NHL Free Agency discussion (1 Viewer)

[Edan W]

Boy, it is a sad day in Leafsville for sure. First thing I have to say is that I don't blame Cujo for going to the Wings...every Canadian kid dreams of the Cup and he sees a good opportunity to win one in Detroit, something that probably won't happen by the time he's retired if he stays in Toronto.

At this rate though, hockey is going to be run into the ground just like baseball. I don't know why it's so hard for the NHL, and MLB for that matter, to understand that the key to parity and competitiveness is shared revenues and salary caps (ala NFL).

 

[PatrickM]

Sorry for taking over the thread with my whining.

I'd be seriously pissed off if I were you too.

Over here the Canucks have finally gotten back to respectability but we also have an out of town owner (John McCaw of Seattle) who has taken on quite a bit of losses over the past 5 years so its hard to blame him for making the team fiscally responsible.

At this rate we will be good enough to barely make the playoffs but never advance past the first round and second if we get hot. You can't compete with insane GM's like Sather has become. $9 Mil for a guy who has never scored 30 goals is freaking outrageous. Getting Darius for $25.5 over six seems like a budget deal compared to Holik.

Anyway, enough with my whining.

Patrick

 

[Jim_C]

>>You can't compete with insane GM's like Sather has become

 

[Scott Merryfield]

After watching Sather build those fine teams in Edmonton for so many years with little money, I always thought he would be able to build an incredible team if he ever had money to spend. So far, he's proving me wrong in New York. Maybe he's not the hockey genius I once thought?

 

[PatrickM]

Maybe he's not the hockey genius I once thought?

Scott, your not the only one thinking that. I believe we have to take a closer look at what he was doing in Edmonton during those lean money years. Was he really doing a great job or was he fortunate or a combination of the two because without any restrictions he's batting O'fer at this point.

He's actually become a complete hypocrite now. What he said in the past about other free spending GM's is a farce.

Patrick

 

[Colin-H]

Holik is a good player on a solid overall team like the Devils (leave any comments about this past season out of the picture, please). I don't see him, however, as a superstar goal scorer/team leader. He needs 5 solid players on his side to be effective; he's not the kind of guy that's going to light up the ice single-handedly.

I hate to see Holik in a blue shirt, though.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Dallas signed Guerin for $45 million. Another step closer to becoming MLB.

 

[PatrickM]

Yep, the league is going to hell like MLB. There will definitely be a strike/lockout in 2004 I think it is. There has to be. When the only teams on the market are NY Rangers, Dallas, St. Louis, Detroit, Colorado and Toronto the league play will most definitely drop in entertainment value.

In reality it would have been better if Carolina would have won the Stanley Cup this year even though Detroit really deserved it just to shake it up so that its not one of the top 5 payrolls that wins it ever year.

And, its not just free agent signings that drive up the salaries. Its the big payroll teams re-signing the great players they have to big contracts that drives up the market as well. Only the teams listed above can do that. Teams like Boston stay within there budgets and have to let guys like Guerin go because they won't pay $9 mil a season to him even though he'd like to stay because he's from the area.

Brutal!

Patrick

 

[Jim_C]

Congrats to Dallas, you've got a great player.

Guerin has said that a big reason he left was that the Bruins never bothered to talk to him. When they did give him a contract offer right before the midnight deadline THERE WAS NO DOLLAR AMOUNT ATTACHED! WTF!

The Bruins might be financially prudent compared to some of the other teams in the league but they treat their players like shit. If they weren't going to pay Guerin then fine. However, they should've at least told him the reasons. Instead they break off communication completely and then insult him by not telling him how much they're willing to pay. The reports of 9/yr for 2 years were not true according to Guerin.


How 'bout them Patriots!

 

[Colin-H]

Top 5 payrolls?

Do we forget about 2000?

 

[Scott Merryfield]

The Rangers have now spent $80 million on three players -- Holik, Kasperitis and Richter. Will Sather be able to buy the Cup away from Detroit, or will this just be more bad spending by the Rangers, who have a history of buying the wrong players?

 

[Daryl Furkalo]

The two players that the Rangers bought aren't going to help the Rangers make the play-offs yet. Richter is getting too old, and has two bum knees now. Sather has to actually add goal scorers to make the play-offs, so unless Amonte or Selanne signs there too, that was $80 million more and still no play-offs!

 

[Daryl Furkalo]

Ok, earlier this week, Wayne fires the TV crew in Phoenix to save money, and now today the Coyotes sign Amonte for $24 million. I have no idea the TV crews made so much money!

 

[Dennis Reno]

...Wayne fires the TV crew in Phoenix to save money...

Did anyone bother to tell Wayne how difficult it is to televise the games without the crew? Or was this a temporary layoff to save the team a couple thousand bucks?

 

[Daryl Furkalo]

Actually, the radio guy, Kurt Kielbach, got promoted to simulcast the games on TV and radio. I guess I really meant the broadcasters, my bad.

 

[Michael*K]

I hate Pat Quinn as much as anyone, but what the hell was the league thinking when they fined him $100,000 for speaking the obvious (the insanity surrounding free agent spending.) Disgraceful.

 

[BradG]

"I hate Pat Quinn as much as anyone, but what the hell was the league thinking when they fined him $100,000 for speaking the obvious (the insanity surrounding free agent spending.) Disgraceful."

Yes, it doesn't make sense since it is the truth and everyone knows it, including Gary Bettman.

As for the Bruins, the only hope they have of finally winning a Cup is after the lockout of 2004 when a sensible (hopefully) salary cap is put in place by the league. Of course, even then, there will probably be some sort of phasing in period so teams like Detroit, Colorado and the Rangers aren't penalized for spending like complete morons.

 

[Robert_eb]

I wouldn't call Detroit's spending habits moronic. They won the cup. How is that moronic? The Rangers & the Stars I would call morons. Some people claim that Detroit bought the cup. You could look at their payroll and argue that but it takes more than high priced talent to win the cup. Case in point is Carolina. Their payroll is half of Detroits and they made it to the Finals. You need a certain type of personality from the players. You need a team first mentality. And you need that hunger from players to win. As a season ticket holder, I feel blessed to see all that talent game after game. There's nothing wrong with trying to please the fans. Though I do think there should be a salary cap but the amount I couldn't say.

 

[PatrickM]

Robert,

If I were you I would be incredibly pleased as a fan. Detroit has the ability to add the last key ingredients to make them cup winners. And, more importantly, they have the payroll to keep the players they already have like Stevie Y. Can you imagine if he started his career with lets say the Flames? They couldn't afford him and he would have been gone from the team a long time ago.

As for Pat Quinn's fine, it was clarified that it wasn't a personal fine but a Maple Leafs fine of $100,000 so Quinner will have money to buy those big stogies still.

Patrick

 

[MikePeroni]

Robert, great post. Teams dont win Cups on paper, the desire, chemistry have to be there and personal goals have to be put aside (Could you imagine Fedorovs stats if he played in Pittsburgh?)
That said, the fans here are nuts over the Wings (It runs my life too, sad to admit) and since the buildings been sold out for years and years, not to mention all the merchandising, They got the cash to pay the stars.
But in the end, I think some type of salary control needs to be in place. Instead of a cap, how about a range, say 30-50 million?
Mike