The best column on the NHL Lockout by Mike Brophy

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RangerBoy

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Now if I'm a player, I am asking myself some very serious questions. Namely, how exactly is this thing going end? Do players stand any chance at winning? And are players going to sit out 1½ or two years only to have Bettman hand them a non-negotiated deal worse than the one they could have accepted and been a part of much earlier?

The possibility of that happening grows more likely with each passing day. And if
the players continue to sit back idly waiting for the owners to cave, they could be playing a game of chicken they have no hope of winning.

But with the possibility of losing two years of salary and then losing the war anyway, it makes one wonder why they aren't trying to negotiate something -* anything *- while they still can

Some players are starting to believe they are fighting a war they cannot win. As one told me, "We can dig in all we want, but at the end of the day it's the owners' league and they can do what they damn well please. They're the ones paying the bills."

The NHL Players' Association is banking on either the NHL not being able to secure its impasse in court or, if an impasse is declared, no players crossing a picket line and going back to work. It sounds good on paper, but it is also very, very risky. All it will take is one high-profile player announcing he has had enough and he's going back to work. Then, stand back and watch the floodgates open wide.

Just one player saying, "[Forget] the cause; this is the last chance in my life to make big money. I'm going back to work," and the players will have stayed out for what?

For nothing.

Having spoken with a number of players, I get a sense some are starting to soften on the "no cap" stance, and as long as guaranteed contracts can be negotiated they are ready to end the fight.

That said, they are afraid to stand up and say so for fear of being vilified by other players. And if the majority of players feels this way, it would be a shame to see the season *- and numerous careers *- go down the drain.


http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/...000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Can anyone in the NHLPA step up and say something? :help:
 

struckmatch

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If Goodenow doesn't see that his members are feeling this way, is their leadership in question?

If the fans can see it, the media can see it, every single NHLPA member would be a complete idiot if he didn't see the obvious. THERE WILL BE COST CERTAINTY. I hope the players that feel this way, which must be a lot of them, have in some way communicated their feelings to union leadership.
 

BLONG7

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Goodenow has to negotiate the best cost certainty deal he possibly can for the PA...if he refuses to do this he will write his own demise, it's really that simple.
 

struckmatch

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BLONG7 said:
Goodenow has to negotiate the best cost certainty deal he possibly can for the PA...if he refuses to do this he will write his own demise, it's really that simple.

Right now, I just thinks its a matter of pride for Goodenow. He's been touting all along that he will never even negotiate a cap system, let alone agree to one.

The next few days before the season is lost could be the most important days in NHL history, and the scary thing is that these important days could be spent without any types of serious negotiations whatsoever. :shakehead
 

Lanny MacDonald*

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That says something when a pro-players' guild guy like Brophy speaks up in this manner. I guess its obvious to pretty well everyone but the players, and a few less than bright folks who continue to...

:deadhorse
 

misterjaggers

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He won the salary cap battle in '94; he figures he can win it again. Unfortunately, things have changed. The owners have circled their wagons and will fight to the bitter end.
 

X0ssbar

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misterjaggers said:
He won the salary cap battle in '94; he figures he can win it again. Unfortunately, things have changed. The owners have circled their wagons and will fight to the bitter end.

Actually, the funny thing is it was the luxury tax battle back then that the union said it would never accept and now it makes up a good chunk of their current proposal. I guess if we give it another 10 years the union may come around on the salary cap idea ;)
 

eye

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Brophy just said what many of us have been posting on HF for sometime now. NHL players lead a sheltered and protected life and very few have the ability or willingness to step outside the box to speak out. It's Goodenows job to get a read on the feelings of all of his players and he should make an exception to NHLPA rules and allow a secret vote on this issue. Failure to do so could cost the players and the NHL billions in future income and will cost many of his players their jobs. The NHL may never recover if the players don;t cave at this point. Not to sound overly dramatic but Goodenow could surpass Sadam for being guilty of the greatest miscalculation in history, at least sports history.
 

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struckmatch said:
If Goodenow doesn't see that his members are feeling this way, is their leadership in question?

If the fans can see it, the media can see it, every single NHLPA member would be a complete idiot if he didn't see the obvious. THERE WILL BE COST CERTAINTY. I hope the players that feel this way, which must be a lot of them, have in some way communicated their feelings to union leadership.

It's a good question. It really depends if Brophy has good sources and if that opinion is widespread.
It doesn't have to be too widespread, though. If like 40 or 50 players are willing to cross, especially a couple high-profilers, the damn will burst.

And, on the plus side, it would be fun to see all the bloody fights in the NHL next season. Perhaps even among teammates.
 

A Good Flying Bird*

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Twine Seeking Missle said:
Let me get this straight... basically us hockey fans have to suffer because one guy ( GREEDenow ) doesnt want to lose his pride??? Thats pretty sick :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

If the only thing keeping the players locked out was Goodenow's pride, he'd have been fired.
Time for a reality check, twiner.

And, oh. That Greedenow thing is hilarious.
 

djhn579

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Newsguyone said:
And, on the plus side, it would be fun to see all the bloody fights in the NHL next season. Perhaps even among teammates.

While it may not help a team win, it would certainly be interesting to see that in a game...
 

HF2002

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I realize he's the face of the PA in all of this, but why does everyone keep thinking this is all BG's doing? The players hired him to do a job. They're the ones driving it - whoever the few with the power really are.
 

CarlRacki

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HF2002 said:
I realize he's the face of the PA in all of this, but why does everyone keep thinking this is all BG's doing? The players hired him to do a job. They're the ones driving it - whoever the few with the power really are.

This is going to sound more insulting than it really is, but I suspect most players wouldn't know revenue sharing from crop sharing. The fact is these are young, mostly under-educated guys who've done nothing but focus on hockey most of their lives and certainly all of their adult lives. I'm sure there are exceptions, but in general it's the truth. There aren't many MBAs, PhDs and JDs in the NHL.
That being the case, it's likely they're all leaning pretty heaviliy on Goodenow, their business managers and lawyers to guide them through the collective-bargaining process.
 

jratelle19

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I think the players, for the most part, have concluded that the war is lost and a salary cap is inevitable. What they are hoping for now is that they can get the owners to make some other concessions (slightly higher cap limit, younger UFA age, arbitration, etc). I feel that the owners want to salvage the season as well, so they may give in to these side demands as long as the original objective is attained, that is, a salary cap.

Some of you have read another thread that quouted that guy "Eklund" from "Hockey Rumors.com" who had sources telling him about the league offering a 72-hour ultimatum to the players to get back to negotiations or they will cancel the season. Doesn't mean that I believe Eklund's sources, but if a 72-hour ultimatum is announced tomorrow as per Eklund's last update, then I see the players coming to the table to finish off a deal. We'll just have to wait and see.
 
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Regency

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Was just watching Leafs TV with Mike Brophy and he stated a certain NHL team had a charity game last week I believe and they had a meeting afterwards and all agreed that they are willing to accept a cap. Obviously, he woudn't name the team but did anyone hear anything similar to this?
 

HF2002

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CarlRacki said:
This is going to sound more insulting than it really is, but I suspect most players wouldn't know revenue sharing from crop sharing. The fact is these are young, mostly under-educated guys who've done nothing but focus on hockey most of their lives and certainly all of their adult lives. I'm sure there are exceptions, but in general it's the truth.
Wow, watch this:

"This is going to sound more insulting than it really is, but I suspect most who post at HF wouldn't know revenue sharing from crop sharing. The fact is these are young, mostly under-educated guys who've done nothing but focus on hockey most of their lives and certainly all of their adult lives. I'm sure there are exceptions, but in general it's the truth."

See that? That's eerie! What an age we live in!

I wanted to add in the part about living in their parents basement, but I thought that might offend some. I'm not offended by it, in fact I think it's rather clever, but others around here are sensitive to some things and it could be more trouble than it's worth.
 

misterjaggers

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HF2002 said:
Wow, watch this:

"This is going to sound more insulting than it really is, but I suspect most who post at HF wouldn't know revenue sharing from crop sharing. The fact is these are young, mostly under-educated guys who've done nothing but focus on hockey most of their lives and certainly all of their adult lives. I'm sure there are exceptions, but in general it's the truth."

See that? That's eerie! What an age we live in!

I wanted to add in the part about living in their parents basement, but I thought that might offend some. I'm not offended by it, in fact I think it's rather clever, but others around here are sensitive to some things and it could be more trouble than it's worth.
I can't speak for the average HF poster, but I think the Business of Hockey thread attracts a knowledgeable and well-educated group.
 

Isles72

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its 10.55 pm on the 11th hour clock

lets see what Goodenow , the deadline hunter comes up with
 

Silver

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HF2002 said:
Wow, watch this:

"This is going to sound more insulting than it really is, but I suspect most who post at HF wouldn't know revenue sharing from crop sharing. The fact is these are young, mostly under-educated guys who've done nothing but focus on hockey most of their lives and certainly all of their adult lives. I'm sure there are exceptions, but in general it's the truth."

See that? That's eerie! What an age we live in!

I wanted to add in the part about living in their parents basement, but I thought that might offend some. I'm not offended by it, in fact I think it's rather clever, but others around here are sensitive to some things and it could be more trouble than it's worth.


That still doesn't change the fact that hockey players are the dumbest professional athletes, as a whole. There are exceptions to that rule, of course, but generally speaking, you're not talking about a bunch of smart guys.
 

eye

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Silver said:
That still doesn't change the fact that hockey players are the dumbest professional athletes, as a whole. There are exceptions to that rule, of course, but generally speaking, you're not talking about a bunch of smart guys.

We didn't say hockey players were dumb. Many of them have University degree's. Of the 4 major sports in North America they might be the most intelligent. What we are saying is that they are so focussed on hockey that they have been sheltered from the real world. I doubt many of them read the newspaper other than the sports section. They have put their entire trust and future wellbeing into the hands of an egomaniac who IMHO doesn't give a s""" about the players or the game of hockey. He has a reputation for being stubborn, narrow minded and full of himself. I'm not saying he isn't intelligent but he lacks common sense and a vision of what the NHL could be if managed right in a partnership format. I would love to see Brian Burke as the replacement for Bettman when this is all settled. Brian will get results and will never forget that the game and the fans come first.
 

CarlRacki

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eye said:
We didn't say hockey players were dumb. Many of them have University degree's. Of the 4 major sports in North America they might be the most intelligent. What we are saying is that they are so focussed on hockey that they have been sheltered from the real world. I doubt many of them read the newspaper other than the sports section. They have put their entire trust and future wellbeing into the hands of an egomaniac who IMHO doesn't give a s""" about the players or the game of hockey. He has a reputation for being stubborn, narrow minded and full of himself. I'm not saying he isn't intelligent but he lacks common sense and a vision of what the NHL could be if managed right in a partnership format. I would love to see Brian Burke as the replacement for Bettman when this is all settled. Brian will get results and will never forget that the game and the fans come first.

Let's not go overboard here. I'm sure most hockey players aren't "dumb" but I'd say very few have university degrees and even fewer are knowledgeable in the ways of business. A majority of these guys stop taking school seriously by the time they're 15. That's not meant as a dig. I suspect many NHL players wouldn't be where they're at today if they hadn't completely dedicated themselves to the sport as teenagers.
 

HF2002

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CarlRacki said:
Let's not go overboard here. I'm sure most hockey players aren't "dumb" but I'd say very few have university degrees and even fewer are knowledgeable in the ways of business. A majority of these guys stop taking school seriously by the time they're 15. That's not meant as a dig. I suspect many NHL players wouldn't be where they're at today if they hadn't completely dedicated themselves to the sport as teenagers.
Well, I have to agree that in this section there are some clearly well educated people.

A few years ago I saw a comparison of the big sports in North America and it concluded that hockey players are the least educated of the 4 sports. I was kind of surprised by this, but it was a reflection of the junior ranks in Canada and how it really is a business whose real focus is to win and draw the fans. The other sports have the players go through the college process, which is no less a business than junior hockey (probably more so) but the players are spending some time at college. The graduation rate may not necessarily be that high in some areas but apparently it put these kids above junior hockey players.

Unfortunately I don't have a link to back this up since it was a tv show, so take it for what it's worth.
 

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HF2002 said:
Well, I have to agree that in this section there are some clearly well educated people.

A few years ago I saw a comparison of the big sports in North America and it concluded that hockey players are the least educated of the 4 sports. I was kind of surprised by this, but it was a reflection of the junior ranks in Canada and how it really is a business whose real focus is to win and draw the fans. The other sports have the players go through the college process, which is no less a business than junior hockey (probably more so) but the players are spending some time at college. The graduation rate may not necessarily be that high in some areas but apparently it put these kids above junior hockey players.

Unfortunately I don't have a link to back this up since it was a tv show, so take it for what it's worth.

It should be pointed out that a lot of athletes that come out American universities do not have the skills to pass a GED exam. A lot of them are reading at under a grade six level, if they can read at all. To say that education level of an athlete is a good measure for the ability of an individual to function in or comprehend societal standards is weak IMO. A case by case situation is more honest.

Havinf said that, I think the NHLPA can do a lot better in selecting their executive. There are soem real dim bulbs in that string of lights, if you know what I mean.
 

CarlRacki

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The Iconoclast said:
It should be pointed out that a lot of athletes that come out American universities do not have the skills to pass a GED exam. A lot of them are reading at under a grade six level, if they can read at all.

That's a pretty bold statement. Have any facts to support it?
 
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