Eklund: Your Lockout Primer in 5,000words or less.Compromise/Ideas from Top Sources

50/50 split with a soft cap and luxury tax.

You guys can't even immagine how cool is your north american system in pro sports...I mean in Europe we don't have the draft, or a reasonably salary cap...for exemple in European soccer, the team that has more money can buy the better players, and the team with better players has more sponsorship -> more money coming....the other clubs will never win, I mean NEVER! just take a look at the Spanish Liga, it is always between two teams, Barcellona and Real Madrid..frustrating for someone living in Valencia.......and then here comes the bandwagoners...this is lame...In swiss hockey, we have tons of sponsor on the jerseys, but teams keep on be on the verge of bankruptcy...and the three teams that can reach the high salary cap keep on winning...U better keep your style of managing sport, it's the best...GO SHARKS!

Great blog. Issues well identified.

I think one area has not been fully exposed. There is clearly a bias on the part of players to want to ensure competitiveness. They love the idea that Carolina can sign and keep top end talent, that Pittsburg a relatively small market can sustain an elite dominant team and that guys like Doan, Weber, Suter, Parise and Carle are able to get top dollar and are still able to avoid having to play in high pressure markets. Luongo wanting to return to the Panthers appears consistent with that same trend.

It is a very long time since the Leafs have been able to sign a top UFA. It has a lot to do with a lack of competitiveness on the part of the Leafs. It also has something to do with the stress of playing in a tough hockey market. Carolina, Florida, Tampa, Pheonix and a few others are country club atmospheres. Why would a player want to go to Detroit or Philadelphia or Chicago unless there was a certainty of winning. This goes double for Montreal, Toronto and most of the Canadian teams.

Suter enraged the Blackhawks by using them to leverage up their offer before he signed in the gentler Minnesota market. I believe Weber always knew that Nashville would match. Carle fled to the no tax state of Florida and Luongo will follow.

The players are doing fine.

Great blog. Issues well identified.

I think one area has not been fully exposed. There is clearly a bias on the part of players to want to ensure competitiveness. They love the idea that Carolina can sign and keep top end talent, that Pittsburg a relatively small market can sustain an elite dominant team and that guys like Doan, Weber, Suter, Parise and Carle are able to get top dollar and are still able to avoid having to play in high pressure markets. Luongo wanting to return to the Panthers appears consistent with that same trend.

It is a very long time since the Leafs have been able to sign a top UFA. It has a lot to do with a lack of competitiveness on the part of the Leafs. It also has something to do with the stress of playing in a tough hockey market. Carolina, Florida, Tampa, Pheonix and a few others are country club atmospheres. Why would a player want to go to Detroit or Philadelphia or Chicago unless there was a certainty of winning. This goes double for Montreal, Toronto and most of the Canadian teams.

Suter enraged the Blackhawks by using them to leverage up their offer before he signed in the gentler Minnesota market. I believe Weber always knew that Nashville would match. Carle fled to the no tax state of Florida and Luongo will follow.

The players are doing fine.
- spatso

Thanks. Many great points. Some I want to debate after a quick nap here with a clear head. But I really appreciate these kinds of thought out comments. Cheers

What a moronic idea Forcing small market teams to RAISE ticket prices How stupid is that
- holeinone

Only if they have a ticket waiting list to buy. Supply demand

really? expand the playoffs to 20 teams?

The regular season is already to long and now you want to make the regular season totally irrelevant?

I have an idea;

Do away with the playoffs all together and make the regular season the playoffs.

The team with the best record at the end of the regular season wins the cup!

Now all teams can charge playoff money for all 41 regular season games!

really? expand the playoffs to 20 teams?

The regular season is already to long and now you want to make the regular season totally irrelevant?

I have an idea;

Do away with the playoffs all together and make the regular season the playoffs.

The team with the best record at the end of the regular season wins the cup!

Now all teams can charge playoff money for all 41 regular season games!





- ggunky

Given this format the Leafs will always make the playoffs, and Vancouver would actually be able to win a cup.

Expanding the number of teams in the playoffs is a ridiculous idea. Already over half of the teams make the post-season. Now we want to make that two-thirds? That makes the regular season almost pointless.

The absolute worst result would be a luxury tax system. That gives even more power to the "rich" teams, and would basically mean that no salary cap exists. A team with more money could just offer a player the league max, then pay the tax. How are small market teams supposed to compete with that? The parity that was created by the salary cap is already disappearing, and introducing a luxury tax system would basically destroy it.

Only if they have a ticket waiting list to buy. Supply demand
- Eklund

Buffalo is a great place to go to watch hockey.

Prices are low... in the upper bowl, if you raise them, you may not sell it out anymore.

It's nice to see fans, and not corporation filling up the seats!!!

Like another city about an two hours away.

Given this format the Leafs will always make the playoffs, and Vancouver would actually be able to win a cup.
- Bluenwhite1980

Luxury cap is the way to go..
if the red wings, leafs and mtl want to dump 90M on payroll for better or worse and the cap is 70M that is 60M is extra rev for the small market teams.
Everyone wins

Some very good points there Ek, i must say..

Buffalo is a great place to go to watch hockey.

.
- jimmc7722

As much as I rag on the city, I went there for a Sabres/Devils game ( girlfriend is a devils fan ) The arena is very good. Surrounding area is not but you dont stay close to the arena anyway

Four points (at least) that I vehemently disagree with:

#2 Expand the Playoffs to 20 Teams.

- And make the regular season even more meaningless? We already saw an 8 seed win the cup do we really need a 10 seed winning it?

#11. If A Team Doesn’t Want to Pay Revenue Sharing They Can’t Take the Entry Fee

- Please....those high priced teams are the reason that the NHL can demand the entry fees they get. PHX isn't the reason the NHL gets high entry fees, PHI is.

#12. When a UFA is signed the team losing him gets compensated for time spent Developing the player.

- The team was compensated by having that player for 6-10 years, if you can't hold on to your players why should you be compensated for that?

#14. Force Teams With Waiting Lists to Raise Ticket Prices.
- Ridiculous.... How much do you think Vancouver, Toronto, NYR, MTL would have to raise their ticket prices? Tickets are already ridiculously expensive and you are going to force these teams to raise their prices even more? How about doing away with Revenue Sharing altogether? You share national revenue (i.e. TV Contracts), teams share gate revenue i.e away team gets a % of gate but why should the successful, well marketed teams support the poor teams? The Yankees and Red Sox (both of whom I can't stand) have built a brand, it is stupid that they should have to share that revenue with the A's or Pirates who invest little in their brand.

Four points (at least) that I vehemently disagree with:

#2 Expand the Playoffs to 20 Teams.

- And make the regular season even more meaningless? We already saw an 8 seed win the cup do we really need a 10 seed winning it?

#11. If A Team Doesn’t Want to Pay Revenue Sharing They Can’t Take the Entry Fee

- Please....those high priced teams are the reason that the NHL can demand the entry fees they get. PHX isn't the reason the NHL gets high entry fees, PHI is.

#12. When a UFA is signed the team losing him gets compensated for time spent Developing the player.

- The team was compensated by having that player for 6-10 years, if you can't hold on to your players why should you be compensated for that?

#14. Force Teams With Waiting Lists to Raise Ticket Prices.
- Ridiculous.... How much do you think Vancouver, Toronto, NYR, MTL would have to raise their ticket prices? Tickets are already ridiculously expensive and you are going to force these teams to raise their prices even more? How about doing away with Revenue Sharing altogether? You share national revenue (i.e. TV Contracts), teams share gate revenue i.e away team gets a % of gate but why should the successful, well marketed teams support the poor teams? The Yankees and Red Sox (both of whom I can't stand) have built a brand, it is stupid that they should have to share that revenue with the A's or Pirates who invest little in their brand.
- smkuchta

Good Point

Read the whole thing.... where's my cookie...

Long blog, but informative, if not a little confusing at times.

I still think the arbitration system can be fixed by a committee that first views the case before it is taken before the "official arbitration hearing" The committee would be made up of hockey people, including owner's reps and player reps. The committee could come up with a recommendation. If the owner and player are still not in agreement, then proceed with the court hearing.

-UFA team compensation to the team that developed the player is kinda silly. All teams develop players, all teams poach UFA's from other teams. Give the players the choice where they want to play at age 26 - 27.
-Franchise tags needs to be explained better.....
- An issue I have is the owner's burying players in the minors because they have too high of a salary, ie Wade Redden and previously Sheldon Souray. If a team signs a player to a contract, they should have to live up to it, not bury it. Buy out the contract, or put in a limit that a player on a one way contract can't be sent to the minors for more then a one month period for conditioning after an injury. I think any player signed to a one way contract worth more then 3 - 4 million was intended to play in the NHL not the AHL.

Ok about your Rule #14 Raise ticket prices for teams with waiting lists.

The leafs tickets range from $100-$300+ and there is still a waiting list. I don't think it would be smart to raise it anymore, fans would just get pissed off that prices are now out of their reach. I go to sens games to watch the Leafs play because their tickets are 50-60$ and if the Sens raised it to $100 I'd probably stop going all together. It's not very tempting going to see a hockey game when you have to drive 3-4 hours spend $20 in parking, $100 a ticket, $10 a beer, $8 for some food etc... I'd rather sit in my recliner at home with the big screen + surround sound on than spend $160 for 2 hours of entertainment.

Buffalo is a great place to go to watch hockey.

Prices are low... in the upper bowl, if you raise them, you may not sell it out anymore.

It's nice to see fans, and not corporation filling up the seats!!!

Like another city about an two hours away.
- jimmc7722

Maybe they are kept low because Buffalo gets revenue sharing?

Can't say that I am a fan of the 20 teams making the playoffs idea.
I could maybe get on board with a wildcard series where 8 and 9 playoff for the final playoff seed... but that's a stretch.
If 2/3 of the teams make the playoffs... it really does make the regular season almost pointless.

Not to mention... the Leafs may actually get postseason revenue for the first time in a decade!

#3 Require a Second Team in Southern Ontario

#3 Require a Second Team in Southern Ontario


- HabsKovalev27

Shouldn't we require a first team in southern ontario before worrying about a second?

Great blog. Issues well identified.

I think one area has not been fully exposed. There is clearly a bias on the part of players to want to ensure competitiveness. They love the idea that Carolina can sign and keep top end talent, that Pittsburg a relatively small market can sustain an elite dominant team and that guys like Doan, Weber, Suter, Parise and Carle are able to get top dollar and are still able to avoid having to play in high pressure markets. Luongo wanting to return to the Panthers appears consistent with that same trend.

It is a very long time since the Leafs have been able to sign a top UFA. It has a lot to do with a lack of competitiveness on the part of the Leafs. It also has something to do with the stress of playing in a tough hockey market. Carolina, Florida, Tampa, Pheonix and a few others are country club atmospheres. Why would a player want to go to Detroit or Philadelphia or Chicago unless there was a certainty of winning. This goes double for Montreal, Toronto and most of the Canadian teams.

Suter enraged the Blackhawks by using them to leverage up their offer before he signed in the gentler Minnesota market. I believe Weber always knew that Nashville would match. Carle fled to the no tax state of Florida and Luongo will follow.

The players are doing fine.
- spatso

good point. wonder if Suter and Parise sign in Minnesota if they're offered 5-year, $50-million deals by teams like Detroit, Montreal and Toronto.

Maybe they are kept low because Buffalo gets revenue sharing?
- CygnusX1

I don't think they get any revenue sharing now, but that might have been the case with the old owners.

The making teams raise ticket prices because they have a waiting list idea is moronic. Let's make tickets $500 each in major markets and make it so 99% of our fans can't afford to go to games. And then when they watch on TV all they will see is empty seats because the people who can afford those prices only have time to go to a handful of games a year. Eventually those teams will lose their fans and they won't be coming back just because ticket prices are back down.

I love the idea of a franchise tag and I wouldn't mind there being an amnesty rule like the NBA. Obviously everyone loves playoff hockey but 20 of the 30 teams making it in that's ridiculous the season is long enough and the playoffs last long enough too. If they had 20 teams make the playoffs the lightning would have made it last year and they should not have been a playoff team. Letting 20 teams in is ridiculous that's almost 67% of the league why not just let all 30 in.

#13. A Luxury Tax Paid To Go over the Cap.

“Bigger market teams are making more money than ever before and dying to put it into the eco-system. All you need to do is say, any money over the cap you spend you have to pay a Luxury tax that would go towards helping the lesser market teams.”

- Eklund

No.

The luxury tax idea is good in theory, but I think the gap between the have's and havenot's is way too wide for that to happen and for the parity in the league to remain the way it is.