the NBA and NFL, couldn't give an answer more adequate than "we don't believe in it".

Well, according to Bettman the economics of the NHL are different then those of the NBA and NFL, if that's the case why would the same solution for those leagues work for the NHL?

 

[GKJ]

I'm going to answer this using your words

Owners just want players to play hockey and the more you listen to Bettman's interviews the more you realize that owners are just following their leader. Very few seem to be able to think for themselves. They are pawns in the hands of their dictator and need to stand up and be honest with their fearless leader.

If owners were allowed to speak the truth and not have to worry about offending Bettman or answering to Bettman's outrageous and propostrious fines - most would be honest and say they would play with a luxury tax system. Ask any owner what the ideology or principle is that they stand for against working under a luxury tax system and they are at a loss for words. Most would just echo what Bettman says and it's time for them to speak, period. It's time for Gary to take the high road and ask all of his owners to vote on the issue. After all, he is playing with their lives.

 

[RangerBoy]

And you have spoken to every player in confidence? Are you a kid? How in the world can you post a statement like this? Have you ever played the game? Players just want to play. Most don't care about the politics and Goodenow is taking advantage of them. Owners are united because they see how well similar soft cap systems are working in the NFL, NBA and CFL. Trust me, MLB is next. The have nots in MLB will be insisting on systemic change to the CBA in MLB and are following this NHL debate very closely.

The MLB would have to be shut down for 10 years to get a cap.The union runs baseball.The owners can't even get a steroid agreement in place.The only reason the MLB did not have a work stoppage in 2002 is 9/11.The players would have been killed if they walked out one year after 9/11

 

[GKJ]

I highly disagree, but since neither of us are privy to these exact percentages there's no point trying to convince each other. Agree to disagree and all that.

Eye brings up a good point though...I've yet to hear anyone from the NHLPA (players or otherwise) logically explain WHY playing under a cap is such a horrible alternative to not playing.

Even Saskins, when Burke asked him straight out why a cap isn't good enough for the NHL when it's good enough for the NBA and NFL, couldn't give an answer more adequate than "we don't believe in it".

Don't forget when Daly said he would consider a luxury tax as well.

 

[Digger12]

Well, according to Bettman the economics of the NHL are different then those of the NBA and NFL, if that's the case why would the same solution for those leagues work for the NHL?

Maybe it would, maybe it wouldn't. I'm not looking for that answer, I'm looking for why it wouldn't work.

At least Bettman tries to give some sort of reasoning behind his disbelief in a luxury tax...I don't necessarily agree with him, but at least he gives a reason I can understand from his point of view.

What has Goodenow/Saskins said other than "We don't want it because it's bad!"?

If they could articulate their stance beyond the simplistic "we don't believe them, the cap is evil..." (wash/rinse/repeat) approach, perhaps I'd be more sympathetic to their plight.

 

[eye]

I'm going to answer this using your words

Comparing owners who have all made millions in some cases billions to NHL players is rediculous. Players just want to play and I would bet me house that a secret vote would support my view.

 

[PecaFan]

I was suprised and disappointed that not one reporter thought to aske Bob Goodenow if he would ever consider a referendum on the cap issue.

I'm not surprised at that. The media is extremely one sided on this. Every one I listen to is clearly on the players side.

As for the two sides, it's very interesting. Brian Burke has stated that the number of owners backing Bettman is well into the 20's.

There are nearly *six hundred* players who do better under the NHL's proposal than the NHLPA. They get a smaller rollback (350 get *no* rollback, vs 24% !), they get a higher minimum salary, and they get the same median. They also get unrestricted free agency a year or two earlier.

And these six hundred wouldn't even be affected by a cap. They're not the ones making the huge bucks that the teams will be looking to ditch to get under caps. In fact, they're in a fantastic position, because they're exactly the kind of player that teams will want, good players, with reasonable salaries.

If I'm one of those six hundred, I seriously ask myself why I'm giving up my *entire* salary of 1.5 million, so that 200 guys can stay at salaries of 5 to 10 million.

 

[Epsilon]

And you have spoken to every player in confidence? Are you a kid? How in the world can you post a statement like this? Have you ever played the game? Players just want to play. Most don't care about the politics and Goodenow is taking advantage of them. Owners are united because they see how well similar soft cap systems are working in the NFL, NBA and CFL. Trust me, MLB is next. The have nots in MLB will be insisting on systemic change to the CBA in MLB and are following this NHL debate very closely.

Funny, you bust out the "have you spoken to the players" line to refute his assertions, when most of yours are pure speculation and conjecture that you have no way of backing up.

Pot, kettle, black.

 

[GKJ]

Comparing owners who have all made millions in some cases billions to NHL players is rediculous. Players just want to play and I would bet me house that a secret vote would support my view.

Let's hold a secret vote for majority owners then. There's more than one side to this.

 

[BLONG7]

The one thing that Bob said in his interview that largely went unnoticed was when he said something to the effect that the owners need to do a better job of managing their business, and he then said they need to sit down among themselves and figure out on how to do this...Well Bob, are you suggesting the owners COLLUDE on how to run this business? Is this guy actually giving the owners the idea of collusion??? Like I said, it really went unnoticed...

 

[Go Flames Go*]

Bob is dumb hes gonna loose his job, after the players understand what they are about to loose.

 

[me2]

The one thing that Bob said in his interview that largely went unnoticed was when he said something to the effect that the owners need to do a better job of managing their business, and he then said they need to sit down among themselves and figure out on how to do this...Well Bob, are you suggesting the owners COLLUDE on how to run this business? Is this guy actually giving the owners the idea of collusion??? Like I said, it really went unnoticed...

Either that or Bob is suggesting they sit down and work out a system where the bad management decisions don't ruin the league. Oh hang on, isn't that what they are doing now?