bunomatic

He was scratched because of the nasty headshot he took the other day I'm thinkin. Or I could be totally wrong and have him mixed up with someone else. For some odd reason my mind just hasn't been into hockey lately.

Follow the money

I'll go one better. If his team mates call him that, I'll acknowledge the name has merit. Until then I just can't agree on naming the future star centre of the Sabres after a cookie :doh:

If that could be organized and carried out it would be a great way to send a message. Problem is the individual teams would co-ordinate a cheap ticket night to correspond with the boycott and fans would flock to the games. People have short memories when it comes to stuff like this and the league knows it. I agree and support the idea of a league wide one game boycott though.

I understand what your saying but I should have specified that what I meant was teams outbidding each other in free agency thereby driving up the cost of doing business. When its time for a players agent to negotiate a new contract they look for players with similar numbers or stats and demand similar pay even though the salary paid to the unrestricted free agent was inflated grossly to begin with. I think you would agree this also has driven up salaries. Mind you free agency is something the players championed so I suppose we could also blame them for that.

There's a hell of a lot more to the CBA than the 50-50 split. The players salaries are up 40% largely because thats what the owners chose to pay them. The fact that the league raises the cap ceiling and floor based on league revenues is telling, When an apparent have not team such as Minnesota can sign 2 players to contracts totalling 200 million dollars while still crying poor there's a real problem. I don't think its the players fault that a team like Minnesota can essentially drive the cost of doing business up while accepting corporate welfare from the teams it outbid. These owners want it both ways imo. I'll add that imo the players have no ownership in the league so I don't believe its up to them to fix broken markets. Buttman and his owners have to come up with a better system or stop throwing money into bad markets that don't support hockey. Why should Buttmans mistakes be bailed out off the players backs?

Thats true but by the time all is said and done there will be some give and take from both sides. Thats how it works.

Reading The Philosophy Gym by Stephen Law.

To Mr. D I would reply that without the players eating there the ranch isn't worth squat. Might as well build a wallmart on the land to recoup your investment Mr. D.

I side with the players. They took a bath last time and we're knee deep in the same trouble again largely because the owners just can't help themselves. The players simply accept what is given them or what is considered market value. Who wouldn't. The owners don't seem to want to fix what ails this league and if a better solution isn't found the players will be locked out again in 5-6 years and will be asked again to take another 24% rollback. Something fundamental has to change about how this league is operated for this cycle to stop and the owners seem happy to lock out the players every contract to get what they want. Why not fix things? 50-50 split seems fair. I don't have a link but on puck daddy there's a good article titled ' its time for the N.H.L. to police its owners' which sums up which side I lean to.

I see your point and I've been involved in jobs that put a considerable risk on my well being as well but my comparison was between N.H.L. owners and players and the health risks to players that the owners don't have to undertake. Not the risks that other professions with absolutely nothing to do with this labour situation have to undertake.

Players take another risk that the owners don't and thats a risk to their health, present and long term. In a lot of cases you can't put a money value on that.

I agree with the lack of urgency shown. As for the videos its all politics and propaganda from both sides and as for taking sides imo they are both to blame. Just get it done already.

Well his mind is elsewhere. Its apparently in L.A. working out with some west coast players.

:blush:

I'm 6'1" :rolleyes:

30 guys sit in a room and try to agree that the sky is blue and you'll get different opinions about the shade of blue. I can guarantee that not every one of these egos agrees with what is happening with the talks. Its human nature. And its a fact that yes they did put a rule in place in the past knowing that yes there very well could be disagreements in the future most likely because there has been in the past. Its not such a stretch in my opinion. I'm sure Buttman has all his bases covered in that respect.

I'm aware of that. It exists for a reason.

I'll be going down to the local rink and the grassroots to take in some minor hockey games for sure. This is where it all started for me and what its really all about. Right now I could care less about pro, semi pro, etc.

This makes sense because yesterday Gillis of Vancouver said they were still in the mix.

The very fact that these guys have a gag order at the expense of fines and losing draft picks tells me they are not all in step. Its the loudmouths in the room who control the show. The Sniders, the Jacobs, but among the other teams there will be dissenting voices. Its a little early for cracks to show on either the owners or the players side unfortunately.

They both look like they got into the double malt at lunch.

What Bob MacKenzie said on T.S.N. puts it into perspective for me. The players don't want to take a 24% rollback in wages but for every 8 games they are locked out they lose 10% of their wages anyways. 16-20 % etc. Of course there's lots more to it then just the wages but that adds up pretty quick.

Yeah we're better off. There is reason to be optimistic now. We're able to spend with the big boys now while back then we weren't even considered to be in the same ballpark. It remains to be seen if the decision makers make the right decisions and get us there but we're in a better position to improve our chances.

Thanks for pointing that out . I really must have been sleeping the last 45 years or so :P . All that aside I think we're all aware that the game really isn't benefitting from certain southern markets that give tickets away for $ 10 and can't fill seats. If people don't want to watch hockey they certainly won't support the game and that has been proven time and again. I really have a hard time believing this league can't thrive without some of the most extreme failures in those markets.