Comments on: Report: ‘Hawks medically clear Hossa from concussion

By: elvispocomo

elvispocomo — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 19:26:18 +0000

It just seems so simple now doesn’t it? The NHL had to power to make a decision on those contracts being contrary to the spirit of the CBA so why didn’t they act then rather than wait until it became an issue so big it’s partly to blame for not having signed a new CBA so far.

By: killerpgh

killerpgh — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 20:36:19 +0000

The part I still don’t understand is how the NHL approved Kovy’s first contract and then said it violated the CBA and dropped the hammer on them. I’m far from a Devil’s fan but the organization got screwed, IMO. I don’t like those type of contract and that one that took Kovy to the age of 43 was pretty bad, but it should have just been a nonapproval in the first place. Bettman is a lawyer and should have done his job right the first time and closed that “loophole” during the last CBA negotiations.

By: elvispocomo

elvispocomo — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 19:37:47 +0000

Apologies if I seem bitter in my reply to an update on a good player getting healthy after an unnecessary and indistinct injury, but the stupidity of this lockout will do that to a person.

By: elvispocomo

elvispocomo — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 19:35:50 +0000

Glad to hear he’s healthy (you shouldn’t wish that on anyone), but your last sentence is true. His contract, followed by Luongo’s but preceded by Zetterberg’s (and even DiPietro’s in relation to term length as it doesn’t back dive), should never have been allowed in the first place as the NHL still has approval rights on all contracts signed. It would have been that simple.

They’re pretty clearly meant to circumvent the CBA at the time, but Bettman and the NHL couldn’t say no to Detroit and Chicago as original 6 teams. They only thought to look at them after the fact once it was clear from Luongo’s deal this was becoming a trend. By that point, both Zetterberg and Hossa had played a year under their deals (the 2009/10 season) and Hossa had even won a cup with Chicago. There’s no way they could go back then and have the Stanley Cup winners forfeit games for having Hossa on their roster with an illegal contract – the replacement of which would have likely pushed them over the cap as they only had $1M in cap space otherwise that year.

By: somekat

somekat — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 18:34:43 +0000

Double edge there. Good for him that he’s cleared, and healthy. Couldn’t get better news really. Sucks that he has no more access to team doctors for facilities, and he stops getting that huge check.

Would probably make a funny comic strip, ends with something like “congratulations, you are out of the woods, not get out and don’t come back”