2012 NHL Off-Season

[theohall]

The small market owners cry BS because of the guaranteed money. Nashville probably can't afford $26 million or whatever it is over 3 years even though they have the cap room. The cap hit is the average of the term, which is why there's 3 years tacked on the end of the contract at $1 mil per.

Which is straight out right cap circumvention - which is not supposed to be allowed under the current CBA.

[pr0ner]

The small market owners cry BS because of the guaranteed money. Nashville probably can't afford $26 million or whatever it is over 3 years even though they have the cap room. The cap hit is the average of the term, which is why there's 3 years tacked on the end of the contract at $1 mil per.

Which is straight out right cap circumvention - which is not supposed to be allowed under the current CBA.

No, it's not cap circumvention.

[theohall]

The small market owners cry BS because of the guaranteed money. Nashville probably can't afford $26 million or whatever it is over 3 years even though they have the cap room. The cap hit is the average of the term, which is why there's 3 years tacked on the end of the contract at $1 mil per.

Which is straight out right cap circumvention - which is not supposed to be allowed under the current CBA.

No, it's not cap circumvention.

And we both know that type of wording in a 14 year contract with a $1M salary the last three years is straight up circumventing Salary Cap by reducing the overall value of the contract.  Puh-lease.  Legalese BS is what that is.  Nice try....  And you think a lockout WON'T happen with teams pulling this crap????? 

[pr0ner]

You're hopeless when it comes to any rule involving hockey.  Utterly, completely, 100% hopeless.

[Jimmy the Fish]

Down goes Nash! Rick Nash traded to the Rangers for Dubinsky, Anisimov, Erixon and a 1st round pick.

[gellar]

Dammit.  Was really hoping San Jose would give up Couture for him.

[leo8877]

Dammit.  Was really hoping San Jose would give up Couture for him.

HISS!

[Koz]

Pretty good deal for the Rangers. I don't think Erixon is much of a top prospect and the draft pick will be late round. Dubinsky and Anisimov are solid, but 2nd/3rd line guys.

Of course then there's Nash's contract which is why I'm glad Boston didn't get him. That by itself may prove costly for the Rangers, but they'll probably just pawn him off to Montreal or someone else in a few years..

Edit: OK, I guess Erixon is a good prospect, but he's not Del Zotto or McDonagh.

[pr0ner]

LOL at Erixon.  Karma's a bitch.

[gellar]

As expected, the Preds have matched the offer sheet.

[kronovan]

Nash Ca$h!!!...but its still the same guy. 

[Clanwolfer]

Pretty gutsy by the 'Canes to bring in Sasha Semin on a 1-year deal at $7 million.

That's high, but he is a heck of a player, and on top of the forwards they already have his possession and defensive skills could make a big difference. I wouldn't be shocked to see him pot 35+ goals, and north of 40 if he's a first-liner there is not out of the question.

[gellar]

It's just for one year, so it has really no ramifications other than the owner shelling out the cash.  If I'm a Canes fan, I'm thrilled.

[theohall]

Still don't believe a lockout is going to happen?

Watch this video from the NHL website and listen to Bettman.  Certainly sounds like a lockout is on the way.

After these owners have shelled out these ridiculous contracts this off-season, not to mention the Kovalchuk contract under this CBA, and Bettman has the nerve to say they cannot operate under this CBA unless they reduce player costs. 

Owners are the ones shelling out the cash.  Get them under control - not force the players to cave to whatever the NHL wishes.

[kronovan]

Sooo... were about to see the entire season cancelled. Personally it won't be too painful for me because I have a solid AHL (Heat) and WHL (Giants) franchise in my area and I'm looking forward to attendance rising significantly for both.

There's still lots of hockey being played all over North America, so I'm wondering if there's any interest in an AHL thread here for folks to brag about or bemoan your NHL teams' affiliate?

[Blackjack]

Oh I totally believed we'd see a lockout. I wouldn't be surprised if the entire season is a wash, given the language doesn't generally sound like two groups moving remotely closer to agreement.

It's stupid, stupid stupid (imho). It just doesn't seem like the two sides are even remotely in the same ballpark, so to speak. More like they're on the opposite sides of a wide river...

We got a new coach here in Washington, and I was looking forward to the Caps actually you know having an offense this year. Maybe I'd even finally get out to a game. Now, maybe not.

[Isgrimnur]

Killing the season twice in a decade?  Nice to know that everyone has the best interests of the league at heart.

[Biyobi]

Dammit, I want to see my Kings hoist their shiny new banner on schedule. Get this shit done, gentlemen!

[Rowdy]

I can not fracking believe the Oilers are finally about to come out of the trench they've been in for a decade and this is when the lockout happens.  This one is on the owners.

[Koz]

It's hard for me to feel too sympathetic to the owners when they complain about player costs that are due to contracts that they hand out themselves. The players bent over to get the last CBA through, it's time for the owners to suck it up for this one.

I doubt it will happen, though. The players want to play much more than the owners do, despite what bobblehead Bettman says.

[Devil]

This just sucks!

[theohall]

This Bob McKenzie article is excellent.  It describes both sides of the situation.  IMO, the Owners are still the damn problem this time.  NHL Owners cannot during the season tout how wonderful the league is doing nor can the league tout record revenues, and then, when it is CBA negotiation time, claim the Owners and League are not making enough money.  The NHL and the Owners changed the "revenue formula" from the one used when the prior CBA was settled.  Gee... I wonder why the players are ticked off and not bending over this time.

[gellar]

I refuse to pick a side.  Both sides just need to come to an agreement and get shit done.

[Clanwolfer]

Reposted from my morning rant on Facebook:


Well, since it's happening - here's my thought on the lockout. I believe both the players and the owners have made a terrible miscalculation - that any lengthy lockout will have as few lasting ramifications as the last one. The league is competing with so much more than they were last time around - and my whole generation of fans, who were in school or just starting out, and came back with our time and our disposable income, just came flooding back last time. Now we have families, careers, other responsibilities, and a lot of other things in our lives that we made trade-offs with to have the money and the time to spend on the NHL.

It's just so trivially easy to replace our entertainment now. Me, I'm going to replace the hours I spent watching hockey on Netflix or other things, and the travel and the money going to games will be for other things now. And when NHL hockey comes back, it won't be filling a hole - it will be competing with that other stuff, and the longer this goes, the harder it will be for the NHL to get as much of my time and attention ever again as it's had since the last lockout.

I mean, I believe I'm the type of fan the NHL should be terrified of losing - I have season tickets when practical, I travel to games in multiple cities, I always have Center Ice, I go to the Winter Classic every year, and I'm damn near always trying to be part of the conversation about hockey online, building its profile and spreading the game. Now I just have lockout fatigue - I'm done evangelizing the game for a while, even when it comes back, because hockey was the last thing I let myself get really emotionally invested in that I had absolutely no control over. At least when I suck at golf, or making candy, or writing, or anything like that - I own my failures and learn from them.

It would be nice if I felt like the NHL and the NHLPA were doing the same with their own failures.

[Blackjack]

One sports columnist made the point that billionaires (owners) will outlast millionaires (players) every time. Most players feel they "gave in" too much back in 2004-2005 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004%E2%80%9305_NHL_lockout) and are determined to dig in and not "give in" this time. So if ya got two groups with no plans to compromise, it might well come down to attrition - who can afford to keep waiting for the other side to blink.

For comparison's sake, Bettman canceled the 2004-2005 season on Feb. 16, 2005. So that maybe gives an idea of just how long the lockout could go on before playing any sort of shortened season becomes unlikely.

Another interesting thing from then is the cancellation of that season meant there were no season records to base the draft order the next season, so they devised a lottery system for that year that was more generally about how teams had done the previous few years.

[leo8877]

This is dumb.  How is the commissioner still employed with 4 work stoppages under his watch?  Doesn't that scream epic fail? 

I won't be buying tickets or merchandise for awhile now. 

[Isgrimnur]

The players aren't waiting.  Malkin and Gonchar sign with Mettalurg of the KHL.

Although the club provided no further detail of their contracts, it said that they would comply with KHL regulations on signing NHL players during the lockout. Under these rules, KHL teams can sign a maximum of three NHL players above their limit of 25.

The KHL also sets the ceiling for the salaries of NHL players at a maximum of 65 percent of what they earn under their NHL deals.

[pr0ner]

This will make gellar happy.

Who's been singled out by the NHL as part of their study (and hopefully impending crackdown) on diving?

RYAN KESLER!

[leo8877]

This will make gellar happy.

Who's been singled out by the NHL as part of their study (and hopefully impending crackdown) on diving?

RYAN KESLER!

I would like to express my enthusiasm for this as well.

[leo8877]

It's getting bad, I just saw Jonathan Quick on the Fox NFL pre-game in a bit role on a skit!

[leo8877]

First two weeks of the regular season cancelled.  They can just shut down the NHL now.

[gellar]

Would not at all be shocked if there was no season.

THE LOS ANGELES KINGS, YOUR 2011-2012 AND 2012-2013 CHAMPS.  That's how it works, right?

[DocD]

Would not at all be shocked if there was no season.

THE LOS ANGELES KINGS, YOUR 2011-2012 AND 2012-2013 CHAMPS.  That's how it works, right?

I've been joking at work that it's LA Kings Stanely Cup Champions 2011-infinity.

At this point I wouldn't be at all surprised if those idiots end up killing the NHL. 

[kronovan]

I'm driving out to the Heats season opener tonight to watch them take on the Blues affiliate the Preoria Rivermen - for some reason they're nicknamed the Riverrats.   I got primo seats for just over $20 and even better - in a ploy to bring in fans beer is only $2 and hotdogs are $1! Damn, it just doesn't get any better than that.

Suck up your no hockey viewing guys!   

[Isgrimnur]

Once I get a new car, I may have to make the half-hour drive to go see the Allen Americans.  It would be easier than the 45 minute trip to see the Texas Brahmas.

[kronovan]

Once I get a new car, I may have to make the half-hour drive to go see the Allen Americans.  It would be easier than the 45 minute trip to see the Texas Brahmas.

You have it better than me - the Abbotsford Heat's arena is an hours drive. Even worse; the extremely tough DUI laws here mean I only drink 2 of those cheap beers.  Damn, if that promo keeps going I'm gonna have to talk a non-drinking buddy into being a designated driver.
I can be at a Vancouver Giants game in 20 minutes though and its affordable enough to cab it there and back.