Viewpoint

hockey and the salary its gone really messed up we have a problem to solve

Eight years for Briere is ridiculous. Also, when was it decided that if you could play on the first or second line of an NHL team for more than one year that you've earned a 6 million plus dollar contract? I still remember when GM's and fans alike were stunned when Yashin was signed to a 7M a year contract. Speaking of the Isles, what the heck happened? Everytime that franchise starts moving in a positive direction they end up dropping all of their best players in trades or losing them to free agency. Mabye that's why Snow signed DiPietro to a 15-year deal. He knows that no team is gonna take on that contract in a trade and it certainly eliminates any possibility of losing him in free agency. Oh, and why is it that my beloved Red Wings are willing to spend top dollar for talent yet always fail to land a goaltender, through trades and free agency, that can be the marquee of his position?

There is much talk in Leaf land about the General Manager, his bosses, the team; especially the newly aquired players brought on board. I've been a leaf fan from since Harold Ballard utilised racism to practise his Hitler regime. And you know what, every time the Leaf played, the Maple leaf Garden's was sold out. I wonder why; what does that say about us, leaf fans? Times has change; Harold Ballard has now joined the Russian underworld for all eternity. Still, our Leafs has yet to win the Stanley cup; yet for every game, the arena is sold out! Hope reigns supreme in Leafs land. We shall overcome, someday!
Dman

Do you think that anyone will take a chance on Eric Lindros now that all the big name U.F.A,s are gone? I was woundering if the leafs would have any interest as a third line player? To bad they did not get Shanny he would have fit in great.

As a huge oilers fan I cannot for the life of me figure out why they cannot atract elite players. They play the style of hockey that wide open players with the new rules should like, and have just as loyal fans as any other team in hockey. It either has something to do with the management of the team, or in a market such as Edmonton, where the fans really pay attention to the players, and let them know when they are not playing to there ability ex(Lupul). But it seems that we are going to have a long season again, because players will go to other markets for less money even! I will still cheer for the oilers, but it may be a long haul if Kevin and the Management cannot make a pickup late in the off season.

Each year in the NHL off season there is new interest, the entry draft and now the UFA signings. The Cap has been raised in 2007. Some teams have lots of money to work under their cap and some teams are too close to the cap to do much, based on decisions made previously regarding contracts with their players.
It will be the same next year. It does not matter how much money they have, they must operate under the CAP like everyone else. Requires very good management.

i think the leafs have to get rid a of 1 goaltender because we have too many.we should get rid of raycroft.toskala as head goalie and clemenson backing him up.what do u think?

It's Funny how everyone has pretty much posted their own blog on Scott Morrison's Blog. Anyways, he's right that the leafs are getting better

I think Toronto signing goaltender Vesa Toskala is a great move because he alone mite be enough to put them in the playoff picture. And Jason Blake is a great addition. Now they need someone to replace Mats Sudin when in the future.

The Toronto Maple Leafs traded for a new Goalie to which they extended his contract; they signed a left winger to add virtue to Sundin's demise; they also brought in Bell, not a proven commodity. Has John Ferguson done enough to compete with the Senators, the Rangers and the refueled Philidelphia bullies? JFJ has proven to lack the essentials of a great GM and his Bosses have proven not capable of running a hockey team. I think new ownership should be the direction of the TML; what do you think?
Dman

The Sens did not make any stupid moves yet. Because of Gerber's salary they have their hands tied. On the other hand, they did not go and make some stupid deal that would jeopardise their team.
They have lost Comrie but although he did play well during the finals, he was not the reason why we went so far this year. We still have our best players and we can still get as far and win.
Come playoff time we will be able to go and rent a player that we complete our team and help us win the cup.
I have confidence in the guys we have right now. Let's watch everybody go crazy and spend all their money. Look at the salaries that some of these guys are getting. Look at their stats from last year and you will see that it is total madness. Some of them just did not do anything to help their team get to the Cup.
I love my Sens the way they are. I am not worried one bit. Let's just sign Emery and the other guys to keep them in Ottawa. Go Sens Go!

This is totally ridiculous. What was the lockout all about if a couple of years later we are still back to what it was before?

I think that it is time for the hockey fans to make a stand and stay home until this situation changes for real. Both the league and the players have to stop this nonsense.
We give our hard earned money to cheer our team and their players. We are the ones who pay their salaries with our hard earned money so it is time that we do something to make them realise that this craziness cannot go on.

Who cares hockey is the worst sport of all time.

It is good that the league is making so much money that they can raise the cap so quickly. Maybe now they can go to a new schedule where the Eastern teams have to travel more outside of their time zone and Western teams will have an easier time attracting free agents and signing people to extended contracts because the player wants to be there. It is frustrating to hear all of these players that say how easy the schedule in the East is. This is killing hockey in some of the western cities.

Also, the other thing that is killing hockey is the fact that fans don,t get to see all the teams in a season. Switch back to the old or at least a revised schedule where Eastern teams have to travel more and go to every city and the league will be better for it.

P.S. Can you imagine how the Eastern teams would complain and change the schedule if Crosby and Ovechkin had landed in the west and didn't play at N.Y. or Philly or Toronto for a couple of years.

I find one aspect of the salary cap to be very non-transparent and not equal.

I've heard the Flyers are paying Briere $10 Million in the first year of the 8 year contract, yet only the average salary over those 8 years will be counted against the cap [approx $6.5 Million]. How are small market teams supposed to compete with teams that can entice free agents with a heavily loaded front end contract like that?

Yea, the NHL is all about levelling the paying field. What a farce.

The rich get the richer the poor stay poor!! I am sure glad that year long lockout solved all the NHL problems of the past!!! LMAO
Well the Devils won in the pre lock out era and have not won since so, I being a Devils fan am glad that its regressing back to its old form!!! greener pasteur players means soft players!!! The Devils will get back to the gritty playing with guys who want to play for the love of the sport. and not to line their pockets... Well NHL welcome back lol..

I say another lockout to fix the system!

To The Bambino From NewFoundland:

Totally agree with you. Perhaps they should change the divisions so that Edmonton joins Chicago, St Louis and Columbus?

As a Sens fan, I turned to the Oilers in the 2006 playoffs. I remember watching game 6 of the stanley cup finals in a casino! Emery and Spezza were playing Roulette. Pisani scored the OT winner, everybody cheered (except for Spezza and Emery, which was a pretty funny story to tell). The oilers were awesome and then to see them play terribly last year was saddening. To make matters worse, they had a small chance, but traded Smyth away. I was absoultely shocked and could not believe it. Even if they couldn't agree to a long term deal, I would have waited until the end of the season. They hurt a lot of fans! Didn't they do this back in the late 80's? Ohhh yea Gretzky...

It's not how much money that the teams can spend on players that is making them take bigger offers on other teams. It's that the players forgot that the reason they started playing hockey was for fun and not the money. Therefore it's not the salary cap or big wallets of the team that should be blamed it's the players like Briere and Gomez who are asking for too much money to play a game thay should love are too blame for the lower market teams not being able to spend enough to keep them.

First off, I'm a Leaf fan, so I will acknowledge that maybe I'm not understanding what everyone's beef with the cap and spending to it is. I'll also admit that I'm not the most adept at breaking down and understanding the CBA.

However, as we know before the lockout, any team (conceivably) could spend as much as they wanted and some did. There was also no limit to how little a team could spend. This has changed with the new CBA and now there is no choice but to have smaller gaps between spending. We also have revenue sharing between the large and small market teams which is something that has worked very well in MLB. With this in place, you have teams like the Leafs and Rangers filtering some of their profits to teams like the Jackets and Preds, who, the last time I checked were owned by either Millionaires or Billionaires. I guess my point is that I don't see the lack of free agents going to these places as a financial issue. Players choose the bigger markets becasue they would rather play there. Briere, Smyth, Drury and Gomez are all perfect examples of this. All of these players received offers from "small market" teams that were either equal to or greater than the deals they signed.

Another issue this year is that many teams have too many roster spots to fill with the money that they are allowed to spend. This is because of poor management, not finances. No wonder teams like Ottawa and the Canucks can't go out and land top tier free agents. They couldn't fill the other 6,7,8..spots they have to fill.

Don't get me wrong, I'd be peved if the Leafs were in the position were they couldn't sign anybody. But they were also in a position where they had very few roster spots to fill and had an extra 6-7 million to do it. I bet if you took a survey from the teams that haven't got anybody signed yet, that they would say that they do have 7 million that they could (and it many cases tried) to spend. Players simply chose to go elsewhere.

I think Travis from Vegreville saw 'V for Vendetta' one too many times... you are a veritible vessel of voracious volatility! Do you actually fancy yourself to be a clandestine crusader for the disenfranchised masses who have no voice of their own? Steven Moore doesn't even talk about this in the media anymore. Give me your mailing address so I can send you a TV Guide, you need to get with the program!

I had the opportunity to watch the opening games in Vancouver at Swangard. I enjoyed the enthusiasn but was dissappointed with all the diving and delays with stretchers, coolers with beverages for all players rather then the acting injured player on the field. Then to top it off most players reached the sidelines on the stretcher and were instantly cured and ran in full flight to the linesman requesting to go back on. Players should be red carded much more frequently to put an end to this lack of professionalism. In vancouver at both clothing booths there was not one Canadian soccer jersey for sale. Are we not proud enough to have them on sale for others to take home to their country for gifts? Last but, not least. Our CBC coverage of live games daily is terrible. I still after 4 days into the tournament can not find a proper schdule for aired games (PST, MST, EST). Can't figure out where to find Country Canada,GOLTV. Should I be watching games on the computer screen or TV? Should I have purchased some kind of special package from my cable provider prior to this event so I could watch more live games? A schedule should of been ready available prior to this major event so when I was not at the games watching live I could be at home, work or camping watching the coverage. I remember watch the past World cup and we have along ways to go to compete. The best event every held in Canada and this is the coverage we get? CBC and Soccer Canada should be embarrassed with TV Coverage you have failed to provide so far in this tournament. I really look forward to returning to Swangard tomorrow to watch live action again. Its really hard to keep motivated when all a person sees is the scores after the games . I sometimes wonder why I took 4 weeks off work to follow these games and to stand up proudly as a Canadian to host this major event. Shame on the organizers of this tournament.We as Canadians have fallen short again.

Dean Lang

I've been following my Canadiens since the 40's, lying in front of the old radio. In those days, the league hosted 6 teams; what are we doing with the present 30 teams. We've got teams in the deep south, where precious few can or care to follow the game. Yet, some players rake in $10 millions a year!Watching the current champs, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim at home,it was obvious that the cameras were avoidng panning empty seats.

well its a good thing that the leafs got jason blake...but they should still get some more scoring offence and get rid of players that aren't helping the team improve. toronto also has to stop getting less thes stellar goaltenders no affence to raycroft or aubin but either one had the top job it might be differnt with the goalie toronto sighend from the sharks.But to be fair to raycroft and aubion they did get the job done sort of there both younger goalies...but still good.

To anybody who thinks Daniel Briere will be nothing without his crew from Buffalo. Think again, guys like Gagne, Knuble, Richards,Carter, Upshall are going to be great with him. I am not going to lie and say that this is a better crew then he had in Buffalo. But they will do well together. Briere will have a good year, most likely on a line with Gagne and Knuble. The Flyers may suprise people this year, not going off the edge and saying there are a Cup team, but they may get some people by surprise.

Dear Bryan,
This blog is for HOC-KEY (a game on ice with sticks). SOC-CER is a game on a field with a ball.
PS, it isn't very difficult at all to convert Eastern times into your own time zone. Give it a shot!

With all due respect to those who are hyping the 'big market team activity' during the free agency season, I must point out that these same teams are also the teams that have lost a lot to free agency. Buffalo is the only 'small market team' to have taken a personnel hit, and not have made up for it with free agency.

Been an Oiler fan for years. I don't think I can do it much longer. First Smyth, now Smith. Mac T and Lowe should now get the Weston.

Today they add Garon, I'm wondering if they are going to put him and Rollie in the net at the same time. They are going to be peppered with shots. Hemsky and Schremp rarely come back over the red line, they will have to introduce themselves to both goalies at the Xmas team party.

Good luck Oilers, 2007-08's version of last years Flyers.

I am so appalled that the only way that i can watch the FIFA U-20 World Cup games is on the internet, or on CBC Country Canada. Only CBC sports would buy the rights to this event and then completely screw it up, so the fans can only watch it on the internet, provided that their highspeed is high enough, or on some obscure CBC affiliate, no one has ever heard of, that you have to pay extra for. This is ridiculous. I'm so extremely annoyed right now that I'm missing the Poland- USA game. This is complete idiocy, and I can't stand that my tax money is paying for it.

Why can you not list the u-20 FIFA games, to include the viewing times, for those of us in THE WEST - Pacific time? Or the Maritimes? some national concept....

Shouldn't the salary cap be based on the revenue of the "poorest" team? I guess it's based on total league revenue, but that will always leave some teams in the shallow end of the free agent pool.

Though as a leafs fan I should probably be demanding the removal of the cap so the leafs can buy a decent team again.

Dear Mr. Bettman, you are allowing the life to be sucked out of a beautiful sport. I realize that I am not a rocket scientist, but could you explain how decreased viewership (in both the US and Canada, during the playoffs, no less) and overall interest leads to a stronger NHL? How many people in Anaheim actually know that they are Stanley Cup champions (excluding the team members and their wives)? And now with the strong teams getting stronger and the weak teams getting weaker, please enlighten me as to how this makes for a better game for me, a hockey fan. Might I suggest that each team should play four outdoor home games a year (translation: if you can't make a rink outdoors you shouldn't have a hockey team). I know this may seem like a radical idea but how about lowering owner profits, lowering player salaries, AND LOWERING TICKET PRICES. Thank you. P.S. next time you take a year off to further fix the game, how about fixing the refereeing too!

Cory from Ottawa:

Sorry, no can do. No one is talking about this anymore. Someone must. The fact is that we sit around talking about UFA's, deadline deals, playoffs, etc. while we allow for a convicted criminal to play the game we so dearly love. Someone must bring it up - and you can count on me to at all turns.

BTW - it is not I that is whining - it is you. It is people like you that prevent the wrong from being righted. It would be if only we demanded so.

rangers trying to be just like the yankees , good luck to drury but they will still fail with no team chemisty and will fail just like the yankees

GO SABRES !!!!!!! REMEMBER we still got tallinder lydman vanek connoly roy afienigenov and the list goes on well be right back in it next year you will all seee oh yeah and the best goalie in the leauge RYAN MILLER

Dan in Detroit hit it on the head. Smaller market teams are going to be in the same postion they were in pre-lockout. Team management has caught up to the new system and is working their management magic to the detriment of most small market teams. I wish Gary B. and others would just realize that the NHL is not, nor will ever be, a sport that competes with the NBA, MLB, or NFL (let alone the auto racing industries)in hte States. So why are we killing off the small market teams in the process of trying this pipe dream alive? Edmonton is slowly reverting to its pre-lockout "ghetto team" status where they provide players to the rest of the league. Harsh words but pretty much accurate I think. Personally, I'd rather see the team fail and leave in this failed experiment so we can move on to something else that is more hopefull in terms of parity and also develop a game that is really Canadian - Can you say "CFL"?

In the meantime, I'll watch the University of Alberta Golden Bears, support local amateur hockey, and of course keep playing the best game in the world myself.

Dan in Detroit hit it on the head. Smaller market teams are going to be in the same postion they were in pre-lockout. Team management has caught up to the new system and is working their management magic to the detriment of most small market teams. I wish Gary B. and others would just realize that the NHL is not, nor will ever be, a sport that competes with the NBA, MLB, or NFL (let alone the auto racing industries)in hte States. So why are we killing off the small market teams in the process of trying this pipe dream alive? Edmonton is slowly reverting to its pre-lockout "ghetto team" status where they provide players to the rest of the league. Harsh words but pretty much accurate I think. Personally, I'd rather see the team fail and leave in this failed experiment so we can move on to something else that is more hopefull in terms of parity and also develop a game that is really Canadian - Can you say "CFL"?

In the meantime, I'll watch the University of Alberta Golden Bears, support local amateur hockey, and of course keep playing the best game in the world myself.

90% of the teams that spend exorbitant amounts on questionable talent regret it in the long run. Very rarely do one or two high priced veterans turn a team around unless its the goalie. Remember there are 20 guys on a team. Look at last season and the trading deadline. The teams that made the biggest deals generally performed poorly. Changing the chemistry of a team has many unintended effects. Sometimes the best move is to do nothing. Of course as a Canucks fan, I feel kinda like the guy watching a party, but we also wont have to deal with the hangover. To J.the Ex-Canucks Fan: You jump off the bandwagon after the Jul 1 free agency signings when the team set franchise recods for points and wins last season? You're exactly the type of fan we dont need. Thanks for comin out........

To Travis from Vegreville:

Could you please, please, please come up with something new to say for a change? No one on this blog cares about your anti-Todd Bertuzzi agenda... I'm not disagreeing that what he did was reprehensible, but when are you going to stop beating a dead horse? Why don't you take an add out in the classified section of your local newspaper and invite people to your Bertuzzi Bashers support group (you could rent out a church basement), or anything else that will keep your incessant whining away from discussion here, I beseech you!

What is up with all of these top-heavy contracts going around?! 10 million for the first year (Briere and Gomez) and then reduced salary each subsequent year over the life of the contract?! That contradicts the very laws of economics and inflation! This is only going to lead to some severe financial issues in future years when the salary cap increases and salaries escalate further, leading some players to hold out and demand to renegotiate their contracts because they are getting paid half as much as comparable peers (even though they got the bulk of their money in the early years). Fiscal prudence indeed, the new era is about to become the same old problem!

The really big story that no one is talking about is Bertuzzi to the Ducks. This player should be banned from playing forever - not awarded 4 million per year contracts. When will the NHL step up to the plate and right this wrong?

Habs and Taxes:

Not much has been said as to why the Habs failed so miserably in the Free Agent frenzy (Sorry Hamerlik)but the fact remains players commanding the salaries in "todays" market WILL NOT play in Quebec due to the exhorbitant taxes they would have to pay for that privilage. Sorry Hab fans but this is reality. Don't fret though, even with these limitations your team will be better (AGAIN) than the laughing stock Leafs......(HA HA)

Interesting weekend. What happens when the league "loses" money? Will the cap recede? and if it does recede back to say 46 mil will the big spenders have to try and trade their newly acquired gems or move cheaper talent to hold on to them?

The catch 22: Big market teams who don't really need 4 or 5 marquee players to fill their stands suck them away from the small market teams who then have trouble drawing fans because they can only afford one or two.

How much will Crosby get when he hits RFA or UFA? I can't see Pittsburgh matching a 10 mil offer sheet, and if anybody deserves 10 mil a season it will be him.

Also is Drury or Gomez worth 7+ mil? Thornton signed for roughly the same - I wonder who's the better deal?

50.3 mil ceiling. That's the official cap but there are teams with a self imposed cap thats 15-20% less (they have to to stay at or near the black), Ottawa says theirs is 42 or 43 mil(their current payroll)hence no major splash from there.

I'm not so sure the Rangers improved as much as Scott suggests. People forget they also lost Nylander who, last season anyway, was statiscally the best of the three. It's almost like they added only one quality forward to the mix. So, in short: improved? yes; drasticall? not quite.

Just my two cents.

Yay to Dave Nonis for doing sweet f.a. to forward the Canucks team. Thanks for leaving us with no hope again this year.

Our big free agent signing was Lucas Krajicek... way to improve the roster.

Free agency, the "new" NHL, Gary Bettman, three phrases that stand for try our best to keep the game in the USA. 50M plus, this is a salary cap, 8 year deals, 10M a year. Buying players doesn't make a winner but it keeps the segregation in the game. I say trim the league to 15 teams, of course all in the USA, make all Canadian teams farm clubs for AAHL, "All American Hockey League" and then hope someone down below actually gives a hoot about hockey. Oh and don't forget to have the puck highlighted in blue so the people that watch Roger Clements throw a ball at 100MHP can follow a black puck on white ice. All fans in Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver must thank Gary Bettman for the new improved keague. Sorry Toronto fans, your team will find ways to loose no matter how much you spend.

I am annoyed. Let's take a look at who made most of the big signings this weekend...NY Rangers, Colorado, Detroit, Philly, and Toronto (and...grrr...Anaheim). Gee, aren't these big market teams (meaning teams that can spend endless amounts of money on players)? Meanwhile, mid-size market teams like Buffalo lost some great players and got a little worse. Also, what's with the amount of money being paid out? I'm dreading what will happen to the Sens when Heatley and Spezza ask for $10 mil in 2008. Redden's $6.5 is going to look like peanuts at the rate this is going. Sure, these teams might now be stuck at the cap maximum (that's if the cap doesn't rise again next year. I'm sure it will if these teams have anything to say about it). Even then, some teams just can't afford to spend 50+ million to begin with. STOP RAISING THE CAP!

Absolute disgrace. As a long time Islanders fan I can honestly say I feel demoralized. I hope Nolan can develop the kids that are left on my team and achieve great things. Thats the only thing I and so many others can hope for.

My question to Gary Bettmen and to the other NHL execs: I thought this new salary cap was supposed to help level out the playing field? Explain this maddness to the folks in Buffalo? Explain this to me, why would a fans in small market cities want to pay so much money to see their teams anymore? Why don't you guys shut down the league and go to a 10 team format? I am getting close to giving up on hockey.

The NHL cannot fall back to it's old ways. The "Salary Cap" resolution was supposed to allow the smaller market teams to be competitive. Raising the "cap" slowly eliminates those teams from remaining competitive. How many times had we witnessed the Oilers develop good players only to lose them to bigger contracts from deep pocket owners? How many times had we witnessed the Rangers collect "hired guns" at the trade deadline because of their seemingly unlimited budget? The "lock-out" resolution was supposed to eliminate these issues. What will happen to all those young talented Penguins when they are eligable for UFA? How many can Mario keep and stay under the "salary cap?" Well, obviously, if the cap continues to rise, I suspect he can keep them all. What's the answer? Part two of this commentary is: Where are the Devils, Capitals, Coyotes, and Hurricane in the FA signing frenzie? And again...the gap widens between the "have's" and the "have not's"

Looking over Buffalo's depth chart today and I have to agree that they are not going to be as bad as most people think. Vanek, Roy and Afiniganov will put up good numbers, They have not lost anything in the way of defence, Nathan Paetsch will get an oppertunity to show his true worth. As for in goal, Milllllllllller is all that is need to be said.
Go Sabers.........

The Rangers just saw 3 rivals get killed in FA and Pitt has no real great Goaltender and ottawa is not worth my time. The Rangers are the Elite of the East.

It's also funny how quickly you can go from hating (7.7 in Game 5) Chris Drury to being a big fan of his.!

With the kind of money that was spent on free agents yesterday and the crazy lenght of some of these contracts, one has to wonder exactly what medicinal products some of these GMs and Owners are smoking.

On a related note, one has to be happy for Daniel Briere (a kid who many over looked because of his size -- listed as 5'9) who went late in the first round (24th overall in 1996) for being able to get the money that he did. After all, it is a market driven economy...........

I think one of the others big looser are the habs because several team in the east are now better than last season. And with the lost of rivet and probably souray at the defense i cant see them make the playoff next season, the only way they can make it is because the goalies will be awesome.