idahophilly

LMAO... Disturbing how true that is....

He can't get any regular playing time so he is rusty. He hasn't even had what we would call a pre-season. 4 games spread over a month...

This is an interesting article from an un-likely source, Sam C.... Anyone who has read my opinions on the lockout knows that I'm kinda on the players side. However, I also understand that the owners OWN their teams and they are the boss, period. My problem with the owners is that they made the salary mess and allowed the NHL to make bad long term bad investments (Phoenix/Columbus Ect...). Now that it has become obvious they want the players to pay for the owner's mistakes while at the same time monkeying around with whats considered HRR... But they are the boss. Yes they should honor those contracts in my opinion, if for no other reason than to feel the pain, take their medecine and learn not to do it again. However, we all know that when the new CBA is in place that the Sniders of the world will find a whole new set of loop holes and throw whatever money they are allowed to all OVER the place. Yes, me, a huge Flyers fan is ripping on Snider because I KNOW he will do this, again... 6 years down the road the owners will be crying poor. Well, no wonder.... Bryz is making 1250% MORE than when he started. Read on and you might just not feel as bad for the players. But the article does illustrate the difference in a player like Walker/Lilja or a Briere/Hartnell... That my friends could be the achilles heel of the PA... Inside the Flyers: Locked-out NHL players not taking the long view. Sam Carchidi NHL players need to have a different perspective as they battle the men who have made them very rich. But before delving into the specifics of that statement, let's look at where we are: The owners and players are locked in a labor stalemate that has caused the cancellation of all games through Nov. 30, with the Winter Classic and All-Star Game next on the chopping block. There is plenty of blame to spread around. On both sides. At the center of the so-sad-it's-comical dispute is (what else?) finding an equitable way to divide the money. When both sides recently said they had arrived at the supposed magic number - a 50-50 split of hockey-related revenue (HRR) - the NHL responded with its best Keith Jackson impersonation. "Whoa, Nellie!" At which point, NHL representatives stormed out of the room, a mere 15 minutes after turning down the proposal from Donald Fehr and the players' union. The NHL said the union's proposal was superficial. In essence, it gives the players 56.7 percent of the HRR in the first year because the union doesn't want any money paid through future escrow installments. And so, we have been waiting for both sides to make another move. And waiting. And waiting. The NHL's proposal includes a "make whole" provision that would pay players their full salaries, with some of the payments deferred through escrow and funded by future player earnings. The NHLPA doesn't want that money coming from other players down the road. And so more games have been canceled, and a shortened season will forever stain (read: cheapen) the record books. That is, assuming there is some sort of season. Lost in all this waiting, all this posturing, is the fact that even if the players do lose 12 percent compared with the last CBA's revenue split - again, the NHL says that won't be the case - most of them will easily make that up in their next contracts. The players, owners of an average salary of $2.5 million, need to understand that not only will they make up the 12 percent, but, based on recent history, they will surpass their salaries by percentages that could reach the hundreds. Take the team that hopes to again play at the Wells Fargo Center, for instance. Excluding injured players, here are the current Flyers who were playing during the 2004-05 lockout - none were in Philadelphia at the time - and some of their salary highlights since then: Danny Briere. The diminutive center earned $1.6 million the season before the 2004-05 lockout. Briere made $5 million two years later, a 212 percent increase. Now he is on a deal that averages $6.5 million per year, a 306 percent increase since the other lockout. Kimmo Timonen. The veteran defenseman earned $2 million in the season before the 2004-05 lockout. He is finishing a six-year, $38 million contract that averages $6.3 million per season, a 215 percent increase since his first lockout. Scott Hartnell. The left winger earned $1.2 million in the season before the 2004-05 lockout. His salary gradually increased before he signed two long-term deals with the Flyers. The last one, a six-year pact that runs through 2018-19, averages $4.75 million per season - a 296 percent increase since the previous lockout. Ruslan Fedotenko. He earned $950,000 in the season before the 2004-05 lockout. Three years later, he was earning $2.9 million, a 205 percent increase. The well-traveled winger now earns $1.75 million, which is an 84 percent increase since his first lockout. Jody Shelley. The enforcer earned $600,000 during the season before the 2004-05 work stoppage and has received gradual increases along the way. He now earns $1.2 million - a 100 percent increase since his first lockout. Andreas Lilja. A spare defenseman, he earned $600,000 in the season before the 2004-05 lockout. Two years later, he was earning $1 million, a 40 percent increase. He now earns $727,000, a 21 percent increase from the first lockout. Some Flyers weren't NHL regulars yet during the 2004-05 lockout, including goalie Ilya Bryzgalov and defenseman Andrej Meszaros. Bryzgalov's first full NHL season was in 2005-06, when he earned $456,000. Three years later, he was making $4 million, a 777 percent increase. He now is on a nine-year deal that averages $5.7 million, a 1,250 percent increase over his initial contract. Meszaros made $982,400 in his first year (2005-06) and now averages $4 million per season, an increase of 307 percent. No one is begrudging the players their salary gains over the years. They are getting paid whatever the market bears. Good for them. But when their union leader complains about money's being deferred - or taken from future players - they need to look at the whole picture and take that new perspective to the bargaining table. Listening, Mr. Fehr? Didn't think so.

Shhh... Don't air our dirty laundry for everyone to see...

...like a man can only love another man! Eewww...

Man, you still found a way to work Bryz into the conversation. I think you have a secret man crush on him! :wub:

Wow...There is a Blue jackeys fan?

Wow, very well done indeed. My hats of to you Wingnut! I went with Osgood but otherwise we were thinking the same way. All are deserving.

Rad, don't ruin this with logic and facts....

That's where I'm at also. They should be bound by some sort of self worth and good humanity to atleast not rape and pillage as you say. They should not renege on the previous contracts but the dahm players gave the owners the right to do that in the last CBA! I don't like it but they did. But it does come down to this: Just because you can do something doesn't always mean you should. Karma can be a ***** and the owners are toying with it...

I have been to Columbus and didn't think it was bad. But the funny part is just what you said! He plays in frickin SIBERIA and also the writers retaliation demand... lol...

Stop trying to make sense. You'll ruin it for all the other sports cities journalists.

S Yeah, because we booed him! Santa doesn't forget things like that...

How about an "e" for effort?

He might even wear a crazy suit when he flames them!

I'll let you know what "powert" means later when i figure it out... But, leave those poor sheep alone and count some goats....

This one is funny! Matthew Barry from hockeybuzz Andrei Kostytsyn Doesn't Like North America? Well, look at it from HIS point of view. You're from Russia, you land in an airport. You see Michelle Bachman on the TV. 'Nuff said. You settle in, you drive around, you stop into a Wal-Mart because you don't know any better. You are greeted by someone who looks like they're wearing a wicked witch of the west halloween mask, but it's June, and its not a mask. It's like a house of horrors in there, isn't it? He states that Columbus is the gloomiest city in America? Really? I think something got lost in translation here. I mean, Detroit? Newark? I think what he meant to say was, "After coming over from Montreal, where the nightlife is plentiful, the women are beautiful and loose... I run into Columbus, where the women get on a scale and it reads, "One at a time please", and the only way I can get a drink after 8pm is to order a limo (thank you Sam Kinison). I mean, do you know ANYONE who has married a woman from Columbus? THAT'S what he means by "gloomy." “I couldn’t get used to (American) mentality. They are totally different people from us,” Okay, so it's not like American's are something out of a Steven Spielberg alien movie, but can you imagine living in Russia and running into the likes of a Russian hillbilly? And I can only imagine being a Russian, turning on the TV and having to try and decipher what the hell Sarah Palin was trying to communicate. For crying out loud, this is a country that embraces the likes of Honey Boo Boo and the Octomom. Yet Another Ass Threatening to Stay in Russia I'll give anyone, I mean anyone 1,000 to 1 odds on a hundred dollar bet that Ilya Koval-choke will not be staying in Russia when the lockout is over. He's making 11 million dollars cash and COMPLAINING? Tell that to the guy who bags your fries next time you're at the drive thru. Tell that to the guy who towels off your Ferrari and has to politely smile as you give him a buck for the honor. I'm praying some redneck in the state department somehow manages to lose his and Ovechkin's visa applications. Imagine if we said this crap about Russia? How fast would our passports be revoked? Remember last year when Kevin Dallman's wife spoke out about the unbelievable abuse in Russia? Their most popular import player was on a plane back to Beantown so fast, he didn't even know what hit him. Why do we put up with this crap? And where's Tim Thomas' big mouth when you need it? Why isn't he standing up for America? And where's Brendan Shanahan? And Don Cherry! Where's his piano playing big mouth blasting these ungrateful Russians? Where is ANY North American's reaction to these asinine quotes? There's got to be ONE dude to flame on these guys? Where's J.R.? Where's Ray Ferraro? Sean Avery's GOT to come up with something even dumber to say! I demand retaliation!

Well, we could have an owner who doesn't care about winning...

That makes in "nearly infinate to the 7th powert".

That would be one big canister but if any city could do it, it would be Philly... Besides, as you can tell by my poll, it's somewhat tongue in cheek though no can deny the universal hate towards both teams. Why??? That can be debated from now to dooms day...

The Brooklyn Americans are back! ok maybe not....

Well, atleast Barclays center sits on the eastern edge of the OK area but good luck making it through the "dont think about it & hood" areas to get there (if you live out on the Island).

This kinda outlines the harsh realities of business in the last segment in regards to the employer vs the employee. While I support the players in their cause the facts still linger in the back of my mind, and those facts are not good for the players... Push comes to shove, it's the owners business plain and simple... "Fact-Checking the NHL Lockout Alan Bass While half the country (US of A, that is) watches and fact checks the presidential debates, I believe we’re drastically missing out on a market that fact checks this NHL lockout. I rarely try to take sides on a labor issue in any sport. However, what I always attempt to do is ensure that arguments being made are legitimate, accurate, and that they make logical sense – which they seldom do. Hey, this really does sound like the presidential race! Statement: NHLPA head Don Fehr said the players lost $3.3 billion collectively over the term of the last CBA. Reality: While that may be true, he failed to mention that their average salary during that time was $2.5 million annually. It must be tough to feed your family on that. Ask Terrell Owens. Statement: Each of the NHLPA’s three recent proposals guaranteed the revenue split eventually reached 50-50. Reality: No, they didn’t. There was absolutely no guarantee in any of those deals. Statement: If the NHL and the NHLPA collectively decreased everyone’s salary, ticket prices would go down. Reality: Clearly, these people never took Economics 101. Ticket prices are based on supply vs. demand. If the demand is there, the prices will continue to increase. For every dollar Jim Dolan decreases ticket prices, he loses $820,000 per season in revenue. Statement: The NHL needs to do something to win its fans back after this lockout ends. Reality: The NHL is a monopoly on its own. The number of fans lost to a lockout is minimal, as was apparent in the last lockout. Every fan will come back enthusiastically, whether it takes two games or two minutes. Statement: “Think of the outcry that greeted any NHLer who tried to renege on a contract he signed to get a better deal. That's what owners are doing.” –Adam Proteau via Twitter, @ProteauType Reality: As much as I love Proteau (a former co-worker, I might add), he is way off. If the owners locked out the players mid-CBA, that’s one thing. But the deal has expired, and like a player negotiating himself a raise from his GM in free agency, the owners have every right to renegotiate a new agreement. Neither side is breaking a contract – they’re simply trying to agree on a new one. Statement: KHL players will stay in Russia if their NHL salaries are going to be cut. Reality: In the words of Barney Stinson, please. What isn’t reported is the KHL mandate that no NHL player can be paid more than 65% of his NHL contract this season. So players are willing to take a 35% pay cut to play in Russia, but not the 12% pay cut the NHL owners are proposing? Sure. Statement: Every NHLPA press release Reality: The owners are always in charge, in any labor situation. The way to win over someone who has more power than you is not to insult them through obnoxious press releases, such as, “We hope we will soon have a willing negotiating partner.” Statement: You can’t split the NHL 50-50 like every other sports league, because players have escrow held out of their paychecks. Reality: The NHL is the least profitable of the four sports leagues, and is not even close to MLB and the NFL. The CEO of a $1 million business should usually not be paid more than the CEO of a $1 billion business. Statement: The players deserve the 57% because they take the biggest risk: playing. Reality: Any media member claiming this has never been involved in the business world. In every business ever created, the one who owns it has the most risk involved, and has all the power. I have a great amount of sympathy for players losing a large percentage of a paycheck they are used to receiving. But the bottom line is that the owners risk hundreds of millions of dollars, and half the teams fail to even turn a profit. If WalMart wants to pay their workers minimum wage with no benefits, that’s dreadful and immoral, but it’s 100% allowed and 100% legal. The NHL owners have a huge financial risk and run the league that allows these players to make obscene amounts of money. When the players realize that they cannot dictate terms to their bosses is when a deal will finally begin to take shape."

He made my list here for sure. The research I did he had to be included. Some guy named Orr is leading the poll though. These upstart kids! Where do they come from?