What if... we lose another season?

With labour talks between the NHL and the NHLPA appearing as though they have met another impasse, and more and more October days tick off the calendar, it looks like we might have to start bracing ourselves for the possibility that we might lose another season.

With now over 100 NHLPA members seeking employment in Europe, and the NHL owners keeping in line behind their fearless leader Gary Bettman, it looks more and more like we are in for another pissing contest instead of a constructive negotiation.

From this humble blogger's standpoint, having been a huge NHL fan long before Mr. Bettman arrived on the scene, I have noticed that the league just hasn't been the same since he became league commissioner.  The man carries himself with a certain arrogance that, frankly, makes me want to hurl.  He constantly talks down to people and answers reporters questions as though they are something he just scraped off the bottom of his shoe.  This is not a pleasant man.  Just the kind of guy you want leading your negotiation team if you're an NHL owner, but certainly not who you want running your favourite sports league if you're an NHL fan.

This is now Mr. Bettman's THIRD lockout in less than 20 years.  It took him about 7 minutes to fire up the first one when he got the job back in 1993.  Everyone knew we were headed for another lockout this year because this is Gary Bettman's negotiation style.  He could care less about the game.  He has no time for a reasonable negotiation where both sides come away with something.  No.  He wants the players to grovel.  he wants the players to kiss his shiny loafers AND thank him for the privilege.  This is what Gary Bettman wants.  During the last lockout, after losing an entire season, the owners got the players to finally agree to a hard cap.  Fast forward 6 years and, somehow, this is not good enough for our friend Gary.  In fact, it is so terrible that he was forced to lock the players out rather than start the season and continue to negotiate...this is WITH a cap!  If the owners can't figure it out with a hard cap in place, maybe they need to take a look in the mirror, or better yet have a good long look at the man who is leading them down this path.

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NHLers loitering on the sidelines

I attended the BC Lions v Calgary Stampeders game at BC Place on Saturday night and I noticed that a group of Vancouver Canucks had been invited to watch part of the game from the BC Lions sideline.  If I'm not mistaken Kevin Bieksa, Ryan Kesler, Jason Garrison, Alex Edler, Mason Raymond and Cory Schneider.

Everyone knows that the Canucks have a lot of extra time on their hands due to the NHL lockout.  It seemed surreal to me to see them standing there in street clothes, supporting another local team, which, by the way, I thought to be a classy move.  They were supposed to be playing a game at Rogers Arena, or on a road trip, or resting up for another game.  It really was quite bizarre to see them there instead of on the ice all because of Gary Bettman's 3rd lockout.

Then it hit me....the 2012 CFL team salary cap is $4.3M.  Yup.  If you add up the salaries of the entire BC Lions roster it is equal to, or less than, $4.3M.  Ryan Kesler makes $5M.   Jason Garrison makes $6M+ per season.  Edler and Bieksa aren't that far behind.

What must that have been like for them?  Watching 2 teams go at it 100% banging heads, sacrificing limbs, and giving it their all in front of 30,000+ at BCPlace and hundreds of thousands more on TSN, knowing that their annual salary is more than the entire payroll of each of the two teams they were watching.  It kinda puts things into perspective as far as how much money NHLers really make.

The thing is, we can't look at NHL players as just athletes playing a game and being compensated with massive amounts of money.  It is important to realize that the players are a product.  They are a product that generates large amounts of money for the owners and they should get their piece of the pie.  The sooner the owners stop treating the players as employees, or cattle, and become business partners with them, the sooner we can get hockey players off of CFL sidelines.

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Sporting Vancouver now on Blogger

Hello gracious readers,

Thanks for following the Sporting Vancouver blog to its new home here at blogger.  Just seems like a better fit.

Let's get down to it.  Here's what's going on in the Vancouver sports world.

The Vancouver Whitecaps hammered Chivas USA 4-0 on Wednesday on the Bell Pitch at BCPlace Stadium.  It was a much needed win for the Caps who have gone win-less for too long and were in danger of falling out of the 5th and final playoff spot in the West.  ever since their mid-season roster shake-up, the team seems to have had difficulty finding its identity and flow in their game.  Here's hoping that this game is their turning point heading into the playoffs.

The BC Lions head into a crucial game tomorrow against the Calgary Stampeders at BCPlace without several key starters.  Among them Geroy Simon, Arland Bruce III, and Khalif Mitchell.  These key injuries come at  an unfortunate time with Calgary only 2 points behind them in the race for first in the division.  The Lions will need key contributions from other receivers such as Nik Moore, Marco Ianuzzi, and Kierie Johnson, not to mention a big game from Andrew Harris to attempt to make up for the loss of 2 of the greatest receivers the CFL has ever seen.

The hockey world was taken by surprise to find out that Gary Bettman and Bill Daly met with Donald Fehr at the NHLPA headquarters in Toronto.  Just a few short days after the NHL cancelled its first two weeks of the regular season, wiping out a total of 82 games it looked like lines had been drawn in the sand and the two sides were waiting for the other  to blink.  This surprising and seemingly unscheduled meeting has some in the hockey world cautiously optimistic about the possibility of an agreement bringing hockey back before Christmas.
Colour me pessimistic, but I think there is a long way to go before these two sides get on the same page.  The NHL, led by the ever arrogant Bettman appears to want the NHLPA to not only kiss their feet but also thank them for the privilege to do so.  If I were the players, I would just assume the season is lost and look for work elsewhere.  Maybe another lost season is just what the zombie owners need to realize they need to get rid of Gary Bettman.  One can only hope...

You can follow Sporting Vancouver on Twitter @vansport