31 replies to this topic

[Dark Knight]

"NEW YORK - The National Hockey League's Board of Governors today unanimously reconfirmed that NHL teams, upon the expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement at midnight tonight, will not play again until there is a new economic system."

Also includes excerpts of Bettman's media address today.

LINK

[hockey2k]

[Francaise]

Yikes! I just noticed, you don't post... you get bumped down to the 3rd line... EEEEEEEEEEE

Seriously, funny how when you hear each side talk, you agree with their story. Oh well, depressing, I got my season tix in the mail this morning and opened them up just before the press conference.

[beba91]

IT'S ALL THE NHLPA'S FAULT WHY CAN'T THE PLAYERS ACCEPT LESS $$$$ SO WE THE FANS COULD ENJOY THE GAME AND ENJOY NOT PAYIN 120$ ON ONLY RED SEATS ...I think Bettman tried his best..he's the unselfish one unlike the other side I mean he offered more than 50% of the money that goes to the nhl to the players WHAT MORE DO THEY WANT!!

[Veca]

The players are willing to take a 5% salary cut. It's all about the CAP. That is the one stumbling block. The players are willing to have a luxury tax ( Something I am also for) but Buttman is not budging. There is plenty of blame to go around.

If we need to blame the astronomical salaries we see now, look no further than to the Carolina Hurricanes Karmanos. He started this whole mess when he tried to screw his long time nemesis, the owner of the Deadthings. He offered Fedorov some obscene salary and in order to keep him, the Deadthings had to match the offer. Well, things just spiraled out of control from there.

It's the owners who started this. As I've always said, their whine now seems to be, "save us from ourselves"......

[beba91]

Well at least on the Montreal Canadians site were kind enough to write a little something to us fans..


" The Montreal Canadiens organization apologizes for the inconvenience this necessary action will cause its loyal fans, employees and business partners. We hope our team will be back in action soon.”


That's good enough for me

[Arse McKnob]

It's the owners who started this. As I've always said, their whine now seems to be, "save us from ourselves"......

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's their problem, you're right. It's their money, it's their league, their investment, their risk. If they feel they need a system that restricts how they can spend, they're perfectly within their rights IMO.

[ahtikullervo]

[Veca]

Well, that could be said for any employer. Given the argument that the employer should have the right to set a "cap" on salaries then we should not have any minimum wage since it's the employers money, we should have caps on all salaries....right??? What is so different about hockey???

The "employers" in this case are the ones that started this obscene salary situatione. Karmanos to be exact.

We could get a "Wage Czar" and he would determine how much a nurse makes, a doctor, a fireman, a policeman, a grocer, a waitress etc., etc., etc.

I don't like it. It smacks too much of price fixing. It has to be more of supply and demand. The owners themselves could put a stop to all the madness without some cap. All they need to do is to agree not to do theses stupid signings....

They are babies who want the NHL to save them from themselves and I for one don't think it's right. Just my screwy way of looking at how life is.....

No one forces them to be owners. If they don't know how to make money at it, just as with any business, you sell it and do something you can make money at.

In life, there are no guarantees. If you buy a store, a restaurant or any other business, there is no guarantee you will be able to make a profit.
If you have an employee who is super at what they do, some other store may offer them more to do the same job. Should that then become regulated??? I just don't understand why in hockey it should be any different than in real life..???

I know I'm missing the point here but this is how I see it the best that I can.

[Stumpedos]

Welcome to the Ice Age people

[schmickity]

Im all for this, the league was going to crap, the amount of visor clad euro pussies dancing around checks and making 5 million a year is disgusting.



I guess Id just rather there be no hockey than have to sit through another year of Kings hockey

[Baltic Gal]

IT'S ALL THE NHLPA'S FAULT WHY CAN'T THE PLAYERS  ACCEPT LESS $$$$  SO WE THE FANS COULD ENJOY THE GAME AND ENJOY NOT PAYIN 120$ ON ONLY RED SEATS ...I think Bettman tried his best..he's the unselfish one unlike the other side   I mean he offered more than 50% of the money that goes to the nhl to the players WHAT MORE DO THEY WANT!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

beba do you really believe that? Do you really think if the players take a paycut it would show up in ticket prices???? Once the owners have a way of making money they aren't going to give that up easily. Both sides are being selfish, because both sides are just looking after themselves. Nothing more nothing less.

[Barmy Army]

Both sides are being selfish, because both sides are just looking after themselves. Nothing more nothing less.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm with Baltic on this, as I said on another thread, I believe they're both to blame for this.

[hockey2k]

Given the argument that the employer should have the right to set a "cap" on salaries then we should not have any minimum wage since it's the employers money, we should have caps on all salaries....right??? What is so different about hockey???

Hockey players make millions...that's what's different. There might as well be a 50,000 salary cap on my job since I'll never make that much anyway.

[PortBeach13]

Welcome to the Ice Age people

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

yep

[Veca]

Given the argument that the employer should have the right to set a "cap" on salaries then we should not have any minimum wage since it's the employers money, we should have caps on all salaries....right??? What is so different about hockey???

Hockey players make millions...that's what's different. There might as well be a 50,000 salary cap on my job since I'll never make that much anyway.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

But wouldn't that be discrimination??? There are Plenty of positions where people make many more millions each year, do we set a cap on them????

Why just single out hockey players? Why not CEO's, Show biz people, entertainers and the like???

I admit my brain sees things in a very simplistic manner and that is why I just can't comprehend the reasoning behind this.
No matter WHO it is who makes the multi million dollar salaries, WE the "little" people pay for it in goods we buy, movies we see, videos we buy etc. Why don't we demand caps on all these head honchos who are benefiting from our hard earned dollars??

[hockey2k]

There are plenty of jobs that do, in essence have a cap though. Many government jobs (such as my former employment) have their employees on a step wage scale. Your job title coresponds to a step on a wage chart, and basically, that's all the money you can make. Once you hit the ceiling on your step, you can't even get a raise unless you get your job reclassified or file a greveince. One of my co-workers didn't get a raise in 4 years because she reached her plateau, and I assure you, that wasn't 5 million dollars.

All entertainers are overpaid and it wouldn't bug me if they had caps on their salaries as well, honestly. Maybe then movie tickets won't be so expensive!

It is the owners fault this whole mess started, but shouldn't the players be interested in helping them fix it? Place the blame once and then move on to find a solution.

[Veca]

There are plenty of jobs that do, in essence have a cap though. Many government jobs (such as my former employment) have their employees on a step wage scale. Your job title coresponds to a step on a wage chart, and basically, that's all the money you can make. Once you hit the ceiling on your step, you can't even get a raise unless you get your job reclassified or file a greveince. One of my co-workers didn't get a raise in 4 years because she reached her plateau, and I assure you, that wasn't 5 million dollars.

All entertainers are overpaid and it wouldn't bug me if they had caps on their salaries as well, honestly. Maybe then movie tickets won't be so expensive! 

It is the owners fault this whole mess started, but shouldn't the players be interested in helping them fix it? Place the blame once and then move on to find a solution.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Agreed, but who is looking for a solution other than the fans and laid off workers??? Not the owners or the players union....both sides are posturing now till the cows come home!!!

[Baltic Gal]

Back in '94, the owners got the CBA that they wanted. The one they thought would help them the most. Look where it got us. The NHL is in worse shape then ever before. They wanted Bettman, and look at the fine job he's done. And just look at the mess some of them have made with some of the teams. Why should I trust that anything that they come up with would make the NHL better? Their track recond, to me, proves that I can't.

[JasonAKADfan8]

That is a very valid point there Baltic...even if Bettman seems to be making more of an attempt than the players who says that it is the best interest of the NHL...we need real hockey people running the NHL we need people who love this sport so much that they want to make it a Top 4 elite league....this is a very sad situation because if it is resolved who says it's going to get any better...the league needs life...it needs to get back on the surge it was riding to in '94...where has that magic gone? I want the NHL to live and thrive!!! Who is and what is the right answer for the NHL?

[Arse McKnob]

There are plenty of jobs that do, in essence have a cap though. Many government jobs (such as my former employment) have their employees on a step wage scale. Your job title coresponds to a step on a wage chart, and basically, that's all the money you can make. Once you hit the ceiling on your step, you can't even get a raise unless you get your job reclassified or file a greveince. One of my co-workers didn't get a raise in 4 years because she reached her plateau, and I assure you, that wasn't 5 million dollars.

All entertainers are overpaid and it wouldn't bug me if they had caps on their salaries as well, honestly. Maybe then movie tickets won't be so expensive! 

It is the owners fault this whole mess started, but shouldn't the players be interested in helping them fix it? Place the blame once and then move on to find a solution.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Exactly. You can hold out for an absurd amount if you want but no one's going to give it to you. You're capped.

The bottom line is the owners want a system where they can budget their players' salaries at a glance: 53% of the revenues. It's their money. They tried a system they hoped would work for them and it didn't. Now they want something that's more likely to.

[Veca]

The owners are the ones who just can say NO!!! Why a cap??? Who is forcing them to pay those obscene salaries??? Who started with all this nonsense??

The owners started this, the owners can stop this. I still don't understand why they can't just decide not to pay the ridiculous amounts. Since what the players are fighting is the TERM SALARY CAP...don't use that term, just agree that the salaries will be brought under control and some sort of sanctions will be taken if an owner like Karmanos goes insane and offers up a salary like he did for Feds.

This is something that the owners within their own group can settle. All they have to do is set some rules about limiting what they do in order to lure players away from each other, if an owner deviates from the rules, he or she is sanctioned big time. This way the agreement between the owners and players does not even NEED any term about salary caps....it is something that is settled between the owners.

We get hockey back and the owners can police each other...my brain is quite fuzzy these days and I don't think I'm expressing my point well.
I'm just looking for some logical means to resume hockey and get the posturing settled....yes..yours IS bigger than mine, now..can we PLAY HOCKEY?????

[THE Mighty Duck Man 84]

i miss hockey already

[Baltic Gal]

Could some of you smarter people explain the difference between a salary cap and a luxury tax?

Both, from what I understand, set limits on how much teams can spend. In a luxury tax, a team that goes over their limit gets taxed, right? So what happens if a team goes over their limit in a salary cap? Do they get some kind of fine? And if so, then what is the difference between the two?

Am I missing something here?

[ahtikullervo]

Could some of you smarter people explain the difference between a salary cap and a luxury tax?

Both, from what I understand, set limits on how much teams can spend. In a luxury tax, a team that goes over their limit gets taxed, right? So what happens if a team goes over their limit in a salary cap? Do they get some kind of fine? And if so, then what is the difference between the two?

Am I missing something here?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I get it like that that salary cap is player centered and luxury tax is club centered... Question is who will pay the music...