40 replies to this topic

[Dark Knight]

Even the biggest idiots in the league sometime make some sense

"We burned a year for nothing. We didn't win anything. We didn't prove anything. We didn't get anything. We wasted an entire season." Avery places the blame for the situation squarely on the shoulders of union boss Bob Goodenow, who he says "embarassed" a lot of players."

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[QuacksMeUp]

Babcock was right when he told me that these players should really be more in control of their, money and futures and less beholden to the people they think know more about such matters.

That is pretty much true of us all I think.

[Just Duckie]

Even the biggest idiots in the league sometime make some sense 

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<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You know what they say about a stopped watch...

It sounds like the mouth gag may be loosening. I bet we won't be seeing a retraction from Avery in a couple of days. Still, it's sad how naive a lot of the players were.

[Francaise]

Avery was always one of my fave players (yeah I know, don't lecture me, heheheheeh) but with his butt-wipe comments awhile back, I was kinda down on him.

At least he admits it and apologizes!!!! Unlike JR telling me to not show up! heheheheheh

Nice photo on my sports section first page this morning to greet me....

[DucksFan2035]

i kinda felt like the union was trying to brainwash the players in the beginning and the players are slowly starting to realize that and just wanna play.

[MrsBevo]

Honesty is refreshing. However, I am just waiting for the political spin that will restate it for him. Whenever anyone tried to tell it like it was, they came back later to say they were misquoted or didn't mean it in that context. Now when Goodenow comes out and apologizes....

[hockey2k]

At the end of the day, hockey players are basically dumb jocks....easy to brainwash!

[DropThePuck]

He hopes they will see the apology in the elimination of the red line for the purpose of a two-line pass.  "We're going to relaunch the new NHL, a new game," Avery said. "We're going to turn it into a bit of a show."  He also hopes they will hear the apology in the form of a new aggressiveness in hitting and marketing.  "We need to be the No. 1 show in town," he said. "We need to be the hardest-working, baddest group of guys around."
...
Avery was so frustrated during the lockout, he skated in two places he never imagined.  For the Motor City Mechanics in a low-level United Hockey League.  And with 10-year-olds at a youth hockey practice.

"I'm skating around with these kids and thinking, I should be at Staples Center and they should be watching me," said Avery, the tough guy humbled, his peers humiliated, their sport saved.

"Can you please tell all the fans that we're sorry?" he said. "We're really, really sorry."

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[Veca]

At the end of the day, hockey players are basically dumb jocks....easy to brainwash!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

And they aren't the only ones, not by a long shot !

[Francaise]

Aw puppy!!!!!

[DropThePuck]

Sean Burke has a different view:

"The thing is, it's easy to get upset after the fact," Burke said. "I always tell guys: 'If you're going to have a complaint that makes sense, voice it when you can make a difference. Don't voice it after the fact.' Because most of us players don't ever do enough to educate ourselves on the issues and yet after when it's all done we all sit back and criticize. That bothers me."

Burke said it's understandable players will be upset at playing under a salary cap but it's too easy to say the union should have made this deal a year ago.

"That's the sad part of being able to sit back and look at things after the fact," Burke said. "If we would have taken this deal a year ago, we would have tons of people sitting around saying: 'Geez, you guys should have waited. You didn't get a very good deal and why didn't you wait longer.'

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Well, Bettman did warn that the deal wouldn't get any better as time passed.

[Just Duckie]

If rank and file players are upset with Goodenow and the NHLPA executive board, in some ways it's hard not to blame them (although they were pretty naive and uneducated about the NHL's financial situation too). They put their trust in Goodenow and he led them to believe that the union just needed keep to the line of absolutely no cap and no linkage and if they waited long enough, the owners would give in like they did the last time. But Goodenow misjudged the resolve of the owners and the CBA is headed toward a salary cap and linkage, except now the players lost a whole season, didn't get paid (yet), and their share of the revenue pot has shrunk. And the players this hurt most were not the millionaire elite players, but players like Avery (and Commodore, etc.,).

It's ironic that Sean Burke says the players needed to voice their opinions when it made a difference, not now. Because when some players did come out and question the no salary cap stand and other issues, they conveniently said later that they were "misquoted" or their quotes were "taken out of context." Hmmm...

And Burke is right that hindsight now is one thing, but putting on blinders and ear plugs (provided by Goodenow and the NHLPA leadership) is something too.

[hockey2k]

Sean Burke has a different view:
The thing is, it's easy to get upset after the fact," Burke said. "I always tell guys: 'If you're going to have a complaint that makes sense, voice it when you can make a difference. Don't voice it after the fact.' Because most of us players don't ever do enough to educate ourselves on the issues and yet after when it's all done we all sit back and criticize. That bothers me."

Well, Burke hit the nail on the head there.

[Reb]

Yes, H2K, he did. I'm afraid many, many workers in society share the same malady.
We should all educate ourselves sufficiently, but, alas, most of us don't.

[DropThePuck]

"Obviously, Avery is upset but he should be calling committee guys instead of going off in the media," said Cloutier.

"We're all in this together and nobody wanted a cap, but we all realize we want to start playing again. If you're a real man, you'd say it to his [Goodenow's] face. It's frustrating to hear that from Avery because we can call Bob or [PA president] Trevor Linden at any time.

"We have our own website, all the phone numbers and all the information you need to learn about what's going on. There's no way someone should not be informed."

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[Veca]

"Obviously, Avery is upset but he should be calling committee guys instead of going off in the media," said Cloutier.

"We're all in this together and nobody wanted a cap, but we all realize we want to start playing again. If you're a real man, you'd say it to his [Goodenow's] face. It's frustrating to hear that from Avery because we can call Bob or [PA president] Trevor Linden at any time.

"We have our own website, all the phone numbers and all the information you need to learn about what's going on. There's no way someone should not be informed."

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<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Dan thinks that Avery is able to read???? Sorry, JK....I think that Avery was trying to save money by making a local phone call to one of the local reporters, Goodenow's number is probably long distance....

[DropThePuck]

I think that Avery was trying to save money by making a local phone call to one of the local reporters, Goodenow's number is probably long distance....  

True 'nuff ... he played for the Motor City Mechanics in a low-level United Hockey League, which probably only paid him enough to feed his luxury car. And he probably had to pay all those 10-year-olds at a youth hockey practice in order to skate with them.

[Veca]

Isn't he still dating Rachel Hunter??? Wouldn't you think that she is a bit more important than wasting money to call Goodenow??

[Francaise]

Aw shut up Cloutier, like YOU could EVER win a playoff series. What the hay do YOU know? Avery may be a loser, but at least he apologized, albeit a weird one. Better than Roenick tellng me to kiss his arse and not bother to spend my $2500 to go to 40 hockey games this year.

[Dark Knight]

Legace chimed in again on Saturday...

"We lost a season for no reason,'' Legace told The Associated Press. ``We should've crumbled last September when the owners wanted a salary cap.'' (emphasis mine). I doubt that there will be retractions or misquotes now. They know they blew it.

Either that or they're being coy with the fans so they won't get booed when the finally hit the ice . If I were Goodenow I wouldn't be expecting many Christmas cards from the players this year.


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[Arse McKnob]

Avery and Legace are both right, jagoffs though they may be. They put their faith in the executive committee, bought the rhetoric and the bluffs, and are getting a comparatively terrible deal.

I'd have a few problems with my negotiating committee too.

[Francaise]

and praytell, why is your negotiating committee giving you troubles?

[Veca]

I always have trouble with the negotiating committee.....

[Arse McKnob]

and praytell, why is your negotiating committee giving you troubles?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Err....?

I don't have one. There's no union for what I do. But if there was one, I'd be verbally bitch-slapping it. Because....that's what people in authority are for. To bitch at.

[Baltic Gal]

From a pretty interesting story from the Toronto Sun newspaper:

But nevertheless, every year, with not a single exception, Goodenow met with every team to explain the bargaining strategy and to get the players' input.

So now, when players start to complain -- such as Sean Avery, saying he was brainwashed, and Manny Legace,  saying the strategy was flawed -- you have to wonder where these people were when these advisory meetings were taking place.
 
In the case of most NHL teams, full attendance was the norm. Jaromir Jagr, another who has spoken out publicly against the NHLPA, was one of the few players who didn't bother to attend. Ditto -- in both cases -- for Tie Domi.

Toronto Sun



Got to love Jagr and Domi.