Originally Posted by eyemissgilmour

Bingo.

Today I'm watching Campoli and how he talks about protecting the "middle class" by not agreeing to the 5 year contract term. This is basically the whole PA stance, in a nutshell. If we could read their minds, it would be "we want to ensure the middle class continues to get overpaid."

Meanwhile, people like me say "no, no, no - let's get Crosby his 12 mil per year (because he's worth every penny as that's who the fans go to see) and let the middle class fight for whatever they can get." Instead they are willing to kill the season to protect the plugs. The only people who give two craps about the player "middle class" is the players that make up that group. The fans don't care about them, nor do the owners, nor do the sponsors, maybe their wives care about them. Ok, so that's good.

Seriously folks. The superstars are underpaid, the plugs are overpaid, 2/3 of the league is unprofitable... the model needs to be fixed.

Originally Posted by Loch

So much of this is wrong I don't know where to start...

1) the league is not made up of Crosbys and plugs
2) there is something like 700 nhlers, the 'Crosbys' of the league number what? 70? If that. (more like 20)
3) The plugs are 'over-payed' because the NHL GMs know that their star forwards will play 20 to 25 minutes a game at most and they then start trying to buy 'the next best' and this process trickles down until you get a 4th liner at 2mil/yr because he's a better 4th liner than anyone else
4) You know who else cares about the plugs? Their superstar team-mates. If it weren't for Anaheim's Pahlsson line then Scott Neidermeyer wouldn't have won a cup in Cali. That's a fact.
5) The SALARY CAP is why star players are 'underpaid'. It put the brakes on how much can be spent on one player because the rest of the roster needs to be filled with guys who can actually skate.
7) The CAP FLOOR is why 3rd and 4th liners seem over paid. Do you really think the Columbus roster (with, um, Nash) is worth only 16mil less than the Penguin's roster (with Malkin, Crosby and Letang), really? The league does.

So yeah, the effed up salary structure has nothing to do with the NHLPA 'protecting the middle class' and everything to do with the Salary Cap / Cap Floor system that the League set up during the last lock-out.

Originally Posted by Luffy D Monkey

Everything you said was bullshit.

Originally Posted by eyemissgilmour

As for the cap and floor, your theories are partially true, at best. The bigger factor is that guys like Crosby are underpaid because THEY TRADE MONEY FOR TERM. Take away the security blanket of term (with a 5 year cap) and the superstars will demand way more money regardless of the salary cap. Once the superstars are paid their true worth, that will, in turn, push down salaries for the 3rd and 4th liners.

Originally Posted by arctic_rogue

Oh, I don't question that at all. It seems to silly to loose so much to gain so little. But, at some point they need to draw the line in the sand. Ultimately it's the owners giving out the stupidly long contracts (Suter and Parise anyone). And now the owners want to hold the players feet to fire not even a few months later. I just makes no sense to me.

I'm not saying the players aren't to blame here, just that I think they are getting too much of it right now. Bad contracts are ultimately given out by the owners and that is the single most impactor on the financial state of the NHL. Instead of pointing the finger squarely at the players, I believe both the players and owners should shoulder it. It's been mentioned here before that both sides need to work together to grow revenue and give up fighting over minor things.

Originally Posted by eyemissgilmour

You missed the point completely. The model needs to change, simple as that, so I don't understand the argument - "the owners set it up!!! Now they want us to fix their mistakes!!!" Who else is going to help fix the system, other than the people responsible for the largest chunk of variable costs???

For the last time, the previous CBA is EXPIRED. It's done. It's gone. Using your logic, and the player's logic, they should have continued to fight for 70% of HRR last time. Why? For no other reason other than because that's what they were already getting.
Ridiculous.
Well, no, the owners said it wasn't a sustainable business model and they fought for change. Did they change the system enough? Apparently not. So they want to change it again. Why? Again, for the last time, because 2/3 of the teams are losing money. That's why.

As for the cap and floor, your theories are partially true, at best. The bigger factor is that guys like Crosby are underpaid because THEY TRADE MONEY FOR TERM. Take away the security blanket of term (with a 5 year cap) and the superstars will demand way more money regardless of the salary cap. Once the superstars are paid their true worth, that will, in turn, push down salaries for the 3rd and 4th liners.

Originally Posted by letangerang58

Burke decided not to offer Richards one of those contracts even though his team really needed Richards. Tell me, what effect did that have? Is Richards a Leaf now? Oh, that's right, he got a front loaded contract from the Rangers instead. This is why there needs to be a rule limiting contract length. If teams decide not to sign these contracts with the old CBA then that's fine, some other team will come along and sign Richards to that ridiculous contact. It means they won't be getting any quality players out of free agency. Instead of getting Richards they will have to settle on Connolly instead.

Originally Posted by arctic_rogue

Exactly! The owners cannot help themselves. Why offer those crazy high contracts if it's not sustainable? And we blame the players? If I can find an employer that'll pay me 40% more for same work, why would I ever accept less?

Originally Posted by arctic_rogue

Exactly! The owners cannot help themselves. Why offer those crazy high contracts if it's not sustainable? And we blame the players? If I can find an employer that'll pay me 40% more for same work, why would I ever accept less?