sw61776 Posted November 2, 2004 Share Posted November 2, 2004 Trading shots ... NHL style Vocal few are not informed, Pronger charges Habs' Dagenais `just a noodle in a bowl of soup' KEN CAMPBELL SPORTS REPORTER Pierre Dagenais of the Montreal Canadiens is one of about 70 players expected to attend the NHL Players' Association meeting today and there's a good chance he'll leave it feeling as though he has been hit by a Scott Stevens' bodycheck. Dagenais, who was scheduled to earn $500,000 (all figures U.S.) this season, has been the most critical of a handful of players at the lower end of the NHL's salary scale. He recently suggested the union might be surprised if it polled players of his ilk about a salary cap and claimed the players' association is top-heavy with high earners who have no regard for fringe players. "Do I have a say in this?" Dagenais asked in a Montreal newspaper last week. "I'm just a noodle in a bowl of soup." Those comments came on the heels of similar remarks by players such as Andrew Ference and Mike Commodore of the Calgary Flames and Brian Pothier of the Ottawa Senators. Veteran enforcer Rob Ray suggested he'd happily be a replacement player next season. All this comes amid a hue and cry by players in Europe who feel that the more than 200 NHLers playing in European leagues are being duplicitous and unethical in taking their jobs. To be sure, the likes of Dagenais, Commodore, Ference and Pothier represent the league's minimum wage earners. Their four salaries combined total $2.96 million, just over a quarter of the $11 million Jaromir Jagr was scheduled to earn this season. But based on a membership of 750, they also represent just 0.53 per cent of the NHLPA. St. Louis Blues defenceman Chris Pronger, whose $10 million salary is 20 times what Dagenais earns, vociferously claims that players who feel left out of the process have nobody but themselves to blame. "What I'd like to see these guys who are doing all the talking do is get informed on the issues and actually come to a meeting," said Pronger, the Blues' player representative. "I haven't talked to (NHLPA executive director) Bob Goodenow since the lockout started and you don't need to talk to Bob Goodenow to be informed. If you're not informed, you're a phone call away from being informed." Maple Leafs player representative Bryan McCabe, who won't be at today's meeting because he has relatives visiting him in Long Island before he leaves to play in Sweden, echoed Pronger's sentiments. "I've been in the league for nine years and I've been going to meetings all that time and I've never seen one of those guys at a meeting," McCabe said. "I just wish guys would get informed on the issues before they opened their big traps." It is, however, difficult to argue that the union leadership is not made up of players in the leagues' higher tax brackets. The seven players on the executive committee were scheduled to have an average salary of $3.3 million this year, while the player representatives average $3 million. That's significantly higher than the $1.8 million average salary and three times the real salary indicator, which is the league's median salary. That figure is about $990,000, meaning half the players in the league make less than that amount. And just 212 players make more than the league's average salary. But does that mean that the NHLPA is out of touch with the common man, at least by NHL standards? Many players say no, pointing to the fact that every NHLPA member has Goodenow's cell phone number and is encouraged to use it. There is also a secure Web site and an 800 number for players to call if they have questions. There are meetings each summer and the union's leadership visits all 30 teams at the beginning of each season. "Before this meeting, I got in touch with my teammates and told them to e-mail me any questions they might have," Pronger said. "I have a bunch of them and will be asking them (today)." Some players were also critical of those who spoke out in favour of a salary cap, pointing out that the lower-tier players would be the ones who would lose out the most in that scenario. "Guys like Mike Commodore and Pierre Dagenais are making pretty good money because of what the guys did in 1994," said Montreal Canadiens player representative Craig Rivet, in reference to the last lockout. "If the guys had caved in then, those guys would be making a lot less money." "What these guys don't realize is that even with a cap, the stars are going to get their money and the role players are going to get squeezed." Pronger said. "If there's a cap, I'd probably have to take a pay cut, but I'm not going from $10 million to $5 million, I'll tell you that right now. But the guy who's making a million bucks, he'd probably be lucky to be making 400 grand." And not all the lower-tiered players are on board with their brethren. Maple Leaf winger Nathan Perrott is playing in St. John's this season for $150,000, which is a third of what he'd be earning in Toronto. But he stands behind the players' association and said he realizes that the high earners lift the salaries of the lower-paid players. "Of course I'd rather be playing in the NHL," Perrott said, "but doing this is better than sitting in Toronto wondering how I'm going to pay my mortgage." This meeting, open to the union's membership, was planned about a month ago as an information session and the agenda remains the same, despite the small but vocal outcry, say those associated with the NHLPA. Toronto Star Toronto Star <---- That is what I think of this article. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sundstrom Posted November 2, 2004 Share Posted November 2, 2004 "If there's a cap, I'd probably have to take a pay cut, but I'm not going from $10 million to $5 million, I'll tell you that right now. OH YES, YOU WILL. Man, I cannot wait for these guys to see what's coming to them. Does Pronger realize that, outside of St. Louis in the U.S., maybe 20,000 people know (or more importantly care) who he is. These guys are just so ridiculously out of touch, it's incredible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRASHER Posted November 2, 2004 Share Posted November 2, 2004 maybe it's bullsh!t attitudes like that which are WHY the low end players don't go to these union meetings there Pronger ??? You COULD live on "only half your salary" while yes a million dollar player CAN live on half of his the hit is FAR greater to him... stupid pompus jackass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheeps Posted November 2, 2004 Share Posted November 2, 2004 Completely agree with Sundstrom. These guys need a serious reality check, and fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pezzer Posted November 2, 2004 Share Posted November 2, 2004 "but doing this is better than sitting in Toronto wondering how I'm going to pay my mortgage." This is exactly what the replacement players are going to be saying. Looking forward to hearing the players' responses at that time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weekes Head Posted November 2, 2004 Share Posted November 2, 2004 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizDevil30 Posted November 2, 2004 Share Posted November 2, 2004 Hey Pronger -- "It is better to say nothing and be thought of as a fool, then to speak and remove all doubt." Abraham Lincoln Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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