NHL Lock-Out
Those of you that know me know that I love hockey. I always have, and I always will; that aside, I am not terribly exultant with the NHL at the moment. In case you’re unaware, the start of the National Hockey League is being delayed, and that’s being optimistic. It might not even happen this year. The league wants to institute a salary cap for teams (like football) and, needless to say, the players are totally against it.
The players feel that they should be able to earn as much money as GMs are willing to pay them. While this may sound fair, it really isn’t if the sport is to become more enjoyable to watch and, in turn, more popular. Just like football, there needs to be a certain degree of balance. Yeah, the Red Wings are fun to watch, but who wants to see a team dominate, over and over, due to their superstar-laden roster? And it’s not as if the players would have to live paycheck-to-paycheck with a salary cap, worrying about whether they’d be able to pay the heating bill and clothe their children. Give me a break. Jaromir Jagr makes the most at a lofty 11.5 million per year, and, while once arguably one of the best players, has consistently played poorly. He is just one big, greedy, asshole disappointment. Bobby Holik (the one with the killer unibrow) makes 10 million dollars per year and doesn’t deserve half of that. Even with a cap, these people would still be making loads of money, and the game would be far more enjoyable as a result.
Jeremy Roenick, who is one of my all-time favorite players and probably the biggest personality in hockey, had a suggestion: cap individual players’ salaries, not the teams’. This might sound okay on the surface, but think about it: Instead of the Rangers having to shell out 10 million for players like Bure and Holik, they might only have to pay them 6 or 7. Then, guess what? The team has more funds to buy even more stars and, effectively, buy themselves a Stanley Cup. And what’s the glory in that? You may argue that buying a cup has proven close to impossible. I definitely disagree. New York may not know what the hell they’re doing at the moment, but other teams, given the opportunity, could easily capitalize. And it’s only a matter of time before the Rangers find themselves a quality coach and prove you all wrong.
So, while I do love hockey and the NHL, I am very dissatisfied with the attitude of its players. It’s quite obvious that they’re just like greedy, pussy baseball players in that they’d prefer to sit at home whining about their salaries rather than play for the love of the game and the fans. And to repeat: it’s not like they’d be living on welfare with a salary cap. Come on hockey players, open your fucking eyes. We want to watch some hockey and you arrogant, greedy whores think you’re too good to play for less than what you make? Hockey has a small enough following as it is. This kind of a strike could prove to lessen the fan-base. Guess what that would mean? It would mean teams would make less money, as ticket sales are every franchise’s main source of revenue. When they lose some, they can’t pay their players as much. Elementary! Way to go, hockey champs. You’re fighting for a worthy cause.