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Lockout 2012-2013 (Hockey's back!)


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130 members have voted

  1. 1. When will we see hockey?

    • Oct 12
      10
    • Nov 12
      19
    • Dec 12
      26
    • Jan 13
      33
    • Feb 13
      1
    • Mar 13
      0
    • Apr 13
      0
    • Oct 13
      14
    • Never
      27


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If its not the Winter Classic, what is the final straw?

Well last time the season wasn't officially cancelled till February. And it was pretty close to done in '95 when mid-January was the drop dead date. They didn't have a moneymaker like the Classic then though. The season won't be officially canceled next week but nuclear war is beginning already. Even 50-50 might be off the table now that there won't be a full season.

Edited by NJDevs4978
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Well last time the season wasn't officially cancelled till February. And it was pretty close to done in '95 when mid-January was the drop dead date. They didn't have a moneymaker like the Classic then though. The season won't be officially canceled next week but nuclear war is beginning already. Even 50-50 might be off the table now that there won't be a full season.

Basically the union pissed away the best offer they are ever going to get from the NHL.

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The NHL is just pushing the bully tactics too far though. 50-50 wasn't as much a compromise as it was a pr stunt since the NHL offered 'no' givebacks at all. Every part of that proposal including 50-50 was a gain for the owners.

You're right in that it's probably the best deal the players do get, but that's not enough incentive to give away the store - FA rights, contract length, etc. Especially when the players got 57-43 and FA at 27 in the last CBA after being out a year. Plus Bettman had to know Fehr wasn't going to fold in October if he was half as smart as he thinks he is. Just take a look at the man's track record.

Both sides need to shelve their ego and agree to arbitration before they destroy the league since neither side is interested in negotiating. The owners treat negotiation like it's a free robbery and the players act like they're nailed to a cross.

Edited by NJDevs4978
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The NHL is just pushing the bully tactics too far though. 50-50 wasn't as much a compromise as it was a pr stunt since the NHL offered 'no' givebacks at all. Every part of that proposal including 50-50 was a gain for the owners.

You're right in that it's probably the best deal the players do get, but that's not enough incentive to give away the store - FA rights, contract length, etc. Especially when the players got 57-43 and FA at 27 in the last CBA after being out a year. Plus Bettman had to know Fehr wasn't going to fold in October if he was half as smart as he thinks he is. Just take a look at the man's track record.

Both sides need to shelve their ego and agree to arbitration since neither side is interested in negotiating. The owners treat negotiation like it's a free robbery and the players act like they're nailed to a cross.

This +100000

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Always darkest before the dawn - the 'cancellation of November' is a ploy. If the league and PA got a deal done by November 15th, are games going to be 'canceled'? Of course not. The NHL is running the playbook it thought it would.

Also the Winter Classic being canceled means nothing for the season's viability. It means both sides take a revenue hit. That's the good thing about linkage.

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http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/8556769/ryan-suter-minnesota-wild-defenseman-says-owners-offer-contracts-afford

"It's disappointing. If you can't afford to (sign contracts) then you shouldn't do it," Suter said. "(Leipold) signed us to contracts. At the time he said everything was fine. Yeah, it's disappointing. A couple months before, everything is fine, and now they want to take money out of our contracts that we already signed."

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Hey Ryan Suter, my harp is playing for you. How will you ever survive with your upfront big signing bonus. You wanted Donald Fehr who stopped baseball which was making boatloads of money, and expect him to do the same with the NHL? NHL hockey, where weekly ratings struggle to get a 1.0, are regularly beaten by wnba games, are clearly not in the same $ league as in terms of TV revenue that the other top 3 sports have, and where ticket prices are already high, and you're surprised by the results? I hate Bettman & I hope he is no longer a part of this league sometime soon, but I'm stil on the owners side. By the way, when us schlums are in a struggling business, we got to give back too to keep our jobs, sometimes it's salary, sometimes it's contributing more to pay for healthcare, or some companies, terminate pension programs. And I'm sure the union wants to keep those 25 players salaries for each of those franchises which struggle (read; Phoenix, Florida, Dallas, even our team, etc), so it's in the best interest of the union too that the NHL wants a contract so all the franchises can survive financially.

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Hey Ryan Suter, my harp is playing for you. How will you ever survive with your upfront big signing bonus. You wanted Donald Fehr who stopped baseball which was making boatloads of money, and expect him to do the same with the NHL?

Do you even pretend to understand why Donald Fehr stopped baseball? Look, I was young, I hated him for that. But the owners wanted to unilaterally impose a salary cap. The players had been playing without a CBA for a year. Remember when Fehr stopped baseball all those other times? I sure don't. They lost a season, it was awful, but hockey has lost 1.5 and we're heading towards 2.

NHL hockey, where weekly ratings struggle to get a 1.0, are regularly beaten by wnba games, are clearly not in the same $ league as in terms of TV revenue that the other top 3 sports have, and where ticket prices are already high, and you're surprised by the results?

He signed a contract this summer that his owner is now negotiating to reduce. You think that's fair? It's a signed contract. Yes, as maxpower will point out, contract values are not guaranteed in the NHL because of the escrow system. Still, as long as the league doesn't stagnate, those contracts get paid out. The 5% cap inflator will definitely be gone in the next CBA, and that was really the only risk players took of not having their contracts paid out.

I hate Bettman & I hope he is no longer a part of this league sometime soon, but I'm stil on the owners side. By the way, when us schlums are in a struggling business, we got to give back too to keep our jobs, sometimes it's salary, sometimes it's contributing more to pay for healthcare, or some companies, terminate pension programs. And I'm sure the union wants to keep those 25 players salaries for each of those franchises which struggle (read; Phoenix, Florida, Dallas, even our team, etc), so it's in the best interest of the union too that the NHL wants a contract so all the franchises can survive financially.

The union doesn't care about the 25 minimum salary or around there jobs that would be lost in the event of contraction. Hell, last time around, players were openly suggesting contraction. However, the NHL is not a struggling business. It had record revenues last year. Its revenues are up an incredible amount in the last 7 years - it is the opposite of a struggling business. It is a booming business. But the owners want to reduce the amount of money that goes to players. The players have accepted that ultimately their percentage of the revenues will decrease - that the owners have leverage and they can use it. However, the owners are unwilling to make good on the contracts they signed.

When the NHL negotiates as a whole, it's fair to talk about it as a whole. Yes, some teams are not doing so well - that's why revenue sharing is and should be a larger part of the next CBA. But it probably won't be, besides the geographic restrictions on it being lifted (because Bill Wirtz died). The NHL will continue to expect its money-losing franchises to get by despite a salary floor that is obviously too high

Edited by Triumph
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And with all that Sandy has wrought, suddenly billionaires and millionaires squabbling really seems like a steaming pile of insignificant turd. The hell with all of 'em.

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The real pressure is losing games once Baseball and Football seasons are done. I really don't think the owners want to lose that portion of the season. That is usually when attendance rises in multisport cities. If they salvage a late december season the owners still make a nice profit. The players are essentially playing for nothing when insurance is taken into consideration so there is pressure to make a deal on their side as well.

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This will never end... wtv what the deal and as fair as it could get... the owners will have to give a little... which they are not at the moment... then i think we ALL know that when the next CBA expire that the owners will try to have back what they gave in this one (if they give anything)

i seriously expect a lockout every year of CBA negotiation, all those fvckers are way too greedy

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Yea, thanks NHL for reminding us all how you keep fighting over money, while we watch and read heart-wrenching stories from the hurricane, throw out food because of no power, and wait in line for gas. Pox on you all!

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