In the NBA I think they had major issues with their system - a lot of teams were clearly losing money. In the NFL it was pure greed and you can't tell me otherwise. The same thing seems to be happening in the NHL.

Cue Don Fehr pointing out baseball has had no issues since the 95 strike, and happen to be the only sport without a cap.
- S Kaspar Rollins

Yeah, I totally agree with all of that. The NBA lockout I could understand, but it's annoying and frustrating as a fan when you have a lockout mainly caused by poor greed and the fact that there doesn't seem to be a rush to reach an agreement.

Totally agree! I highly doubt that the schedule is reduced though, but it would make a lot of sense if they want the southern U.S. markets to generate more revenue per game and fill the seats. Instigator rule would be at the top of my list, it would definitely have the rats and cheap shot artists of the league thinking twice before doing something stupid. And I know that this might seem ironic coming from a Canucks fan, but IMO players need to be called for diving more and even fined for that crap, it's like watching soccer at times.
- Nucker101

never going to happen now. Boston and Philly just signed their rats.... they seem to have their fingers up Bettman's 5-hole.

I like the idea of a Cap Floor, if it made sense in relation to the collective, not just the teams making the most out of revenues.

A cap floor hovering around 50-55% of the total cap would be much more reliable for the league. Not just an excuse to inflate player salaries because teams "Have to spend"

If I'm a player, I'm on my way to switzerland or Russia. I've all about given up on the NHL. A sport that struggles to keep fans is putting them through this again.

years ago the NHL was in obvious trouble, and the fans backed the owners.
- Eklund

no they didn't.

I ain't reading all that text Ek but are you kidding me its our fault? we don't want a 30+ team in the NHL, and they want to add more!, the game is so boring now and they want to charge me 100+ tickets

my local OHL team has better hockey and charges $25 and the Beer is not $10 a cup, how about listening to the Ontario market who wants another NHL team instead of asking another US city that could care less?

the fault is not the fans, its greed, and my wallet is away and if it means the NHL burns and dies, well too (frank)ing bad

(frank) YOU NHL

what are we suppose to do now?
- XxHarounXx

X-BOX, PS3, UFC, walk the dogs more, play with yourself more, No idea really.


(frank) YOU NHL

Eklund: The Old CBA not Working Anymore is 100% the Fans Fault. Now What?
- Eklund

Great Read EK

X-BOX, PS3, UFC, walk the dogs more, play with yourself more, No idea really.


(frank) YOU NHL
- MindFr3eak

Relocate 5 teams from the States - move them to Hamilton, Toronto, Quebec City, Sask and put one in the Maritimes
- MTL1

Markham, Quebec City and Sask for sure. A Hamilton team would destroy the Sabres and as much as I'd love to have a team in Halifax, the 500,000 population of the city (1 mill total of the province) likely couldnt consistently maintain a team.

M. Spector:

Here is the reality:

- According to quanthockey.com, over half of all NHL players play less than 100 games in their career. Four per cent -- that's 1-in-25 -- reach 1,000 games. In data collected through the 2008-09 season, more than 6000 players were used to arrive at the following career statistics:

- The average NHL career lasts for 5.62 seasons. But the median career -- the 50 per cent point of all NHL careers -- is actually just four seasons. So, half of Fehr's NHLPA members can count on a career of four seasons or less, making it awfully tough to watch one fade away into a lockout.

- The average NHL career spans 238 games. However the median career lasts just 86 games. That's barely more than one 82-game regular season for half of all NHL players.

Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos asked in his blog Friday: "Can Fehr do what Goodenow did not? Can he get the players to stick to the game plan without surrendering with their tails tucked between their legs?"

The answer: Fehr will, for a while. Then this lockout will go like all the others, with the owners outlasting the players.

League ID#: 5443
League Name: straight shooterz
Password: ekisajoke
Custom League URL: http://hockey.fantasyspor...m/league/straightshooterz
Draft Type: Live Standard Draft
Draft Time: Mon Sep 24 11:15pm EDT

don't mean to spam or anything. i open this up first to the Devils blog, and since there's spots open I figured why not open it to the rest of the HB community lol. 20 team league- full rosters, FW, HIT, BLK included in stats so those that know their depth and show up at the draft will have a good chance.

Roster Positions: C, C, C, C, LW, LW, LW, LW, RW, RW, RW, RW, D, D, D, D, D, D, Util, G, G, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN, IR, IR, IR

Goals (G), Assists (A), Plus/Minus (+/-), Penalty Minutes (PIM), Powerplay Points (PPP), Shorthanded Points (SHP), Shots on Goal (SOG), Faceoffs Won (FW), Hits (HIT), Blocks (BLK)
Wins (W), Goals Against Average (GAA), Saves (SV), Save Percentage (SV%), Shutouts (SHO)

I may take out the SHP stat as its kinda hard to draft for that and a bit of a crap shoot anyway, a rough way to lose on a tie breaker.. we'll see.

I think we'll eventually have hockey this year.. just a matter of when. Idk what yahoo plans to do with fantasy tho.

There are 4 spots left open.

I have questions. Which players are going to be flanked on Fehr's shoulders when he gives updates on negotiations... if there is any? All the star players will play in Europe or the KHL while the 3/4 line guys begin to lose money every two weeks. That is a strong union for sure!! Also are Crosby, Ovechkin, Malkin, going to help their fellow "brothers" in the union out with their paychecks they will receive from non NHL clubs? I would think not... The union is only united against a lopsided CBA agreement. It won't be long before the union cracks. When only 100 players are able to make a living this winter while 600 sit by the sidelines, frustration will creep in very quickly. If i was one of the 600 I would be somewhat pissed if Crosby tweets from Europe about how solid the union knowing he is collecting millions, while i get nothing. Shame on you players... Shame on you!!

Here's the thing. When this is all over the players will end up signing the same deal the NHL is offering them now. The league has all the leverage.

Relocate 5 teams from the States - move them to Hamilton, Toronto, Quebec City, Sask and put one in the Maritimes
- MTL1

Not possible. Not enough corporate money, people, or desire to spend $90 per seat on professional hockey.

Here's the thing. When this is all over the players will end up signing the same deal the NHL is offering them now. The league has all the leverage.
- flamminghead

Who can wait longer in this negotiation? Billionaires who are in it for the long term or millionaires who have an average of 4-5 years career.

M. Spector:

Here is the reality:

- According to quanthockey.com, over half of all NHL players play less than 100 games in their career. Four per cent -- that's 1-in-25 -- reach 1,000 games. In data collected through the 2008-09 season, more than 6000 players were used to arrive at the following career statistics:

- The average NHL career lasts for 5.62 seasons. But the median career -- the 50 per cent point of all NHL careers -- is actually just four seasons. So, half of Fehr's NHLPA members can count on a career of four seasons or less, making it awfully tough to watch one fade away into a lockout.

- The average NHL career spans 238 games. However the median career lasts just 86 games. That's barely more than one 82-game regular season for half of all NHL players.

Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos asked in his blog Friday: "Can Fehr do what Goodenow did not? Can he get the players to stick to the game plan without surrendering with their tails tucked between their legs?"

The answer: Fehr will, for a while. Then this lockout will go like all the others, with the owners outlasting the players.
- MindFr3eak

What's the average life-span of a NHL owner?

never going to happen now. Boston and Philly just signed their rats.... they seem to have their fingers up Bettman's 5-hole.
- Beatle_john

If anything I applaud your ability to maintain a grudge. Are you a 16 year old girl by the way?

Solution:

Go back to the 2billion/year case, and keep the 43%-57% as a base scenario.
Any excess money (as right now is the case) will go to a third party; i.e. good causes as supported by NHL and NHLPA.

Salaries are high enough as is; NHLPA should worry about salaries (and life after hockey) of 4th line players, not of the top100 paid players..

Eklund: The Old CBA not Working Anymore is 100% the Fans Fault. Now What?
- Eklund

This truly bears repeating:
FU Gary Bettman
FU Donald Fehr
FU NHL owners
FU NHLPA

YOU ALL SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!

That's socialism at its finest right there. It's a business, they can charge whatever people are willing to pay. Paragraphs are your friend.
- LeftCoaster

If you want to go to the other extent, drop the cap, drop revenue sharing and we'll go to a completely free market economy. Do that, and in about 5 years, we'll have a 10 team league. Now I'd love to see that, but I'm sure the 2/3's of the leagues players, wouldn't be that happy. But this isn't about the 2/3's of the lower end players. It's about protecting the top 1/3 of players. That's where the crux of all of this is. They are wielding the power over the majority, with their super agents and large contracts. They're the real culprit here.

If you want to go to the other extent, drop the cap, drop revenue sharing and we'll go to a completely free market economy. Do that, and in about 5 years, we'll have a 10 team league. Now I'd love to see that, but I'm sure the 2/3's of the leagues players, wouldn't be that happy. But this isn't about the 2/3's of the lower end players. It's about protecting the top 1/3 of players. That's where the crux of all of this is. They are wielding the power over the majority, with their super agents and large contracts. They're the real culprit here.
- PrinceLH

Owners could say NO to the $100mil contracts...Couldn't they???

Then why is he neck and neck with Romney? His handling of the Islamic uprising is striking! He looks utterly clueless and useless. His first test of strength and it's one big failure. Instead the press jumps on Romney for saying what needed to be said. The press is going to decide this election, if your not careful.
- PrinceLH

The sad truth is that Americans will vote for the guy they LIKE, rather than the guy who may actually do a better job. Pathetic!