Day 1 of Lockout :(

[e_BoY]

all i can say is FUCK!!!

[hardstylin]

i might cry :( i need hockey.

[wikid]

fuck shit fuck!


this is wrrrroooonnnggggg, the ovepaid hockey players only want mooorreeee money, ITS JUST A GAME! (a game that weeeeee neeeeeeeeeedddd)!
Canada just doesnt feel like Canada, without the warm wholesome feel of hockey at my fingertips!

[G-Style]

I can not believe that all these people in power ie: ownership and NHL can not come to an agreement on salarys. I don't understand what the problem is with the NHL saying we want to make sure that salarys remain in proportion to what the team/league is making. Right now the players salarys account for 75% of a teams earnings. That's fucked. Tell me what buisness in the world can survive when their employees are costing this much. My thought is this. Fuck this season lets go to next season and fire the whole fucking bunch of them. Have a crazy ass draft process and restock the entire NHL with players that will be satisfied working 8 months of the year a few minutes a night for 1.5 million US dollars. Such a petty argument and I'm sorry but I side with ownership in this case. I understand what the players are saying but they have it all wrong. They say the owners just want to get richer. Well yeha they are buisnessmen and you are the contractor and don't you think for a sec that if the owners actually have more money they are going to work on creating a better team to advance thier investment even more. The whole scenerio has nothing to do with hockey its all about ego's right now and thats just dumb. Think of all the ice techs and cashiers and shit that are going to be hurting for cash now and hunting for work all accross the US and Canada. These are people that need their J.O.B. to feed their families. It's ok when you have 10 million in the bank you can say fuck you but they are affecting alot of other peoples lives that don't have million dollar salaries to survive on. SIGN THE DAMN DEAL AND PLAY YOUR FUCKING 20 MINS A NIGHT.

[e_BoY]

omg i make 7 million dollars a year but if we settle for th cap ill only make 6. oh my god instead of buying a pimp house on thw west side i can now only afford to buy a slightly less pimped house 3 blocks away from there. fucking idiots

[LaMzWeLL]

i need hockey... fucking fuck.... fuck fuck fuck.... why isn't there hockey.. fucking greed everywhere....fucking NHL... fucking americans.....the lock out was the top story on every major canadian news channel and on the front page of every canadian news paper.. american media didnt' even really gave a shit about the lock out...yet there are 4 times as many american teams as canadian teams......The NHL is like the slut the america fucked and left in the ditch

[e_BoY]

^^
haha jeff like ur last line.

sigh looks like no hockey for a year. hard cap is all they talk about and nobody is backing down. FUCKERS!

[Undecided]

All I have to say to the owners is you don't create a flesh eating ogr and release it on a village then bitch when it eats some villagers the owners did this to themselves on the flip side the players should be happy to make what they make doing what thousands of Canadian kids would do for free play hockey with the best in th world and play for the Stanley Cup so I am not taking sides on this cause both sides are both wrong and right so they can go to hell this is going to kill hockey all over the states but thats the owners problem I wouldn't be suprised to see the league contract if the lock-out really lasts

[Séguin]

I've been waiting for this for like 5 years. When the NHL comes back. It won't be so full of shit. There will be team loyalty again instead of the "I'll play for who ever pays me more" attitute. Jerseys and team logos were reduced to meaningless fashion. They were even changing some of the basic rules that make pro hockey what it is.
I'll be following the WHL & OHL this year. Just like every other year.

[Crazy Dave]

I say fuck them all... go out and play some street hockey.

[Séguin]

fuck street hockey. I'm serious about renting a rink a few times this year.

[Senior]

Brian Burke is a genius and probably the best hockey mind in the game. He once again drove this home with the following proposal to ending the current disspute.

A WORKING SOLUTION

1. Phase in agreement over two years

Burke argues the CBA, whatever form it takes, should not go into effect immediately.

"I argued vehemently against transitional rules, but now I'm convinced we're going to need them, so you're going to need to phase-in [a new CBA] over two years."

2. Commit to a 12-year contract

While Burke concedes that a 12-year contract is a long deal, he believes his system will work if the players are guaranteed their percentage of the designated hockey revenue, in combination with an "escrow portion of that and a portion of what the league has for revenue purposes." [see point #3 below]

3. Escrow:

Seven per cent of player payroll
Ten per cent of designated hockey revenue (DHR)
Arena construction fund

"The arena construction fund is something that they've done in the NFL with stadiums and I think the players will be in a lot better shape if we didn't have debt service on all our buildings."

4. Agree to share revenues of $200 million with $75 million coming from playoff pool

"I'm proposing revenue sharing be considered at $200 million, which is more than any of the other proposals I've seen," said Burke. "Only $75 million of that would be from the playoff pool. I think that should come from some of the wealthier teams."

5. Avoid luxury tax by establishing a payroll threshold at $38 million and payroll minimum of $33 million

"I don't like the term 'luxury tax'; players aren't a luxury," said Burke. "I'm not coming off the idea of a salary cap; I think it's the best system in pro sports. I think it has worked miracles in the National Football League. But if you have to go to something else, this might work."

Burke's numbers of a $38 million payroll threshold and a $33 million minimum are not set in stone.

"They're [flexible] numbers," explained Burke. "You would have to figure out what the hockey revenues are and [adjust] the players' percentage to come up with that."

6. Set overage fees at:

1st million = $0.50 on the dollar
2nd million = $1 per dollar
3rd million = $2 per dollar
4th million = $3 per dollar
5th million or more = $5 per dollar

Burke characterized the union's luxury tax proposal akin to "changing a side-view mirror on a bus that's going off a cliff."

"It will have absolutely no impact on spending. This is a realistic, ramped up tax that should have an effect on what clubs spend."

7. Reward good business behaviour by charging fees to repeat offenders

Under Burke's proposal, teams that exceed the payroll threshold year after year would be charged a fee, with that money distributed to teams that stay within the threshold.

"If a team repeatedly is up there and is inflationary, in my mind, the tax rate should change. You should reward good behaviour on the business front."

8. Guarantee players 55 per cent of DHR

Under Burke's plan, 55 per cent of the DHR would include "the income streams that are normally allocated to players in systems like this in the NBA and NFL."

9. Build trust with joint audit controls:

1st offence = $1 million fine
2nd offence = $5 million fine

Burke argues the league and union need to agree on a joint audit system similar to the NFL's in order to build trust between the two sides.

Under Burke's plan, any team that tries to hide money would be slapped with a million-dollar fine, while a second offence would see the fine rise to $5 million.

10. Establish four-year entry-level system with a maximum $250,000 in rookie bonuses

Burke helped negotiate the entry-level system part of the CBA ten years ago, but he feels that it is "ridiculous in terms of the bonuses that rookies can earn."

"That's money that should go to veteran players," argued Burke. "Tack a year on [the entry-level system] and cap what they can make in rookie bonuses."

11. Allow unrestricted free agency at age 29

Burke feels that unrestricted free agency should drop from 31 to 29 years of age.

"I'm sure that people will say that's not enough of a move, but I think unrestricted player movement has led to a loss of confusion of identity with players in the NFL and in Major League Baseball."

12. Amend qualifying offers to restricted free agents:

The team with the rights to a player only has to match 75 per cent of the offer from another team to players over 26 years old
50 per cent for players 26 years old and under

Under the current CBA, the qualifying rate for restricted free agents is 100 per cent, depending on the player's salary. Burke thinks this is a "highly inflationary practice."

Under his plan, players over 26-years-old would get qualified at 75 per cent, while players under 26 would get qualified at 50 per cent.

"This means that once a player gets to a certain level and stops performing, he doesn't stay there forever and the team doesn't lose the rights to him.

13. Reduce regular-season games to 70 from 82

"I believe we play too many games. I think we should play 70 regular-season games and I think the product would be better, injuries would drop and I think our fans would be rewarded for that."

14. Revise salary arbitration by:

Adopting baseball's hi/low system
Allowing clubs to bring a player to arbitration
Permitting a team or player to file only once every 3 years

Burke argued that salary arbitration has to be amended if it stays in the new CBA. He believes salary arbitration has to adopt Major League Baseball's model where the arbitrator picks either the player or owner proposal, and not decide on a dollar figure somewhere in between.

Burke also believes that clubs should be able to bring a player into arbitration and that teams and players should only be allowed to file once every three years.

"Guys that file every year [make it a] highly inflationary process," states Burke.

15. Set a drop-dead date for player signings

Burke wants to adopt the NFL model where players that aren't signed by the start of the season are out for the year.

[Undecided]

Originally Posted by Senior

Brian Burke is a genius and probably the best hockey mind in the game. He once again drove this home with the following proposal to ending the current disspute.

A WORKING SOLUTION

1. Phase in agreement over two years

Burke argues the CBA, whatever form it takes, should not go into effect immediately.

"I argued vehemently against transitional rules, but now I'm convinced we're going to need them, so you're going to need to phase-in [a new CBA] over two years."

2. Commit to a 12-year contract

While Burke concedes that a 12-year contract is a long deal, he believes his system will work if the players are guaranteed their percentage of the designated hockey revenue, in combination with an "escrow portion of that and a portion of what the league has for revenue purposes." [see point #3 below]

3. Escrow:

Seven per cent of player payroll
Ten per cent of designated hockey revenue (DHR)
Arena construction fund

"The arena construction fund is something that they've done in the NFL with stadiums and I think the players will be in a lot better shape if we didn't have debt service on all our buildings."

4. Agree to share revenues of $200 million with $75 million coming from playoff pool

"I'm proposing revenue sharing be considered at $200 million, which is more than any of the other proposals I've seen," said Burke. "Only $75 million of that would be from the playoff pool. I think that should come from some of the wealthier teams."

5. Avoid luxury tax by establishing a payroll threshold at $38 million and payroll minimum of $33 million

"I don't like the term 'luxury tax'; players aren't a luxury," said Burke. "I'm not coming off the idea of a salary cap; I think it's the best system in pro sports. I think it has worked miracles in the National Football League. But if you have to go to something else, this might work."

Burke's numbers of a $38 million payroll threshold and a $33 million minimum are not set in stone.

"They're [flexible] numbers," explained Burke. "You would have to figure out what the hockey revenues are and [adjust] the players' percentage to come up with that."

6. Set overage fees at:

1st million = $0.50 on the dollar
2nd million = $1 per dollar
3rd million = $2 per dollar
4th million = $3 per dollar
5th million or more = $5 per dollar

Burke characterized the union's luxury tax proposal akin to "changing a side-view mirror on a bus that's going off a cliff."

"It will have absolutely no impact on spending. This is a realistic, ramped up tax that should have an effect on what clubs spend."

7. Reward good business behaviour by charging fees to repeat offenders

Under Burke's proposal, teams that exceed the payroll threshold year after year would be charged a fee, with that money distributed to teams that stay within the threshold.

"If a team repeatedly is up there and is inflationary, in my mind, the tax rate should change. You should reward good behaviour on the business front."

8. Guarantee players 55 per cent of DHR

Under Burke's plan, 55 per cent of the DHR would include "the income streams that are normally allocated to players in systems like this in the NBA and NFL."

9. Build trust with joint audit controls:

1st offence = $1 million fine
2nd offence = $5 million fine

Burke argues the league and union need to agree on a joint audit system similar to the NFL's in order to build trust between the two sides.

Under Burke's plan, any team that tries to hide money would be slapped with a million-dollar fine, while a second offence would see the fine rise to $5 million.

10. Establish four-year entry-level system with a maximum $250,000 in rookie bonuses

Burke helped negotiate the entry-level system part of the CBA ten years ago, but he feels that it is "ridiculous in terms of the bonuses that rookies can earn."

"That's money that should go to veteran players," argued Burke. "Tack a year on [the entry-level system] and cap what they can make in rookie bonuses."

11. Allow unrestricted free agency at age 29

Burke feels that unrestricted free agency should drop from 31 to 29 years of age.

"I'm sure that people will say that's not enough of a move, but I think unrestricted player movement has led to a loss of confusion of identity with players in the NFL and in Major League Baseball."

12. Amend qualifying offers to restricted free agents:

The team with the rights to a player only has to match 75 per cent of the offer from another team to players over 26 years old
50 per cent for players 26 years old and under

Under the current CBA, the qualifying rate for restricted free agents is 100 per cent, depending on the player's salary. Burke thinks this is a "highly inflationary practice."

Under his plan, players over 26-years-old would get qualified at 75 per cent, while players under 26 would get qualified at 50 per cent.

"This means that once a player gets to a certain level and stops performing, he doesn't stay there forever and the team doesn't lose the rights to him.

13. Reduce regular-season games to 70 from 82

"I believe we play too many games. I think we should play 70 regular-season games and I think the product would be better, injuries would drop and I think our fans would be rewarded for that."

14. Revise salary arbitration by:

Adopting baseball's hi/low system
Allowing clubs to bring a player to arbitration
Permitting a team or player to file only once every 3 years

Burke argued that salary arbitration has to be amended if it stays in the new CBA. He believes salary arbitration has to adopt Major League Baseball's model where the arbitrator picks either the player or owner proposal, and not decide on a dollar figure somewhere in between.

Burke also believes that clubs should be able to bring a player into arbitration and that teams and players should only be allowed to file once every three years.

"Guys that file every year [make it a] highly inflationary process," states Burke.

15. Set a drop-dead date for player signings

Burke wants to adopt the NFL model where players that aren't signed by the start of the season are out for the year.

BURKE IS MY MOTHERFUCKING HERO!!!!!! to bad no one will listen to him