Rock Posted September 18, 2004 Share Posted September 18, 2004 Panthers were big losers Keenan: players must give back http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Flori.../17/633279.html By JON COOK -- SLAM! Sports Florida Panthers general manager Mike Keenan has admitted his club is one of six NHL teams that combined to lose a reported $180 million US during the 2002-03 season. The loss was part of the NHL-sponsored Levitt Report announced last February. (AP ARCHIVE Photo/Rick Silva) TORONTO -- Last February a controversial study commissioned by the NHL, known as the Levitt Report, claimed the 30-team league lost a combined total of $273 million US during the 2002-03 season. In addition, auditor Arthur Levitt claimed six teams accounted for an astounding $180 million of those losses. Those six sorry franchises were never named, but yesterday Florida Panthers' general manager Mike Keenan identified his club as a member of that sad fraternity. "We are," admitted Keenan, but quickly added: "We have a very passionate owner (Alan Cohen) who loves hockey and we'll have a very, very strong franchise in Florida when these issues are resolved." For Keenan those "issues" are the players recognizing teams like the Panthers are hemorrhaging money and that some significant redress is required on their part to help get the league back on stable financial ground. "It's not a contentious issue for me at all," said Keenan, whose Panthers reportedly lost $64 million in 2002-03. "I've been in the business long enough to know that the ownership group had an advantage in the industry and now the players have an advantage in the industry and its got to shift back to the middle ground. "They (players) just have to come to grips with the reality of it: the players have to give something back." During the 1994 lockout Keenan was coaching for St. Louis and admitted the three-month work stoppage didn't have an overly negative impact on the Blues. "I think we ended up in third overall and then we made the trade for Wayne Gretzky and our fan base was very, very strong," he recalled. "But there's always the possibility of some franchises not really holding up if this lockout lasts a long time." A decade ago former New Jersey Devils' owner John McMullen grabbed headlines when he responded to a revenue-sharing proposal with a curt "to hell with the small-market teams." Now with a reported $300-million war chest and greater unanimity on its side, ownership appears to be in a better position to ride out a lengthy strike without bankrupting any of its members. But there are no guarantees. "It has to be corrected," emphasized Keenan of the competitive balance between small-market clubs like Florida and large-market teams in Detroit, Philadelphia, Toronto and New York. "We don't know what the fallout (of a long stoppage) will necessarily mean in different markets. I think that it's going to take a while for both sides to find the mechanism that will resolve this and then you grow and move the industry forward from there." Keenan is also worried that a lengthy lockout could derail the progress made by young Panthers players Jay Bouwmeester, Roberto Luongo and Olli Jokinen at the recently-completed World Cup of Hockey. "That's going to be part of what has to be worked through here," said Keenan, who has assigned Bouwmeester to the Panther's AHL affiliate in San Antonio. "Hopefully the importance of their development, not only our players but all the young players, will be also a part of the discussions and the reason why this issue gets resolved sooner rather than later." As far as his own plans, Keenan will be busy promoting the 13-episode reality-hockey series "Making the Cut," scheduled to begin airing on the CBC on September 21. Keenan and legendary coach Scotty Bowman will select six finalists from a pool of more than 4,000 non-professional hockey players and reward them with an invitation to a Canadian NHL team training camp for Fall 2005. Keenan describes the process as the search for the next Martin St. Louis - the Tampa Bay Lightning forward who made the NHL as a free agent. The Panthers' GM believes the show is especially timely in light of the labour strife. "I would encourage all professional hockey players to watch and enjoy, particularly our Canadian hockey players," he said. "The reason I say that is I think it's important for them and for all of us in the industry to revisit the feelings and the compelling reasons why we wanted to be in this sport at a professional level. "The game has been extremely good to all of us and particularly the star players who have become very, very wealthy as a result. In my pragmatic view of the world I'd much rather have 50 per cent of something than 100 per cent of nothing." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruins4777 Posted September 18, 2004 Share Posted September 18, 2004 nice article. bouwmeester should dominate the AHL i hope i can see him play if san antonio comes to hershey. *crosses fingers* this really does suck though, teams like the panthers, thrashers, blue jackets, and such all really have some good players who are developing. if there was a season this probably would have been one of the best. ugh i'm pissed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueNJ97 Posted September 18, 2004 Share Posted September 18, 2004 Not that I don't believe that the Panthers lost $$$, but I also remember that when Keenan was GM of the Blues he spent like there was no tomorrow. So having him suddenly "see the light" is pretty funny... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RowdyFan42 Posted September 19, 2004 Share Posted September 19, 2004 nice article. bouwmeester should dominate the AHL i hope i can see him play if san antonio comes to hershey. *crosses fingers* *checks schedule* Sorry. You host the Rats four times, though. Hershey Bears schedule San Antonio Rampage schedule Hey Vince, San Antonio visits Norfolk for two games the weekend before Thanksgiving! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruins4777 Posted September 19, 2004 Share Posted September 19, 2004 nice article. bouwmeester should dominate the AHL i hope i can see him play if san antonio comes to hershey. *crosses fingers* *checks schedule* Sorry. You host the Rats four times, though. Hershey Bears schedule San Antonio Rampage schedule Hey Vince, San Antonio visits Norfolk for two games the weekend before Thanksgiving! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> god damn....ugh. well at least i get to see ari ahonen i like that guy. and of course steve kariya that guy is fun to watch. i'd still rather have bouwmeester though ugh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissionHockey Posted September 19, 2004 Share Posted September 19, 2004 Zherdev was an incredible scoring talent his rookie year and would have been on pace for near 50 points. Its a shame he won't be playing in the NHL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissionHockey Posted September 19, 2004 Share Posted September 19, 2004 Any idea of what the Bruins will do with Hannu Tiovonen? He seems to be in a similar situation to Ahonen, where unseating the starting goaltender is unlikely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruins4777 Posted September 19, 2004 Share Posted September 19, 2004 Any idea of what the Bruins will do with Hannu Tiovonen? He seems to be in a similar situation to Ahonen, where unseating the starting goaltender is unlikely. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> well that something i've been worrying about also. back before raycroft did anything i was so high on toivenen and i thought that the bruins would definently struggle but would have toivenen in about 3 or 4 years to lift them to glory. but then raycroft came out of no where well not no where, but he was a suprise. so i know that this season toivenen is gonna be in the AHL, just where he should be he played great for the season but lost his starting job at the end of the season. but honestly i'm really happy yet worried because i feel like toivenen has the potential to be better than razor, but at the same time by the time toivenen will be ready for the nhl razor won't even be 30. so i honestly have no idea what is gonna happen. the bruisn actually have people behind toivenen in europe and in college also. our goalie position is incredible. i feel really bad for ahonen and toivenen both. but more so ahonen cause he has a hall of famer in front of him and ahonen has been sitting behind marty for a while. but i guess only time will tell what happens. until that happens i get to see toivenen in the ahl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissionHockey Posted September 19, 2004 Share Posted September 19, 2004 Ahonen is the posterboy for rotting potential. If he doesn't go somewhere else soon, he might not become as great of a player we all know he could be. I'd love to trade him off, preferably to the Kings for either Jeff Tambellini or Denis Greshbekov(sp?). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruins4777 Posted September 19, 2004 Share Posted September 19, 2004 Ahonen is the posterboy for rotting potential. If he doesn't go somewhere else soon, he might not become as great of a player we all know he could be. I'd love to trade him off, preferably to the Kings for either Jeff Tambellini or Denis Greshbekov(sp?). <{POST_SNAPBACK}> see i think it would be best for toivenen to be traded if after like a year or 2 razor is still sharp as hell, but i also don't want toivenen to be traded because to me he looks like he has the potential of a vezina winner. he plays a fantastic butterfly and is more atheltic than most goalies already in the nhl. so his potential is outstanding, and as much as i want him to do good in the NHL i don't want to see him go elsewhere and dominante. ugh. we'll see what happens in the next 3 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ice berg slim Posted September 20, 2004 Share Posted September 20, 2004 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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