Comments on: Crosby, Ovechkin on hand for NHLPA presentation

By: holeecowman

holeecowman — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 13:33:15 +0000

sca realy didnt like this lol as for best player in the league a few yrs ago i wouldve have agreed with you but hes not take away all the cant hit cindy rules and all the dont get in his way rules and he is a normal player the league incorperated these rules to make him the face of the nhl big mistake the ice chickens m&b about everything but yet in turn do the same thing i realy hope everybody woke up and realised how dirty and cheap they realy are they exposed there true colors in the 2012 playoffs ok that is all break,………..
ok now let the grammer nazis sweat over that lol
out

By: lonespeed

lonespeed — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 13:18:08 +0000

@hystoracle and @billobrienschindimple

No, I’m was not saying that. You’re missing seeing the forest for the trees.

I’m not in any way saying a college education or non-college education qualifies you or dis-qualifies you from being a good represenative. Many people have educated themselves outside of college to great degrees of success; however, there is some value to having a college education over not having one.

My primary point is Sydney Crosby to my knowledge has done nothing off the ice to build his credentials to be valuable at the negotiation table or as a player represenative. Just because he’s a superstar on the ice doesn’t mean anything off the ice.

By: mslehn

mslehn — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 04:36:54 +0000

There’s a lot of smart people in that room, players included. The mood appears to be positive and I think that is all we can hope for as fans while these proceedings take place. Positive and Productive are the keys to hockey being on my TV come October!

By: hockeyflow33

hockeyflow33 — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 19:47:01 +0000

Going to college doesn’t dictate whether one is intelligent or not; history will show you that is the case.

Also, the document is being drafted by some of the best lawyers money can buy, not the players.

By: billobrienschindimple

billobrienschindimple — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 18:56:25 +0000

Bill Gates did not graduate from college. But if there were a conference regarding the future of the PC I’m willing to bet he gets an invite.

The lawyers, which includes NHLPA chief negotiator Fehr, are there to supply the brains. The players are there to represent their best interests. If anyone thinks for a second that Brees and/or Brady were the brains that came up with ANY of the NFLPA’s offers last year then I have a nice bridge in Brooklyn that I am selling.

By: cruuuzcontrol

cruuuzcontrol — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 18:27:58 +0000

Boy, if anything, the NHL should be glad it doesn’t have some of you rocket scientists at the negotiating table. Many of you seem unable to comprehend things like the meaning and essence of “collective bargaining” and the concepts of union solidarity.

By: claysbar

claysbar — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 18:27:40 +0000

All NHL players pay union dues. All players have the right to attend these meetings and should. You don’t have to be college educated to care about the negotiations that will dictate your future earnings and work conditions. After reading some of the above comments, the only people who should attend are people who have studied law/contract negotiation. Given the fact that anyone with a law degree tends to simply make things more complicated and expensive for the parties involved, I’d want to be there too to see the process for future days.

By: hystoracle

hystoracle — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 17:58:42 +0000

You like the Lightning, too?

By: hystoracle

hystoracle — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 17:57:58 +0000

SO you are saying only those with college degrees should bother to attend? i.e. Jeff Helpern, Dom Moore, Marty St. Louis, Tim Thomas, etc. (to name a few)

Personally, I’m impressed that these guys care enough to participate in the new CBA that will rule their professional lives for the next several years. How educated do you have to be to understand you are getting screwed?

By: sheckyrimshot

sheckyrimshot — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 17:47:44 +0000

he’s there representing the LTIR

By: babykaby

babykaby — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 17:37:48 +0000

With the comment you made, I have to question your intelligence. Regardless of the age, stardom or education of any of these players in attendance, what you fail to recognize is this is their professional lives that are being negotiated. These players, along with those not in attendance. will be required to vote on the proposal. I think it is very smart of each one of them to attend these meetings so they have first hand knowledge of what is being negotiated. In my twenties, as with most people, I was making decisions that affected my life long term. These guys are just looking out for their interests. They WOULD be insane not to show interest or take part. Also, most of these players are smart enough to sign a contract, so I’m pretty sure they are smart enough to recognize what is beneficial and what is not. You cite two football players that went to college, let me throw back at you, how many athletes actually learned anything in college? Most of them went to college to play their sport and get drafted, not to learn anything. Just because they attended college doesn’t mean they can even read or write, God knows most of them can’t even speak properly. I’ll take a hockey player any day.

By: miketoasty

miketoasty — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 17:25:27 +0000

Man I love having the best player in the league on my team. Haters gunna hate.

By: holeecowman

holeecowman — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 17:05:41 +0000

crosby is saying that he wants the ice chickens to remain untouchable for any infractions ie, head hunting, knee on knee hits, hits from behind, slashing of the hands/feet, hitting players while they are down, kicking other players while they are down, leaping into other players while in the corners and lets not forget about this class act pushing equipment away from players crosby has no buisness there period hope they stockpiled tissues before the meeting hope ovi knocks him out afterwards

By: flyersgoalscoredby88

flyersgoalscoredby88 — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 17:00:23 +0000

If they are there to relay the information back to their teammates, per Eklund’s article today, then it makes sense. If they’re doing the negotiating they’re at best sorely misguided and at worst idiotic. They’re going up against a team of businessmen and the best lawyers money can buy. They have the money and they hired the leadership to wage this fight for them. Let people do their jobs and you’ll be successful. The owners know that and rely on Bettman and his team of lawyers.

By: lonespeed

lonespeed — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 16:56:54 +0000

One graduated from Purdue and the other graduated from Michigan?

Many of the NHL superstars didn’t even attend college. It’s not an intelligence knock, it’s an education knock. That’s not to say there aren’t many other qualified represenatives that did come up through the college ranks or may have pursued post-grade school education while in the NHL.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating that a college education automatically qualifies you as a strong candidate to be a league negotiation represenative either. I think the point rabidbillsfan is making is just because your a league superstar doesn’t mean that stardom translates over to what is in the best interest for the players as a whole.

The superstars generally come up through juniors and never pursue any education outside of high-school. It doesn’t make them dumb, it makes them less equiped to contribute in this particular arena. Whereas the owners are highly educated and experience in the realm of business. It’s really David-vs-Goliath. The players need to hire smart people to represent them to even the playing field and they need to assign more reasonable represenatives from their player base.

By: augsburg12

augsburg12 — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 16:45:47 +0000

What a turnout The stars on ice. The money makers. Right if you say so. I’ve been watching hockey all my life and the league was making money long before and will long after these super stars are gone. Sign a deal and let us poor people watch the game we love. And probably would play for far less than these greedy. You get the point. Plus are there not a very large number of great player just waiting their chance to break into the big leagues. Maybe they should fire the lot and start over.

By: billobrienschindimple

billobrienschindimple — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 16:16:30 +0000

And what, exactly, are Brees and Brady’s credentials?

By: bleedingteal4life

bleedingteal4life — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 16:01:28 +0000

They’re just taking up space. If they wanted them to be of any use, they should have invited their lawyers to participate.

By: tmoore4075

tmoore4075 — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 16:00:45 +0000

Bingo. And I’m pretty sure they aren’t the team reps actually. Most of the time the stars are not the reps.

By: btaberle

btaberle — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 15:57:32 +0000

Dick DiPietro?

By: cosmoandmelovepens

cosmoandmelovepens — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 15:56:46 +0000

I agree with napoleon. They have got the stars there to make a subtle statement. But many of them didn’t finsh highschool or go to college. Thats why they have all those other people there, like Craig Adams. Because I bet they All went to ivy league or well respected schools.

By: napoleonblownapart6887

napoleonblownapart6887 — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 15:43:37 +0000

How can you say you’re not knocking their intelligence when you expect them to be asking “What does this word mean?” You make it sound like these guys are going to be key parts in the budgetary analysis or the negotiations. They’re going to be sitting their, sipping water and not saying anything. I actually think it makes a lot of sense to have these guys there as a not-so-subtle way of saying to the owners, “these are the guys that make you all that money. Without these guys you’ve got some really quiet arenas around the NHL.”

These guys have as much of a right to be at these presentations as anyone else regardless of their age.

By: deeboy

deeboy — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 15:41:21 +0000

FWIW – Craig Adams went to Harvard. He should have some good input.

By: rabidbillsfan

rabidbillsfan — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 15:33:28 +0000

I get it, they are the NHL stars and should have a say, but really? Ovi is 27, Crosby 25, Stamkos 23, Tavares 20 as well as Subban. Can I see some degree’s? “Well, I need to be able to afford that new Ferrari, so make sure we get atleast enough for that.” Or “What does this word mean?” It may seem like I’m knocking on the guys intellegence, I’m not, but how can having a room full of 20-somethings really end in an acceptable offer to the NHL? They should appoint team reps like the NFL. Yes, some stars still represent their teams, but Drew Brees and Tom Brady seem a bit more qualified to sit on these type of talks then Subban and Tavares.

By: charleslouis99

charleslouis99 — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 15:25:27 +0000

I’m sure the rivalry will be incorporated into this somehow lol
jk