A Letter From Trevor Linden

[RowdyFan42]

http://www.nhlpa.com/Content/FEATURES/feat...ies.asp?ID=3360

Trevor Linden's column is printed in this week's The Hockey News publication

With the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) set to expire and an owners

[sheeps]

Do I think the owners are being as reasonable as they could? No. But this?

[sammyk]

[aylbert]

I was unaware that the luxary tax was "a proven success in Major League Baseball."

I thought it was a laughing stock to attempt to curb the Yankees?

The only point Linden makes is, our control of young players is a marvel... 18-31... It'll be lowered; but still... we keep them for a while....

Then again... a defensemen isnt good until he is at least 24-25.

[Pepperkorn]

SO - in a nutshell:

The NHL/owners are operating in the best interest of the players and fans . They want to keep a greater number of teams alive. This is pro-player: more jobs for more players and pro-fan: more teams means more opotunity for easy access to major league hockey. Socialist hockey.

The NHLPA ... well their plan is clearly not in the majority of the players best interest and it's clearly not in the fans best interest. It's hard to tell what they're fighting for -- what their demands result in bottom line is the NHL becomes an exclusive kind of boutique league. And it can survive that way - just not as is. So teams with money survive Owners get to push other owners out of the market. They can have a monopoly on all good players drive other teams out of business and then when the league is small they can chop players salaries and rake in some REAL profits. Elitist hockey.

So really everything is all bassackwards - counter intuitive here. That's basically how I see when I look at the whole situation. Am I wrong?

Edited September 13, 2004 by Pepperkorn

[aylbert]

SO - in a nutshell: 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thats not it in the nutshell.... this is.

Help! Im trapped in a nutshell; get me out of here... its dark!

But yea; thats how I see it... They want to capitlize on gains now; and piss away the future.... so the 38 yo superstars can continue to pull in 7+mil a year to play 8mins a game and score 40pts.

[rbdf]

"Fans have asked me what

[squishyx]

In fact, we

[GA Devil]

Here's my letter to Trevor in response:

"Go f*ck yourself."

Love,

Vin

[Pepperkorn]

The prospect of no hockey is hitting home now. It sucks just because i won't have enough hockey. No islanders or ranger games even.. I'll obnly see hockey when I can see it live...and with a baby and a husband writing a thesis it's just going to impossible to see it more than probably once this fall if we get to Albany and the Rats are HOME.

and this computer is only serving to depress me more. I really feel like taking a sledge hammer to it... honestly I think if I had money there's be a lot of broken stuff around my house

anyhow -- that's all -- bye again!

[DRafalski]

Comparing to Basketball -the fans in LA certainly took a backseat when the Lakers failed to produce a championship and fell to the Pistons after the Lakers were assembled with a Hall of Fame roster. The Pistons however keep their salaries modest, sign the right players and sell out every single game while setting attendance records in the process. You can go to a Pistons game and get very good seats for $10.

Linden knows damn well the "market value of a player" is directly proportional to a teams season ticket increase which comes out of the fan's pockets. Why doesn't he flat out say it?

The Red Wings certainly were not "HockeyTown" in the mid 80s. Any team can mirror their sucess with the right business decisions and marketing. It may take awhile, but it's not impossible.

I remember Steve Yzerman saying something about how when he came into the league, the older players stood up and were the reason he is where he is today financially -so it was his turn to stand up and behind the union today. Well maybe some of the younger players of today need to stand up and go against the union so there will be an NHL and an interest in hockey for the players of tomorrow.

[rbdf]

I hate to say it, but with only fledgling fan support in the u.s.a. for nhl hockey (thanks in large part to astronomical ticket prices, not to mention parking and $4 hotdogs, $5 sodas and $6 beers), if this lockout/strike issue goes past January 2005, you'll see many very empty arena's when they do compromise on something and get back to playing.

I think too many of these guys have forgotten that they are PLAYING A GAME, no matter how much you tell me about their diet and workout regimine, and that tough practice schedule (you know, the 1 to 1.5 hours a day of ice time doing drills and maybe a half hour in the locker room listening to the coach), it's still a frigging game, it's not brain surgery, it's not being on call for emergency baby deliveries at 2 am, it's not getting up at 5 am to go to work for 8 hours banging nails on a hot roof top all summer, it's not sitting in a law library till 4 am doing research for a court motion, it's not heaving garbage into the back of a truck every morning, it's not the same old daily grind that all of us go through, chugging out of the house early to sit in traffic to get to work and listen to a boss ride us for 8, 9, 10, 12 hours every day, then chugging back through traffic to eat dinner at 8 or 9pm, go to bed and do it all over again the next day, living for saturday nights and sunday mornings.

Wake the F up you friggin spoiled little rich brats. You make millions for playing a stupid game. The rest of us have to pay $350 an hour to get second class ice at run down rinks at great, convenient times like wednesday night at 11:30 pm, jeez, i've had league games scheduled at 1am on thursday. Get off your high horses and remember what it was like when you were younger and loved to play the game, when you dreamed of playing in the nhl, and as sure as you hear it in any rink today, said something to the effect of "i'd pay them to let me play for the (fill in your favorite team here)" or "i'd play for free for the opportunity to win the stanley cup".

Just cut a deal and save the game at this point - stop bickering over how few or many millions you deserve, it's still millions, which is millions more than any of us can ever hope to accumulate in a lifetime, let alone get paid in 8 months of "work".

[hattrick]

[Pepperkorn]

Linden knows damn well the "market value of a player" is directly proportional to a teams season ticket increase which comes out of the fan's pockets.  Why doesn't he flat out say it?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Because that would admitting that players salaries are intrisically linked to revenue generation and his whole arguement is based on the two NOT be related. Which is insane! There is not one job in the business world that is NOT directly linked to revenue generation. Without revenue there is no money to pay a salary. He's such an ass it really irritates the hell out of me. he sounds like a total moron... bringing credence to the term dumb jock! and he's trying so freaking hard to sound intelligent & logical - grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. so frustrating

[CRASHER]

boy I picked a good time to go back to college... I'll have my freaking degree before these morons resolve anything

[StarDew]

"Fans have asked me what

[SC Devs Fan]

I was unaware that the luxary tax was "a proven success in Major League Baseball."

As an Expos fan I can clearly see the benefit of MLBs revenue sharing and luxury tax. We now can now field a team of palyers who make what one Yankee does.

[rbdf]

SC, that's a good one, by the way, do you have any idea what the team's name will be when the move to puerto rico? Hey, they'll actually be closer to you then, won't they?