NHL needs to get real
The Blackhawks are angry, and rightly so, over the NHL’s investigation into Marian Hossa’s 12-year, $62.8 million contract.
Why did the league approve the contract in the first place back on July 1 if it thought there was any sort of red flag?
Nobody likes Monday morning quarterbacking, which is what the NHL is doing by reacting now.
Deputy commissioner Bill Daly said the league is concerned because Hossa's is the first of these trendy long-term contract NHL teams are giving out that takes the player past the age of 40.
Hossa would be 42 at the end of his deal in 2021, when his salary is just $750,000 compared to $7.9 million for the first seven years.
The league wants to know if the Hawks mentioned retirement at any point in negotiations with Hossa. Are they asking the Detroit Red Wings the same questions about the deals Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen signed? Zetterberg would be 40 when his big deal expires in 2021. Franzen also would be 40 when his contract runs out in 2020.
This is a whole lot of nothing. So what if these players retire before their contracts run out? If this is a loophole in the collective bargaining agreement, maybe the Hawks just are smarter than everyone else.
A team signs a 30 year old hockey player (with a torn rotator cuff) to a 12 year contract and everyone is surprised that somebody thinks they see a "red flag". Whoever spotted this one should receive an honorary degree in the" bleeding obvious."
The deal doesn't only help the Hawks, it makes Hossa's contract more flexible to be traded down the line, should that situation arise. Or perhaps some team would enjoy paying a 40-year-old Hossa nearly $8million.
I don't think so. Holland would be heralded as a genious and the league would have their America's team intact.
I feel the collective NHL still does not think the Hawks are legit and they like being able to kick us around and hold in our spot. Consistency in making the 8th spot or better year in and year out will cure that thought however.
The Hossa deal in Dallas, San Jose, Anahiem would be welcomed as well?
And he's probably even one of the GMs whining to the league about the Hawks.
Here's how the NHL works fellas: From the ice to the league office, if you whine loud enough about the application of the rules, they'll give you a "make-good." It's always been that way.
Dollar Bill himself ("Stanley Cups? They're too expensive!") was the classic example of ownership that would rather carp from the sidelines at the few teams that went big for a Cup (like the Wings) than do it themselves. Today, you have many GMs who either lack the fanbase or the guts to do it, so they go after the Hawks.
Holland will have to walk on water to keep the Wings an elite team going forward, even this year after losing Hossa, Hudler and Samuelsson.
All you Chicken Littles, the Hossa deal is still a good one for the Hawks.
If they really wanted to improve things in the current NHL they should allow the Coyotes to move back to Canada (or at least allow Reinsdorf to bring the Coyotes to Chicago) and shrink the number of teams in the NHL to 26 or 24 again (or even 6 would be fine).
And ref playoff games the exact same way the NHL ref's call the regular season games!
And c'mon Blackhawks, get rid of Huet someway, somehow. My heart can't take another season of watching him in goal!
Although I'm as excited as anyone about the `hawks doing very well the last few years, I'm not so impressed that you'd catch me saying "maybe the Hawks just are smarter than everyone else" just yet.
I think some GMs have complained about the contract, so the league probably agreed to "investigate" the contract. You have to remember that a healthy club in Chicago is really good for the league and during the really bad years for the Hawks the NHL and it's commissioner explained that they wanted to bring good hockey back to Chicago. The league isn't going to try to railroad the Hawks. Again, this is my opinion but I think the league is doing the investigation so they can find nothing, like they expect to, and tell the other GMs in the league that they did their job and the contract is legit. Then it blows over and everyone gets on with their life.
It's a lip-service concession to the whiners. And to the poster below's point, they're trying to discourage it.
I'm wondering if its some kind of scare tactic to slow down what may be a growing trend.
If it is, its not going to work.
Not sure why the league is bugging the Hawks and Flyers (for Pronger's deal) after the fact. Any team in the league can do the same thing as the Red Wings have already done a couple of times.
I suspect that a couple of whiners like Nashville or Atlanta started griping because the way the system is working out the great players will never think twice about coming to those great hockey meccas and will continue to sign and resign with the usual suspects and Cup contenders. I think the small market/poorly run/cash strapped franchises were hoping that with teams like the Penquins, Flyers, Hawks and Red Wings right at the cap line that they would start getting some of these teams great players at a bargain price.
I'm looking forward to the first Big 3 signing to see how that deal gets structured. I don't believe there's a rule in the CBA against structuring a deal in reverse of the way Hossa's was....in other words pay less today and big bucks the last couple of years when a Toews hits his prime. That might be how the Hawks keep the Big 3 without going over the Cap...plus a trade or two to free up a little salary.
The biggest issue here is that this is a perfect example of why the NHL commissioner & his staff are light years behind other sports. They have one of the best stories of the decade with the resurgence of the original six Hawks which is great for the league. Don't kill the goose that laid the golden egg you fools!
I think it is other owners that see the CASH the Blackhawks made last year. The United Center is bigger then every other arena, and with sell-outs all year long, the money they made compaired to other teams must be staggering...Which leads to resentment!!!
I'm sure there is nothing in any of these contracts that compels these players to retire. Hossa could play (Or be bought of) every season of his contract.. even until 42. This is nothing more of the NHL crying that teams have found a way to "game the game" (The CBA that is). Tuff poo whiners. You should thought about how the CAP issues could bring this about BEFORE everyone agreed to it.
"Asked by the Sun-Times about the league's approval of the contract, Daly said it ''was approved because there was no basis to reject it on the face of the contract. ... The decision to investigate was made simultaneously with the registration of the contract (and I so informed Dale Tallon personally), so it is not an after-the-fact decision.''
Ok so why did the league approve the contract when they should have investigated it when it was first presented? I think the Hawks are paying a price for being the media darlings of the NHL last year. The article goes on to say that many of the GMs around the league are behind this. Could this be a little payback from Tallon supporters? Some posters have mentioned that the Wings signed Zetterberg to a similar contract so why aren't they being investigating.