Comments on: Ovechkin: I’ll stay in the KHL if the NHL cuts salaries

By: tealwithit

tealwithit — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 20:05:19 +0000

manchestermiracle – I’m a Clippers fan. There aren’t many of us. And I really only started liking them years ago because I felt sorry for them. Last season was not typical for that team… Chris Paul and the “Lob City” thing brought them a lot of attention, they made the playoffs (for the fifth time since they left Buffalo in the ’70s), and they went further in the playoffs than the Lakers, which was a big deal. The Lakers’ attendance was low because the team was struggling, ticket prices were still outrageous, and they have a lot of fair-weather fans who started going to Kings games when it became cool. Clip Show tickets were far cheaper, and they had the more exciting team.

By: tealwithit

tealwithit — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 19:42:37 +0000

hockeydon10 – First statement is true. Second statement should be “He has a contract so the owners should honor it.” The expiration of the CBA allows for the negotiation of a new deal, and player contracts are contingent on the terms of whatever CBA is currently in place. As much as it sucks to go through this every 5-10 years, CBAs have expiration dates for a reason. Things change over time, especially when a league sees the kind of unexpected growth that the NHL has, and the terms of the agreement need to be adjusted accordingly. Unfortunately, that sometimes means the players get screwed.

By: lebcapsfan

lebcapsfan — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 21:11:46 +0000

Not completely true. The Caps after hitting a brick wall named Halak in 2010 switched to a defense first system (under Boudreau and Hunter) from the run-and-gun system the Capitals used in years prior, and Ovechkin as well as most other player’ numbers collapsed, from Backstrom to Ovi to Green to Semin…

It’ll be interesting to see what system Dynamo Moscow uses and how will Ovechkin fair in it.

By: manchestermiracle

manchestermiracle — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 20:45:57 +0000

tealwithit: Clippers were #7 in attendance last year, Lakers #8. Is that your definition of “barely” supporting?

By: babykaby

babykaby — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 19:57:01 +0000

First of all, to those of you saying Caps fans don’t want Ovechkin on the team, you are mistaken. I can guarantee 95% of Caps fans want Ovi back and love having him on the team. Next, for those of you saying Ovi shouldn’t be captain, that Brooks Laich should be, Ovechkin’s teammates wanted him as captain. I think their opinions mean more on that subject than yours. Let’s continue. Those of you saying he’s not any good anymore, that he is washed up, to be fifth in the league in scoring in an “off” year is not washed up. Most of you finding fault with Ovi are fans of other teams and would love to have Ovechkin on your team, it is not going to happen so find fault with your own less than spectacular players and get off Ovi’s back. Specifically to the IDIOT who states Backstrom is only a good player and that affected Ovi, obviously you do not watch him play. It is common knowledge to most hockey people in the know, Backstrom is much better than just “good”. This past season Backstrom missed most of the season because of a cheap shot to the head, and when he did play it was mostly on the second line with Semin, maybe if he had played more often with Ovi both of their numbers would have been better. Finally, before I jump down from my soapbox, in this day and age only a fool would be willing to give part of their paycheck back to their employer. If you say you would give money back to your wealthy boss, I’m calling you a straight out liar or just plain stupid. Rock on, Ovi.

By: hockeydon10

hockeydon10 — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 17:55:42 +0000

He has a contract so he has to honor it unless he can get out of it?

He has a contract so the owners have to honor it, which does not include asking for kickbacks.

By: hockeydon10

hockeydon10 — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 17:28:33 +0000

They’re willing to see their share of HRR reduced over time. That’s not even in question any more. What they’re unwilling to do is give the owners immediate kickbacks when the new contract is signed.

By: theenutty

theenutty — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 15:29:06 +0000

Lets have Giroux put up more than one 90 pt season before we christen him a “superstar”.

By: travishenryskid

travishenryskid — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 13:29:44 +0000

You’re trying to tell me this kid didn’t dream about the NHL?

https://www.google.com/search?mmns=1&hl=en&redir_esc=&client=ms-android-att-us&source=android-browser-type&v=141338691&qsubts=1348147359836&action=devloc&q=ovechkin+sabres+jacket

By: ravenscaps48

ravenscaps48 — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 13:08:34 +0000

He’s not the Captain of this team. Everyone knows that Brooks Laich is the Heart and Soul of the Caps. Ovechkin is Captain because Crosby is a Captain, that’s the ONLY reason!

By: ravenscaps48

ravenscaps48 — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 13:04:28 +0000

In agreeance with this statement, I’d like to point out that Ovie scored 38 Goals. Which was good for 5th in the League. If he is in a slump, and he is still top 5 in Goals Scored? I will happily take that… And another thing. He scored 38 Goals, with his best playmaker out for 41 games! You mean to tell me that none of you clowns think that he wouldn’t have gotten 12 or more Goals if Backstrom hadn’t been elbowed by Rene Bourque and played a full season? I think he would’ve definitely eclipsed the 50 Goal mark

By: tru2joelu4eva

tru2joelu4eva — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 06:52:23 +0000

seriously…

By: tealwithit

tealwithit — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 05:13:03 +0000

You can’t put two NHL teams in one market. Even LA can barely support both the Lakers and the Clippers… And it’s LA (and the Staples Center), which has enough celebrities and wealthy people who can afford to pay enormous ticket prices to be seen at Lakers games, and a large and diverse enough population to also be able to fill seats at Clippers games. Plus it’s the NBA.

By: tealwithit

tealwithit — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 05:05:51 +0000

It doesn’t help. All this stuff does is anger the owners, not scare them. He’s got a contract, so he has to come back to the NHL as soon as the lockout ends, unless he can somehow get out of it… which is very unlikely. And having him go to Russia in the meantime doesn’t hurt the owners. If anything, comments like these serve to turn fans against him and the players. And while fan sympathy doesn’t do much to benefit either side in terms of the CBA negotiations, Fehr’s probably focusing so much time and energy on gaining fan support for the players because it helps in keeping them from feeling even more pressure to cave in.

By: eyeh8goodell

eyeh8goodell — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 02:46:16 +0000

That’s BS. I’m from PA and I live and play hockey here in South Florida. Im 37 but i can say for sure the youth hockey scene here has gotten far stronger over the years. Don’t make the mistake of using Panthers ticket sales as a measuring stick for an area’s viability. I guarantee you the USA Hockey membership numbers here dwarf the Panthers ticket sales.

By: eyeh8goodell

eyeh8goodell — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 02:35:32 +0000

What makes you think Russian players grow up dreaming of winning a North American sports trophy? They don’t. They may crave the prestige and lifestyle the NHL offers….but the Stanley Cup is not thier trophy. It doesn’t mean nearly as much to them……..or any European.

By: barkar942

barkar942 — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 02:35:05 +0000

Didn’t the KHL say they wouldn’t tender offers to second tier players?
Something tells me that Brian Boyle and Brandon Prust and a hundred more like them won’t be suiting up any time soon there!

By: sportmentary

sportmentary — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 02:03:30 +0000

Good. I hope it becomes reality and not just words. I can;t stand the guy.

http://www.sportmentary.com/2012/09/face-off-nhl-lockout-is-good-for-nhl.html

By: blomfeld

blomfeld — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 00:53:46 +0000

WELCOME HOME BIG MAN !

Obviously the goof’s reading from a prepared script. What you don’t see which is likely just out of sight from the camera, is the barrel of a Kalashnikov pointing right at the idiot’s head. Judging by the new haircut and stark backdrop, I’d bet dimes to dollars that “big man” Ovi’s been arrested and is now under-going a psychiatric assessment at some Russian mental-wellness facility !

By: polegojim

polegojim — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 00:03:35 +0000

Haha… exactly what I was thinking.

I’m good with him staying.

By: ricepilof

ricepilof — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 21:21:35 +0000

please please please Ovi, just stay over there. You are washed up anyways. Your days of scoring 60+ goals in the NHL are far behind you and you will barely crack the 40+ goals in a season ever again. Dale Hunter must have left a sour taste in your pus when you got a great dose of reality last playoffs.

By: michflaguy

michflaguy — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 21:10:11 +0000

So true. Nicely said. I am from Michigan (Go Wings), but now live in Florida, and NO ONE down here under the age of 30 is interested in hockey. It was a HUGE mistake to blindly start up new teams in the Sun Belt…it just doesn’t fit. I say that if they want more teams, they should try to double up teams in the *existing* big US markets like Chicago, Detroit, Boston, etc. Those towns could EASILY support two NHL teams, and the $$$ would not be a problem come contract time for the league. Just a thought…

By: claysbar

claysbar — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 21:06:57 +0000

Another thing to remember is staying in game shape. You can practice all you want but real game play is the important thing. When the lockout is over, it’ll be shortened camp, few, if any, pre-season games and then probably, depending on when it ends, a situation like the NBA, playing 4 games a week for a few months. I’m not B-Ball fan at all but just remember seeing all the injury reports because guys were not in game shape and they were playing too much, too quickly.

By: michflaguy

michflaguy — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 21:04:50 +0000

It’s September.
The NFL season has started.
Baseball is nearing the playoffs.
College football is underway too.
NO ONE is going to care if the NHL doesn’t start the season on time…and *that* will hurt the game and EVERYONE in the game: players, owners, coaches, fans. Everyone.
Get your heads out of your sphincters and get a stinkin’ deal signed and START SKATING!!!
Go Wings! : – )

By: reap17

reap17 — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 20:54:15 +0000

you dont know what russian kids dream about, if i was ovi i would stay in russia if i got payed the same. Lets say the KHL was the best league on earth and NHL was second. you had to leave your family and go play in the KHL because its a better league. but if an NHL team offered you the same amount of money i bet you would come back to your HOME COUNTRY to play. I dont blame ovi.

By: blomfeld

blomfeld — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 20:39:50 +0000

It’s not actually a laughing matter. Not so many years ago, we used to get shocked by the sight of Aeroflot pilots hanging the heads out of the cockpit window with cigarettes dangling from their lips … during re-fueling on the tarmac ! That’s just the way they are and it will never change.

By: tealwithit

tealwithit — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 20:35:53 +0000

That may be true, but we’re only hearing from a select group of players, and they’re saying what they’ve been told to say. Fehr wants the players to appear united and strong, so that’s what they’re showing us. It’s easy to forget how many players can’t afford a lockout. Over half of all NHL players play less than 100 games in their career, and half play four seasons or less. The average career lasts 238 games, but the median career is only 86 games. The average salary is $2.4 million, but the median is about $1.4 million – so roughly 1/3 of the union is making less than $1 million.
And then when you consider that each paycheck represents 8.3 percent of a player’s salary (and the owners’ proposal asks for an 8 percent pay cut in the first year), it becomes pretty clear that skipping more than one or two of those has got to be really difficult for a lot of players. How many 8.3 percent paychecks are they going to be willing to miss while fighting over 8 percent?
If I was one of the guys in that one-third group, I wouldn’t be all too thrilled with players like Ovechkin going around saying they’d be happy to spend a year or more playing in the KHL if the owners don’t give in. Not everyone has the luxury of heading to Europe and collecting paychecks over there.

By: kodyknight2821

kodyknight2821 — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 20:35:24 +0000

What a captain..

By: blomfeld

blomfeld — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 20:34:11 +0000

Well said friend ! … this is exactly why I’ve always maintained that Bettman’s “sunbelt” experiment was a complete and colossal mistake, driven by nothing more than blind greed and stupidity. Ice hockey taking root in the land of scorpions and 100 degree temperatures (ie: Phoenix) makes about as much sense as the WNBA expanding into Saudi Arabia !

By: michiganhockey11

michiganhockey11 — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 20:04:44 +0000

Then again, “most” hockey players don’t live like their counterparts in football/basketball. That being the case, they (even 3-4 liners) shouldn’t do “too” bad if games are missed or if an entire season is (compared to the rest of us that don’t make sports salaries).