Dee Karl: The NHL LockOut that Stole Christmas Nothing.

FIST

Good, and to the point article. Well stated.

Its time the NHL/NHLPA go put there big boy pants on and grow up finally.

Hmmm, you say the owners couldn't afford their empolyees wages because they weren't making enough money so they had to reduce their wages??? Hmmm what a concept. I guess that only applies to the poor and in need, not to people who play a game for a living

Good, and to the point article. Well stated.

Its time the NHL/NHLPA go put there big boy pants on and grow up finally.
- sjshrky27

love it, I say this to my girls all the time. Cept, I say big girl pants..It needs to happen or cal it a day.

yeah that!!!

I'm completely over this God forsaken lockout and Bettman, Don Fehr and all the other bungholes perpetuating the lockout. The level of dysfunction in the NHL between its owners and players is disgraceful. No other major professional league in North America comes close to the dysfunction of the NHL. No other major professional sports league in North America has had four work stoppages (three lockouts and a strike) over the past 20 years and lost an entire season to a work stoppage.

The common demoninator is Bettman. He was at the helm for all three lockouts. He needs to either be replaced or he needs to get his s**t together and come up with a plan that allows for long-term health of the entire league, not just 7 or 8 franchises. Every CBA he has negotiated has been followed by a lockout because he and his lawyers didn't do a good enough job addressing the long-term health of the league in the prior negotiations. This has to stop. What is the point of negotiating a new CBA now, only to have it last for five years and go through this s**t again in 5 years?

There's tons of fault to go around. I am far from a players' sympathzer, but more of this is on the league than the players. I'd be pissed too if I was a player and an idiot owner like Craig Leopold in Minnesota hands out identical 13 year, $100-plus Million contracts to players before the lockout, only to ask those players to agree to take a chunk off the contract value months later. Or when stupid owners offer 12 or 15 year contracts, only to ask Bettman to put limits on contract term lenght in the next CBA. The owners continue to offer stupid contracts to players and want Bettman to clean up their messes in the new CBA. Its about time the owners showed some restraint and discipline instead of waiting for a rule to force them to do so.

Its really simple: the revenue should be 50-50 going forward. The league should have to honor contracts signed before the CBA expired, but teams should be allowed to defer any dollars over 50% over a period of time without interest to soften the blow. The players need to acknowledge that despite the cap, there are still advantages that large market teams have over small market ones and have to be more receptive to limitations on contract front loading/backdiving, etc. The owners need to agree to change the cap rule that allows teams to allow unattainable bonuses to count towards the cap (see: New York Islanders). The players and owners both need to get over this absurd idea that one side should reimburse the other for the revenue lost as a result of this lockout. That's never happened in the history of professional sports lockouts and surely won't happen now.

Cool a new blog Haven't had one of these in a long time.

I'm completely over this God forsaken lockout and Bettman, Don Fehr and all the other bungholes perpetuating the lockout. The level of dysfunction in the NHL between its owners and players is disgraceful. No other major professional league in North America comes close to the dysfunction of the NHL. No other major professional sports league in North America has had four work stoppages (three lockouts and a strike) over the past 20 years and lost an entire season to a work stoppage.

The common demoninator is Bettman. He was at the helm for all three lockouts. He needs to either be replaced or he needs to get his s**t together and come up with a plan that allows for long-term health of the entire league, not just 7 or 8 franchises. Every CBA he has negotiated has been followed by a lockout because he and his lawyers didn't do a good enough job addressing the long-term health of the league in the prior negotiations. This has to stop. What is the point of negotiating a new CBA now, only to have it last for five years and go through this s**t again in 5 years?

There's tons of fault to go around. I am far from a players' sympathzer, but more of this is on the league than the players. I'd be pissed too if I was a player and an idiot owner like Craig Leopold in Minnesota hands out identical 13 year, $100-plus Million contracts to players before the lockout, only to ask those players to agree to take a chunk off the contract value months later. Or when stupid owners offer 12 or 15 year contracts, only to ask Bettman to put limits on contract term lenght in the next CBA. The owners continue to offer stupid contracts to players and want Bettman to clean up their messes in the new CBA. Its about time the owners showed some restraint and discipline instead of waiting for a rule to force them to do so.

Its really simple: the revenue should be 50-50 going forward. The league should have to honor contracts signed before the CBA expired, but teams should be allowed to defer any dollars over 50% over a period of time without interest to soften the blow. The players need to acknowledge that despite the cap, there are still advantages that large market teams have over small market ones and have to be more receptive to limitations on contract front loading/backdiving, etc. The owners need to agree to change the cap rule that allows teams to allow unattainable bonuses to count towards the cap (see: New York Islanders). The players and owners both need to get over this absurd idea that one side should reimburse the other for the revenue lost as a result of this lockout. That's never happened in the history of professional sports lockouts and surely won't happen now.
- Jethro09

Well said Jethro, well said..........tip my hat

Cool a new blog Haven't had one of these in a long time.
- Albanian

XxNYIxX

I'm completely over this God forsaken lockout and Bettman, Don Fehr and all the other bungholes perpetuating the lockout. The level of dysfunction in the NHL between its owners and players is disgraceful. No other major professional league in North America comes close to the dysfunction of the NHL. No other major professional sports league in North America has had four work stoppages (three lockouts and a strike) over the past 20 years and lost an entire season to a work stoppage.

The common demoninator is Bettman. He was at the helm for all three lockouts. He needs to either be replaced or he needs to get his s**t together and come up with a plan that allows for long-term health of the entire league, not just 7 or 8 franchises. Every CBA he has negotiated has been followed by a lockout because he and his lawyers didn't do a good enough job addressing the long-term health of the league in the prior negotiations. This has to stop. What is the point of negotiating a new CBA now, only to have it last for five years and go through this s**t again in 5 years?

There's tons of fault to go around. I am far from a players' sympathzer, but more of this is on the league than the players. I'd be pissed too if I was a player and an idiot owner like Craig Leopold in Minnesota hands out identical 13 year, $100-plus Million contracts to players before the lockout, only to ask those players to agree to take a chunk off the contract value months later. Or when stupid owners offer 12 or 15 year contracts, only to ask Bettman to put limits on contract term lenght in the next CBA. The owners continue to offer stupid contracts to players and want Bettman to clean up their messes in the new CBA. Its about time the owners showed some restraint and discipline instead of waiting for a rule to force them to do so.

Its really simple: the revenue should be 50-50 going forward. The league should have to honor contracts signed before the CBA expired, but teams should be allowed to defer any dollars over 50% over a period of time without interest to soften the blow. The players need to acknowledge that despite the cap, there are still advantages that large market teams have over small market ones and have to be more receptive to limitations on contract front loading/backdiving, etc. The owners need to agree to change the cap rule that allows teams to allow unattainable bonuses to count towards the cap (see: New York Islanders). The players and owners both need to get over this absurd idea that one side should reimburse the other for the revenue lost as a result of this lockout. That's never happened in the history of professional sports lockouts and surely won't happen now.
- Jethro09

Not much else to add to this Jethro. This lockout and continued CBA problems are a joke.

- eichiefs9

XxNYIxX

Dee Karl: The NHL LockOut that Stole Christmas
Nothing.
- Dee Karl

If interested, just a BPort preview heading into this weekend's games:

http://my.hockeybuzz.com/...er_id=55451&post_id=14246

Interesting comment from a reader on Spectors blog:

Jason says:
October 28, 2012 at 7:30 am
The WHA failed because it competed against the NHL. If the NHL players all played in the new league, the NHL would die. The new league would win. They could eventually make their way into the main arenas. The players would make less for a while…hell, maybe they could own their own league…I know I’m dreaming here…but would love to see the owners fall here… The players ARE the product. I think owners forget that.

Interesting comment from a reader on Spectors blog:

Jason says:
October 28, 2012 at 7:30 am
The WHA failed because it competed against the NHL. If the NHL players all played in the new league, the NHL would die. The new league would win. They could eventually make their way into the main arenas. The players would make less for a while…hell, maybe they could own their own league…I know I’m dreaming here…but would love to see the owners fall here… The players ARE the product. I think owners forget that.
- kear20

In a way, the teams are the product, and I think the players delude themselves a bit thinking we're only there to see these specific players. I root for the Islanders, and while I like certain players on that team, I'd root just as hard for any collection of players on the same team. Put it this way, if John Tavares got traded to the Flyers, I'd be angry, but I wouldn't drive to Philadelphia to watch him play. I'd be watching whoever we got for him. I'd probably still like him as a player, but he's not the reason I drive a couple of hours to the Coliseum to catch a game. None of the actual players are. I go to see the team.

Interesting comment from a reader on Spectors blog:

Jason says:
October 28, 2012 at 7:30 am
The WHA failed because it competed against the NHL. If the NHL players all played in the new league, the NHL would die. The new league would win. They could eventually make their way into the main arenas. The players would make less for a while…hell, maybe they could own their own league…I know I’m dreaming here…but would love to see the owners fall here… The players ARE the product. I think owners forget that.
- kear20

This is an absurdly stupid idea. There is a zero percent chance that you're going to get all of, if even any, the key players to leave the NHL for some new league. Good luck telling a bunch of young Canadian kids that they'd be better suited forming a new league instead of battling for that trophy they grew up idolizing. Any new league you form will be populated with the guys that nobody gives a crap about or once-good players trying to secure a steady, higher paycheck. Good luck getting people to pay good money to go watch Jason Arnott and the South Dakota Rushmore's take on the Wyoming Herd and their star Vinny Prospal.

This is an absurdly stupid idea. There is a zero percent chance that you're going to get all of, if even any, the key players to leave the NHL for some new league. Good luck telling a bunch of young Canadian kids that they'd be better suited forming a new league instead of battling for that trophy they grew up idolizing. Any new league you form will be populated with the guys that nobody gives a crap about or once-good players trying to secure a steady, higher paycheck. Good luck getting people to pay good money to go watch Jason Arnott and the South Dakota Rushmore's take on the Wyoming Herd and their star Vinny Prospal.
- eichiefs9

but the Herd have a hell of a top 4 on D!!!

XxNYIxX