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Subject: Is it just me or is it obvious that...
Posted by: The Left Wings
- [6142019] Fri, Oct 29, 2004, 07:26
Is it just me or is it obvious that those players who spoke out in favour of the salary cap are getting threatened by the "higher-up" players? What's up with all the denials of reports?
This just doesn't look right to me. There are 900+ players making under the league average of $1.8M, 182 making between that and $5.99M, and 30 making more than that. It looks like it's more like 200 senior, good players fighting against the owners, and the majority of the players are forced to shut up.
While the 200 "higher-up" players are having fun playing in Europe, the "depth" players are stuck in the minor leagues. It seems that they are screwed such that the 200 players can get whatever salary they want to get.
It'd be funny to see a mutiny. The higher-ups certainly don't need the extra money to feed their families. I mean, what's wrong with making $500 for playing just one shift? I'm PAYING just to play in a game... Players like Doug Weight and Martin Brodeur sound like their whole families are going to starve to death if there's a salary cap. That's just ridiculous.
The bottom line is: They are NOT worth that much money.
For all I care, they can quit if they are that outraged at the proposal of a salary cap and I'd happily settle for a game with players who make under, say, $3M a year, even if it means that I'm gonna lose Naslund, Bertuzzi, Morrison, Jovanovski and Cloutier from my Canucks. I'd rather have a league going without them than having no hockey pools to play or Hockey Night in Canada at all. I'd also happily see the ticket prices drop across the league. |
| 1 | Ira
ID: 519552910
Fri, Oct 29, 2004, 12:57
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Amen.
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| 3 | C.SuperFreak
ID: 26922114
Fri, Oct 29, 2004, 13:22
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So this is how I understand it. 200 players are playing hockey in Europe or some other place and playing for a fraction of the money they make in the NHL.
But they are locked out because they are not willing to discuss/accept some sort of Salary realignment.
..And also when I drive by the Dome, I don't see the other 500+ players walking the line with their lockout placards. What gives?
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| 4 | quik_ag
ID: 282451
Fri, Oct 29, 2004, 22:20
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On the other hand, the owners have been able to stock up on millions in cash to survive a long lockout (wondering where the money came from?) Seems like they're not doing that poorly themselves and I'm of the belief that if I'm gonna pay to watch a game, the money should go to the people that I enjoy watching and not those who, one way or another, simply have the fortune of being able to afford buying an entire hockey team.
I'm not saying that the players are without blame here. Certainly I'd like to see a flatter pay structure, but lets not paint the owners as "good guys" without at least considering the other point of view.
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| 5 | R9
Leader
ID: 02624472
Fri, Oct 29, 2004, 22:47
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In reality, they both need to wake up and work together to drop ticket prices by at least 1/2. I can't afford to go to a game, and the only time I ever got to see the Habs play was when my friend's dad got tickets from his company. Talking with other people at the games, its the same thing. They're all there with season tickets from their company. That might work in Montreal and Toronto, and a couple other places, but the other 20+ teams aren't going to last even WITH a cap. Nobody is going to dig 85$ out of their pocket to see ONE hook-and-grab-and-dump game. In alot of cities fans can decide to take the afternoon off and spend 25-30$ at a MLB game, but the NHL has none of that.
And thats the part that really sucks. These guys are so busy arguing (or not even agreeing to meet and argue) over who gets what share of the millions, that they can't even see that when we finally get back to normal the millions wont be there anymore. Its like watching kids argue for an hour at a baseball field over which kid is on who's team, only to see it rain once everything is settled. Everyone loses.
But props to Mike Ribeiro for coming out and saying he'd agree to a cap. He's playing in a small touring league in and around Quebec (tickets only 10$, what a deal!) making peanuts instead of a mil or so, and he's not afraid to tell the guys making 4 mil in Europe instead of 9 mil here where to stick it. :)
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| 6 | C.SuperFreak
ID: 259352821
Sat, Oct 30, 2004, 01:57
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R9, I went to 3 Stanley Cup playoff games last year.
I paid: $30, $40, and $60 Cdn. I can't complain about those prices. The $60 was game 6 of the Stanley Cup final.
I agree that the owners created a mess and now they are trying to fix it. Maybe an outright proposal of the term "Salary Cap" was a little harsh and they should have tried another avenue. But what is said is said and that's all we are going to here for the time being.
If I own and run a business and get all crazy with my cash and run into problems I'd probably listen to my accountants and implement some type of fiscal restraint.
I'm guessing a lot of GM's are to blame as well. They sign the players and then report back to the president who then has to plead it to ownership. Look around the league. How many positions are filled with businessmen/deal makers in the GM positions? I think most of them are ex-players? It would be pretty easy for a business savvy agent to get top $$$ for underacheiving players.
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| 7 | Ira
ID: 539313117
Sun, Oct 31, 2004, 18:34
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C.SuperFreak, do you have connections at the Saddledome? Back when the Oil were making the playoffs, I dont ever remember getting tickets that cheap. I dunno, I could be wrong I guess..
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| 8 | C.SuperFreak
ID: 259352821
Fri, Nov 05, 2004, 23:06
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No I don't have any connections. They where all nosebleed, general admission seating. I was in the last row at every game. It was a great time being that far up, no one was behind me so I could stand the whole game. It was the poor man's box seat. A coat rack behind me, a nice place to put my beer and snacks, without the worry of anyone pelting me with stuff. Good times, Good times.
I was also able to get tickets off ticketmaster as soon as they went on sale. It was crazy, for some reason I had a lot of luck getting seats while others could not. I managed to recover some costs by selling those tickets to cover the cost of the night out.
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