NHL deal reached

[bigC]

the NHL and the PA have reached a tentaive labour agreement, ending the longest work stoppage in pro-sports history, at 301 days. however, greed, arrogance, and stupidity by both sides has likely caused irreparable damage to the sport in the US. the players really got their butts handed to them: some of the hi(lo)-lights are: a 24% roll back of all wages; a hard salary cap of $39 million US, and a spending floor of $22 mill; no player can earn more then $7.4 mill; a percentage of the players' salaries will be held in escrow, since they cannot earn over 54% of revenues, and there will be a rookie salary cap of $850 thousand, etc.

free agency will be lowered from 31 to 27 over the course of the agreement, and the players' may have the right to renegotaiate after four years, and minimum wage will be raised to $450 thousand, but they still lost big-time. there will be rule changes to enhance the quality of play, such as smaller goalie pads, etc.

big spending teams like the Maple Leafs, Red Wings, Avalanche, Flyers, and NY Rangers will have to cut salaries in order to get under the cap, so fans of those teams will also lose, too. gone are the days where a team can go out at the rade deadline and get a big contract for a few draft picks, gone are the days of free spending free agency periods, since the cap will be pre-eminent in evry team's agenda.

a year of labour problems is finally almost over, as the deal has still yet to be ratified, but this is a lousy deal for the rich teams and star players, and seems to be tailored to the weaker teams in the NHL.

story:http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?id=130274
more:http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/article.jsp;jsessionid=FJGCCLILJFJA?content=200507 13_090348_2992

[YOGIx213]

Ahhh... hockey has lost me. I was just starting to get into it (I'm from L.A. and hockey was never a huge thing except the nice Gretzky years in the 80's) when this whole mess with the lock out happened. This REALLY hurt their sport and turned a lot of newbie fans away (like myself). I may come around again, hopefully things will turn around but I remember trying to get L.A. Kings tickets a few years ago and they cost way too much for even the cheap seats. I didn't understand how they planned to get more fans by charging more than most other sports in L.A.

They need to drop these ticket prices and let the fans know that they want all of us back. If they do special deals all season long (like really cheap group tickets or buy one get one free type deals) they can salvage their fan base.

[Shamrock]

GOOD! The players dont need that much money. $6 million a year to play something they love? They deserve about $500,000 a year. And I'm not just talking about Hockey. Baseball, basketball, and football too. The people who REALLY need the big contracts/salaries are the people who put their lives on the line to save ours. Like Fireman, Policemen, ambulance services, etc.

I even believe autoposrts dont deserve what they get, but....what can ya do.

[Tyr-Sog]

Players make less(but still more then they should), yet tickets prices go up still. In the end, the consumer and fan is still the big fat loser. :thumbdwn:

[bigC]

Players make less(but still more then they should), yet tickets prices go up still. In the end, the consumer and fan is still the big fat loser. :thumbdwn:well, a lot of teams have announced some substantial decreases in ticket prices. for instance, the Toronto Maple Leafs: they haven't won the Cup since 67, yet continue to sell out the games and raise ticket prices every year, to the point where you would have to sell a kidney in order to attend a game. yet, despite the high, ever increasing prices, a Leafs ticket remains the most sought after sports ticket in Toronto (the waiting list for season's tickets is years-long). but, they have just reduced prices by 5% across the board, not much, but still an unprecedented step for the team, in this market, where they could have easily raised prices and still sold out the ACC. elsewhere around the NHL, the ticket reductions are even higher.

and while the minimum salary for an NHL player is $450 thousand, the maximum they can make is 20% of $39 mill (the cap), or $7.8 mill, a far cry from what they were making under the last deal, and a lot less then what other players in pro sports are making (but still a pretty good sum of money). gone are the days of $50 mill 5 year contracts, but i'm sure no player will go hungry or worry about paying the bills if they manage their money.

[retsam]

well, a lot of teams have announced some substantial decreases in ticket prices. for instance, the Toronto Maple Leafs: they haven't won the Cup since 67, yet continue to sell out the games and raise ticket prices every year, to the point where you would have to sell a kidney in order to attend a game. its canada ...what do you exspect... hocket is the national past time..when i used to play with the canadians they used to say those kids were born with the skates on.... man some of them were great

oh ya speaking of ticket prices i went to the new york rangers free ticket give away ... i got to meet o gilbert who is an nhl hall of famer.... they even put my picture on the new york ranger web site....

http://newyorkrangers.com/pressbox/pressreleases.asp?id=1651
if you go to the photos section im number 9.....with gil

[Ghosthunter]

Cool pic there...I am a die hard NY Rangers fan...though I am sure I will never see another cup for rest of my life...1994 will have to last a lifetime.

[retsam]

Cool pic there...I am a die hard NY Rangers fan...though I am sure I will never see another cup for rest of my life...1994 will have to last a lifetime. i will always have faith that we will bring it home again ... i do have to say we may not win many but when we do...we do it in style that no one in the world can reproduce!!

[Ghosthunter]

i will always have faith that we will bring it home again ... i do have to say we may not win many but when we do...we do it in style that no one in the world can reproduce!!



That I can certainly agree...I will never forget Matteau against the devils around the net...what a game that was. I think my heart stopped several times during the OT...LOL