EA Sports New Hockey Game, NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement 2006.

[Optimus Prime]

The players association won't budge. The NHL won't budge.

Who are you siding with? Are the NHL's demands too high? Or are the players just being greedy?
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Personally, I think the players are being a little ridiculous. The salary-caps only majorly affect the supertsars who make too much anyways. How can you justify paying an over-glorified athlete hundreds of millions of dollars, when police officers, and fire fighters who will never see that much money in a lifetime are constantly dying in the line of duty protecting others. Half of these chumps don't even play for the game anymore, it's all about the money.

I want the NHL to come back, but I hope the Players Association buckles.

 

[Taurus 2112]

While I am a huge Detroit fan and a salary cap would crush the wings....I must side with the NHL for the good of the league. A salary cap would prevent teams like the wings from bying a cup...

Besides if there is a salary cap then Mike Illich (owner of the Wings, Lightning, and Detroit TIgers) would be able to spend more money on the Tigers and thus they would have a better team...

Right now...I don't care who wins I am just voting for the sake of the thread...I just want my beloved Wings back thats all...part of me died this year when I was told there would be no NHL...

 

[Tassadar]

I'm a huge Wings fan as well. I really don't care who is right or wrong, I just want my Wings back. I do think it's kind of sad that the players offered a 25% cut in pay and the owner's STILL denied 'em. 25% is a lot of freaking money, and hockey players are some of the most underpaid in sports, especially if you compare them to non-physical sports, like golf or baseball.

 

[Optimus Prime]

I'm a huge Wings fan as well. I really don't care who is right or wrong, I just want my Wings back. I do think it's kind of sad that the players offered a 25% cut in pay and the owner's STILL denied 'em. 25% is a lot of freaking money, and hockey players are some of the most underpaid in sports, especially if you compare them to non-physical sports, like golf or baseball.

Golf is the one of the few professional sports where the size of your pay-cheque is directly dependent to how well you play. There are no contracts in golf. Different story.

I think the NHL is right though. The players offer 25%, and the problem will just come back 2 years down the road.

 

[Tassadar]

True, but a temporary fix would have satisfied the fans, and also they could negotiate before the next lock-out. Fans aren't happy, I know I'm not. My grandpa has a part of him missing, hockey is his life heh.

 

[Hibiki]

How can you justify paying an over-glorified athlete hundreds of millions of dollars, when police officers, and fire fighters who will never see that much money in a lifetime are constantly dying in the line of duty protecting others. Half of these chumps don't even play for the game anymore, it's all about the money.

quoted for amazing accurace and great justice

its so amazingly stupid how people who run around and kick balls or shoot little plastic circles into nets should get paid more money then people who actually do good in the world

but no heaven forbid something like that happen because where would the world be with out our precious sports that we need to pour trillions of dollars into for no damn reason

we would surely be destroyed by every force in the universe if didnt have sports

 

[Synth]

I am a Thrashers fan, and everywhere I go in Atlanta, I see people wearing an Ilva Kovalchuk jersey. He had a career year last season, and the city embraced him as the new team captain. We miss hockey in Atlanta, and when the Hawks aren't playing, it almost fills like a void, because that's usually when the Thrashers are playing.

The players have yet to give their best deal. What is their best deal? They will pull back the 24 percent salary rollback number to 13 to 18 percent and bring their luxury/payroll tax down to 40 million with 90 to 100 percent tax rates before they give in to a cap-like system. I wonder, if the NHLPA decides to accept a cap, what they would ask for in return? Unrestricted free agency with no age restriction like the NFL and NBA? Fewer games, more and creative marketing of the players and a longer All-Star break?

The fact is, you can ask any random person on on the street who are the best players in the NBA, NFL, and MLB, and they'll answer promptly. Ask them about a great player in the NHL, and they will have to think about it. This is where the NHL is really having trouble, in reaching out to the fans.

 

[Smith|]

The aliens are coming! Quick, kick a ball at them!

I really think sports players should be paid 100-150K a year MAX.

 

[Hash]

I do agree that professional athletes get paid way to much, but who am I to tell them how much they should get paid?

I mean, no one is forcing the teams to pay these athletic superstars this ridiculous amount of money. The players can't force anyone to pay them a certain amount, they can give an offer, or expect a certain amount of money, but they can't force anyone to pay them a certain amount. If people are willing to pay that player a huge amount of money, then why should we stop them from getting that? If we're gonna cap athletes paychecks, then why not anyone else? Why not cap the pay for doctors, or firefighters, or lawyers, or any other job? I just don't see why we should be deciding how much someone gets payed, if a player thinks there not getting paid enough, then fine, don't play for that team, go somewhere else. If a team is willing to give that player a huge paycheck in return for having him play for them, then good for him.

Now don't get me wrong, I think it's ludacris how people who play a sport get paid more in a year, than others who put their life on the line make in their whole life, but I guess that's just tough ****. If people are willing to give athletes that much money, then its not our place to say they can't have it. If we're gonna do that, than every single job on the planet should have a salary cap. Everybody should be limited to how much they make. Sounds wrong doesn't it? Well why should the athletes get caps? Who cares if they make incredible amounts of money, it is still the same principle, whether your capping a 30 million dollar paycheck, or a 30 thousand dollar paycheck.

So my vote goes with the NHLPA.

 

[Tassadar]

The aliens are coming! Quick, kick a ball at them!

I really think sports players should be paid 100-150K a year MAX.

Well, if the players are only payed 100-150k a year, where does the rest of the money go? To the NHL owner's? That's a LOT of freakin money, and some might not think 100k is worth traveling all over the U.S. and Canada. I'm not saying Hockey players deserve millions upon mimllions, but I think they deserve more than the average baseball or basketball players.

 

[Taurus 2112]

Hockey is arguably the most physically and mentally demanding sport out there.....don't tell me Im wrong i said "arguably"...there season isn't as long as baseball (but it's a lot more active, and it is still quite long). One might say that football is a more physically demanding sport (which is arguable because they play in 10 second spurts) also Hockey players play between 2 and 4 games a week where football is once per week at most...

I do not beleive it is arguable at all that hockey is the most mentally demanding sport out there as well as being the mainstream sport that takes the most talent...anyone can run or carry a ball...not everyone can skate, let alone handle a biscuit and twig (10 points for the inuendo)

That is why hockey players should make more than basketball football and baseball players...

 

[owa]

I'm for the owners, why? Because Ottawa finished with 102 points (43-23-10-6)
and they LOST oney this season, they were the only Canadian team to lose money, yet they had more points then any other Canadian team (besides Toronto). Their payroll is less then 40 million, Toronto's is like 60-70 million. It just isn't fair, everyone needs equal playing ground, and a fair piece of the pie.

Hwo can relate to this, Atlanta is doing terrible financially, it is due to poor marketing, and the team not being able to bid for high priced players.

the NFL and NBA have caps, it is reasonable for the NHL to demand a cap. The next time we play hockey, there will be a cap...

http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?ID=108914&hubName=nhl

Is the season over on the 14th of January? Seems to be...

GO CANADA'S JUNIOR TEAM!

 

[Hitokiri]

Nobody is making you watch sports. Nobody is making you buy the tickets, the merchandise, all that crap. If you want to get angry at someone for players making boatloads of money, get angry at yourselves, or at least at society in general. It's the smallfry fireman or teacher or whatever under-appreciated profession you wanna name, who buys season tickets to the East Bum**** Hoppers, or whatever; they don't just get a bigger share of the universal money tree or some crap. We give it to them.

And anyway, what do you wanna do with all that money? Cut the athlete salary 90% and force them to donate the rest to the Jimmy Fund? This is a capitolist society. You figure out a way to get rich, you get rich. Nobody pays you based on your moral worth to society or something.

Is it unfortunate? Sure. Welcome to the real world