Same As It Ever Was

Now that the hockey regular season is all but over, the guessing of which players that teams not making the post season will want to acquire will once again begin. The NHL is right back where they were before the lock-out.

With all the projected restricted free agents, and un-restricted free agents to hit the market come July 1, teams will once again have a bidding war for certain players, and salaries will rise up again. Take Marian Hossa for example, he will reportedly be asking for something between 7 and 9 million dollars, Mats Sundin will most likely ask for 6 million if he plays for another team, Brian Campbell will ask for between 6 and 8 million, are theses guys crazy. Oh, and don’t forget that Evgeni Malkin’s contract is up at the end of next season, anyone care to suggest how much he will ask for?

The only thing that changed was the fact that players salaries can’t exceed 48 per cent of revenues, but nothing is stopping the owners from paying a player 20 million a season, sure they wouldn’t have much of a team after that, but the possibility still remains. Look at what happened to the Tampa Bay Lightning, they were a really good team, until they were basically paying three players almost 30 million, and couldn’t afford a great goalie because of that, this season Tampa will be lucky to not finish last.

So the fans lost hockey for a year for nothing, and players lost their salaries, and owners lost revenues for nothing. Fine, there’s a cap floor, and a salary cap, big deal! Owners are the first one’s to complain about player salaries, they are also the first one’s to offer them, the NHL should adopt a policy which puts a limit on how much a player can make, and how long they can be signed for, 15 years, 10 years, that is too long, and players will never refuse offers like that.

The salary cap is expected to go up again this year, giving owners a little bit more room to try and compile a team together. And also allowing owners to offer more people on their respective teams higher salaries. It’s ridiculous. Sure players should be compensated for what they accomplish, but their is a limit, no-one is worth all the money they are getting, I know Alex Ovechkin is the best player this year, and yes if I was an owner, I would most likely give him alot, but I’m not, and as a fan saying that tickets are already almost over-priced for most people, giving players too much money will only result in fans not being able to go see the games, it might make your team better, but no-body will be able to afford going to watch them.

I love hockey, and there is alot of skill and talent out there that I enjoy watching, but I don’t think anyone is worth 10-15 million dollars, I don’t care what your name is! Hockey is a great sport, the lock-out gave owners a limit of what they could spend on their team, but not how much one player could make, and with Sidney Crosby set to make 8.5 million starting next season, Malkin will probably ask for more than that, there are a few free agents for the Pittsburgh Penguins come July 1, will they become the next Lightning?

Hockey is heading back to what it was before, by the time the CBA runs out, the cap will probably be over 60 million, which a few teams were able to manage, and we will all say that hockey is the same as it ever was.