"Hockey Armageddon"


Hockey Armageddon is looming. I have been reading my annual NHL preview book and it seems almost every writer is feeling very pessimistic about the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) to take place in September of 2004. Some speculate the players and owners are so far apart that there might not be a 2005-6 let alone a 2004-05. Many think that the sky is falling and the lockout is expected to last longer than the one almost a decade ago. I really don’t like what I am hearing.

In one corner we have NHL commissioner Gary Bettman who’s current situation could easily mirror that of the captain of the titanic. The commissioner has seemingly passively stood by as his world continually looms closer to destruction. First off the product on the ice isn’t nearly as entertaining as it was 5 years ago let alone the last time they had a work stoppage. The clutch and grab in the neutral zone has snuffed a good deal of the excitement out of NHL hockey. Bettman has promised again and again to crack down on obstruction but everyone knows its an empty threat. After saying for the 5th time that he was serious last season it he was going to come down on the referees he backed off drastically and by the time Christmas rolled around the obstruction was back to the level it had been the previous seasons. I used to say to non-hockey fans with the right match up, I could sit them down and make them watch one or two games and have them hooked instantly on the sport. I actually turned lots of my friends on to the wonderful sport, but honestly now I don’t think I could convert a non-fan to a fan if I paid them. I have trouble watching an entire game now sometimes.

In the other corner we have Bob Goodenow the head of the players union. Despite the fact that Bettman hasn’t insisted upon it, you can bet your Gordie Howe jersey that he wants a salary cap or at the very least a luxury cap. Goodenow flat out refuses to accept a salary cap for his camp. Apparently he was out of town when the Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators went belly-up financially last season. Luckily a bored billionaire purchased Buffalo and the NHL took over the Senators temporally and the franchise seems to be back on their feet for right now. THE NHL NEEDS A SALARY CAP, I REPEAT THE NHL Needs a salary cap.

Without a salary cap this problem will only snowball and many other teams will suffer similar fates. There is simply isn’t enough kind hearted millionaires or money in the league to bail out franchises that annually lose money. What might be a common ground is a Luxury Tax (I believe the NBA has this) it is basically a payment system x amount of money over a certain amount spend on one player will go into supporting the small market teams. I guess kind of like hockey welfare. NHL players granted play a lot more games but it doesn’t make sense to me that their average players make more than the average football players. The NFL (which has a salary cap) is a money making machine, where as more than half of the NHL teams lose money each year. Players that literally score 20 goals are year have multi-million dollar contracts. There seems to be zero chance at this point of the players giving into a salary cap. Better chance of John Leclair being a 50 goal score again I am afraid. Utterly ridiculous.

There is a laundry list of things that the two sides have to agree on before they come to an agreement. Some don’t even make sense to me at all. For example players want to broaden the definition of the term revenues. They want to get a piece of the action from the concessions, advertising, luxury suites and parking money. I don’t see how this could work since most of these things are owned by different companies who get the money for it. For example the majority of the parking for the Flyers is privately owned and has nothing to do with Comcast of the Flyers. The players would also like to see the age that a player can be unrestricted free agent lowered from 31 to 28. There is also talk about shaving the regular season from 82 to 72.

It gets even worse folks. The NHL ABC/ESPN deal expires at the end of this season. So they are going to try to negotiate with a possible non-existent product? Seeing where some markets NHL games barely beat out arena football games, its going to be a tough sell. What about the players contracts if a season doesn’t exist? Does that count as a year on their contract? Will the ESPN have to pre-empt their nights ahead of time only to have to put on Bass masters marathons?

I hate to sound like a broken record, but it even gets worse for the NHL. In order to make this point I have to give you a brief hockey history lesson. In the 1970’s a rival league formed called the World Hockey Association (WHA) and although they were mocked for their orange pucks (hey better on tv right?)and the fact their franchises were constantly folding or relocating they did give the NHL a run for their money during that decade. They managed to bring over some of the biggest names in hockey at the time, from Bobby Hull, to Bernie Parent to Mr. Hockey himself Gordie Howe not to mention countless others. The WHA finally bit the dust in 1979, and their survivors the Hartford Whalers (now the Carolina Hurricanes), Winnipeg Jets (Phoenix Coyotes now), Quebec Nordiques (Colorado Avalanche), and the Edmonton Oilers (the only WHA team that stayed put) landed in the NHL. Heck old 99 himself started out with Oilers (technically the Huston Areos who basically sold him to the Oilers) when they were the in the WHA.

Curiously enough the WHA is coming back! The 2003-045 season will mark the first season of the WHA2. It starts in 60 days or so with only a handful of teams, but could easily double in a year if enough intrest is sparked. The ball has started rolling for such a movement. Bobby Hull is back as the commissioner of the WHA2 which plans to offer a high level alternate professional hockey league. Entertainment for the whole family they boast. Hmmm. They ran an ad in the Hockey News soliciting franchises if anyone is interested. Now one thing they got against them is some of the major cities simply have no room at the inn. The closest I see a WHA franchise coming to my home is Atlantic City. They would have to either work out a deal with the Bullies or oust them. Because every other rink in this area that could hold such an event is owned by the Flyers in some capacity. I don’t see a fledging league being able to construct their own buildings so they will have to go through markets and see where they can blow the dust off the old stadiums. Winnipeg is close to becoming a team of the WHA2. Other candidates include Pittsburgh, Hamilton, Québec City, Nova Scotia, Saskatoon and Vancouver in Canada, and Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Minnestoa (close to filling the papers), Hartford(RETURN OF THE WHALE?), Pittsburgh (big mistake), Los Angeles and Milwaukee (they are actually crazy about hockey out there). I am not sure if they could actually steal teams from the American Hockey League (the AHL, the NHL’s minors where the phantoms play)or not. The AHL is suffering a bit from overload after taking the International Hockey League (IHL) refuges when their league folded a few years back. If an NHL team goes belly up this year could WHA2 team jump in their grave? There already seem to be some doubling up going on here in some fairly big markets.

Orlando Seals, Jacksonville Barracudas, Miami Manatees and Macon (Georgia) Traxx were
pulled out of the Atlantic Coast Hockey League (REALLY REALLY Minor League)by owner David Waronker for the WHA2 already. The league plans to have 16 player rosters, more teams the second season at least, and eventually expand into Europe. They come right out on their website and mention their attention is to rock the NHL again. This ain't no IHL or AHL who just sits and lovingly watches the NHL, the WHA is out for round 2. Unlike the XFL's challenge to the NFL that leasted one season the WHA2 is going against a wounded opponent.

The owners might like the WHA2 to get some publicity because it will make the players start sweating bullets if the WHA2 takes off. How can they stop them from drafting players from college and the juniors to play in the 2003-04 season or 2004-05 season? Can Players just refuse to report to team if they are offered something by the WHA? Or will the WHA just make their draft before the NHL and take anyone they want? The NHL certainly doesn’t own rights to college students and junior hockey players. Could some NHL players just say screw it and abandon ship? Brett Hull in the twilight of his career might want to play two more seasons. Maybe he will play his final season in the WHA and help his father out who he recently reconciled with. He has been openly critical about the NHL’s policies and seemingly sides with what the owners have to say. Things got a little out of hand last time the there was a lockout. The Devils owner said to HELL with the small market teams, and Chris Cheilos made a comment about crazy fans doing something to Gary Bettman or his family. It was taken by many as indirect threat. Some players who might have two years left are likely to just walk away from the mess, including Steve Yeserman, Jeremey Roenick, Mark Recchi, Hasek, and Chelios himself to just say screw it and never come back to the NHL, especially if an entire season falls through.

So the WHA2 could jump on players that don’t get resigned at the end of the year, heck there are quite a few that never got signed this summer. Again it raises the question how valid a contact is for a league that never goes back to work. The world cup will still go on unaffected by the CBA, and you be sure players such as Peter Forseberg will just go back to their native countries and play for them. Some people think Peter arguably the best player in the league (sorry Clarkie) will never come back if he plays an entire year over there.

Of course we have a year to see how things pan out. I am actually the first person to even throw in the who WHA2 theory(Can I will let you now the first time I see a writer steal my theory.), but I am sure I am not going to be the last. They went for the NHL’s jugular in the 70’s, why not do it again? The timing is perfect. What is better this time is they have a clean slate and not as much BS to make up new rules. They can design the rules to make it almost impossible to use the trap. Perhaps implement some drastic different meanings for the lines on the rink that the NHL is afraid to do(and rightfully so). Again, maybe its speculation, may the Bob Goodenow’s head isn’t screwed on right, perhaps his shoes are on too tight, and he might just might come to his senses and avoid a lockout. So there isn’t much we can do about the pending NHL Armageddon it’s controlled by people far richer than us, who care less about the game than we do. For now try to enjoy the sport and put it out of your mind, try to enjoy whatever pureness of the game remains in this day in age. Try to forget that every players makes more in two shifts than some people do in a several years. Engulf yourself in the wonderful world of hockey, just keep your eye on the falling sky and look out for ORANGE PUCKS!