Post by jets07 on Jan 20, 2005 15:30:24 GMT -5
Here's a former Jet who get the picture:
Former NHL goaltender and current Mighty Ducks of Anaheim broadcaster Brian Hayward commented on Collective Bargaining in a recent interview with Orange County Register columnist Mark Whicker. Following are excerpts from Whicker's column:
The NHL faces a classic moment of truth this week, and the consequences are clear. If the lockout continues, the regular season disappears. So will the hallowed Stanley Cup playoffs.
Wayne Gretzky has gloomily predicted a two-year interruption. Union boss Bob Goodenow has told the players to prepare for the void.
Brian Hayward, the TV analyst for the Mighty Ducks, says Goodenow should give the players his own moment of truth:
Hey, boys, we lost. Let's go get 'em tomorrow.
...
"His M.O. is waiting until the very last second," Hayward said. "There's a sliver of a chance to save the season and the playoffs. But this is a critical week.
"What Goodenow should do is tell them that there is going to be a salary cap of some kind. And that waiting until next year is just going to hurt the players. There's $2 billion in revenue now. That figure is going to go down if there's no season."
Hayward has told some Mighty Ducks the same thing. The significance of this is that Hayward is no management mascot. He was a 10-year NHL goalie who was also a player representative and occasionally squared off against management.
He does not work in the Ducks' management structure and has no particular bench on which to sit. If Hayward is hearing the final horn, everyone should start listening.
...
"I was in the union, but that ended when I retired. I've run businesses since then, and I know that you can't succeed when 75 percent of your revenue is going to salaries. I see how it hurts the Ducks' organization. There's a lot they could do in community relations, in staff salaries. But when most of the money goes out the door to players, it puts a limit on everything else you can do."
...
"The (Union's proposed) rollback," Hayward said, "only applied to players who had contracts at the time. I think the Ducks have about eight guys under contract. There are a ton of free agents out there and they weren't involved in it.
...
"A luxury tax won't work, because the game will still be affected by the bad decisions of some teams. I don't think the union offered a long-term solution. You need a cap. I like the fact the league has proposed a salary floor, too. And the cap should adjust and go up when revenues go up. But the players have to know that the longer we go without an agreement, the money will go down."
...
"We need 30 viable markets to have a legitimate major sport," Hayward said. "Players sometimes say, well, there's too many teams. I find that incredible. A player should want the maximum number of jobs out there. The average NHL career is eight years. A player doesn't want to spend two of them in Europe for half of his NHL salary. Off the record, some of them tell you they know a cap is necessary.
"The players are the ones who should tell Bob Goodenow to make a deal this week. He works for them."
(Orange County Register columnist Mark Whicker, January 18, 2005)
* * *
Former NHL goaltender and current Mighty Ducks of Anaheim broadcaster Brian Hayward commented on Collective Bargaining in a recent interview with Orange County Register columnist Mark Whicker. Following are excerpts from Whicker's column:
The NHL faces a classic moment of truth this week, and the consequences are clear. If the lockout continues, the regular season disappears. So will the hallowed Stanley Cup playoffs.
Wayne Gretzky has gloomily predicted a two-year interruption. Union boss Bob Goodenow has told the players to prepare for the void.
Brian Hayward, the TV analyst for the Mighty Ducks, says Goodenow should give the players his own moment of truth:
Hey, boys, we lost. Let's go get 'em tomorrow.
...
"His M.O. is waiting until the very last second," Hayward said. "There's a sliver of a chance to save the season and the playoffs. But this is a critical week.
"What Goodenow should do is tell them that there is going to be a salary cap of some kind. And that waiting until next year is just going to hurt the players. There's $2 billion in revenue now. That figure is going to go down if there's no season."
Hayward has told some Mighty Ducks the same thing. The significance of this is that Hayward is no management mascot. He was a 10-year NHL goalie who was also a player representative and occasionally squared off against management.
He does not work in the Ducks' management structure and has no particular bench on which to sit. If Hayward is hearing the final horn, everyone should start listening.
...
"I was in the union, but that ended when I retired. I've run businesses since then, and I know that you can't succeed when 75 percent of your revenue is going to salaries. I see how it hurts the Ducks' organization. There's a lot they could do in community relations, in staff salaries. But when most of the money goes out the door to players, it puts a limit on everything else you can do."
...
"The (Union's proposed) rollback," Hayward said, "only applied to players who had contracts at the time. I think the Ducks have about eight guys under contract. There are a ton of free agents out there and they weren't involved in it.
...
"A luxury tax won't work, because the game will still be affected by the bad decisions of some teams. I don't think the union offered a long-term solution. You need a cap. I like the fact the league has proposed a salary floor, too. And the cap should adjust and go up when revenues go up. But the players have to know that the longer we go without an agreement, the money will go down."
...
"We need 30 viable markets to have a legitimate major sport," Hayward said. "Players sometimes say, well, there's too many teams. I find that incredible. A player should want the maximum number of jobs out there. The average NHL career is eight years. A player doesn't want to spend two of them in Europe for half of his NHL salary. Off the record, some of them tell you they know a cap is necessary.
"The players are the ones who should tell Bob Goodenow to make a deal this week. He works for them."
(Orange County Register columnist Mark Whicker, January 18, 2005)
* * *