MarkyMannn Posted December 1, 2004 Share Posted December 1, 2004 John Davidson (Rangers announcer?) was on GR last night and said he expects the players in December to make a reasonable offer. At that point he felt ownership will have to make a decision. Compromise, or go to the wall for a hard cap. Personally, being in a small market, I like the cap. Otherwise we will never truly be able to compete for a cup. Yes, every year one small market club makes a run, but those are more like an abberration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPR4444 Posted December 1, 2004 Share Posted December 1, 2004 from what i've heard, the "drop dead" date for an abbreviated NHL season is 12/15, which is fast approaching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jad1 Posted December 1, 2004 Share Posted December 1, 2004 Im with you on hating the NHL, but Im not sure its because of the small marktet issue. Tampa Bay and Calgary proved this past year you can win with a low payroll, heck, both of their payrolls were lower then the Sabres. And Im a Sabres fan BTW 141041[/snapback] The problem comes when you try to retain those players. That's when they go to arbitration and say 'The Rangers are paying Jimmy Focktard $6 million a year, and my stats are way better than his." So the Lightning let him go and the Rangers sign him, and the Rangers still miss the playoffs. Meanwhile, fan interest in small markets decline, because the perception is that the team is not interested in signing star players. The system is now based on what the stupidist teams in the league are willing to overpay players. It needs to change. This whole issue is simple to solve. If the owners and NHLPA had half a brain between them, they'd copy the NFL's revenue sharing/salary cap structure. They'd adopt the NFL idea that offense sells and modify the rules to preserve scoring. They'd become partners, rather than adversaries, and work together to grow the game. But as they have proven time and time again, they're nohwere near that smart. They're still stuck in the big market/small market/player union feuds that almost destroyed baseball. The NFL is the light and the way in sports buisness management. They've shown that if the sides are willing to curb their greed a little, amazing growth is possible. Emulating their model on a smaller scale would satisfy the majority of owners and players in the NHL, and give the fans a much improved product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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