We were ready to roast the players for turning down a $38-40 million soft cap up to a hard cap of $50 million, as was rumored going into yesterday's NHL-PA meeting. But that is not what the PA turned away from, once again citing philosophical differences. Tom Gulitti of the Record lays out the bullet points succinctly:
- A $42 million hard salary cap per team.
- Percentage of league revenue allotted for salaries limited between 53 and 55. If the percentage reaches 55 percent, the $42 million cap would be lowered.
- A individual salary limit of $6 million.
Regarding that last point, Bobby Holik told John Dellapina of the News, "I just want to know how they can change guaranteed contracts like mine and other people's. Legally, I mean, not whether it's right or wrong." (Dellapina will have a complete article on Holik in the next issue of Blueshirt Bulletin.)
The key point in the entire scenario is of course the second one. A $42 million hard cap might be a fair compromise. But not if it's not a true cap, not if it can be lowered in the event teams supercede the 55% league total. Even the 55% total would be easily palatable if it was 55% of true revenue. But it's not -- it's 55% of the NHL's made-up calculation they call "net revenue", perhaps unaware that net and revenue are oxymoronic (or maybe not even oxy).
There's no out here, not for us fans. As Gary Bettman told Stan Fischler and TSN.ca, "We won't compromise on the cap. If this is going to be an ideological question over the cap, then it is not going to be." In other words, "B'dee, b'dee -- that's all, folks!
Mark Everson of the Post considers a new wrinkle in the unlikely event the season is salvaged at this late date -- whether the players, would don't get paid for the playoffs, would agree to go through a complete playoff season after a brief pro-rated regular season.
His fellow Post writer, Larry Brooks, has some pointed comments for the big market owners who are now clamoring for the NHL to compromise. "Of all the people on either side of the aisle who have the right to be bitter," writes Brooks, "these are the last of them. They freely chose to cede control of their league to small-market yahoos. These guys who own the franchises that have made millions a year were willing to sell out their big-market fans so they could stuff millions more into their own pockets. In their own way, they are every bit the hockey bums that Karmanos in Carolina and Jacobs in Boston have been revealed as." True. But if they change their minds and force the issue, sanity might win out in the end.
Pat Lafontaine was in Westchester yesterday dedicating one of his good works, and Andrew Gross of the Journal News asked him about the NHL. In addition to extensive comments on the lockout, he also said "he believes widening the rink to 92 feet from 85 feet, regulating the size of all equipment, and eliminating clutching and grabbing tactics and the neutral-zone trap should all be considered" to improve the game on the ice once it gets back onto the ice. "I would love to see everything skill oriented — end-to-end hockey,'' LaFontaine said. Well, body checking is pretty cool too. We don't need to see everything skill-oriented, just a better balance between the physical aspects of the game and the skill side.
With so much reading on the local front (unusual for a Saturday, normally the slowest news day of the week), no need to link to outside sources. However, the introduction to Terry Jones's column in the Edmonton Sun is worth a peek for its reference to current and former Rangers: "How will we know when it's over? When Sportsnet sends Nick Kypreos home? When Mark Messier puts his equipment up for auction on eBay? When Theo Fleury and the Horse Lake Thunder are awarded the Stanley Cup?" The rest can be skipped -- or, if you need more to fill in all the extra time left over in the absence of hockey, you can link to a bunch of other articles from there.
Losses all the way around among the major Ranger prospects last night. Hartford lost in Philly, Charlotte lost to South Carolina, and prize prospect Al Montoya lost to Northern Michigan. Better results in juniors, where Brandon Dubinsky scored in a Winter Hawk win and Nigel Dawes got the game winning goal for Kootenay. Other prospect action at NYR.com.
Glenn Gawronski takes a look at NHL players in the AHL and doesn't like what he sees from Jamie Lundmark, who, he writes, "remains a mystery. Injuries have certainly had an effect on him [not sure what he means, as Lundmark has not been injured this season], but he really should be more productive at both ends of the ice." R.J. Umberger, on the other hand, who was discarded for a second round pick that was wasted in moving up in the first round to get Lauri Korpikoski when better players were available, "has shaken off the rust and shown his first round talent. He isn’t very aggressive and doesn’t always initiate contact. But he’s a talent with above average puck skills."
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