If Karia would play for 1.5 mil when he could have easily commanded 6 mil.Then it would be interesting to see who and how many of the players would like to make some concessions greater than those already offered by NHLPA to NHL up to now.

I would like to see the Olympics returned to its mother country of GREECE and its athletes be of complete amateur status.

Your right the NHLPA was formed to help the players get a fair share which has landslided over the years to equal 75% of league revenue.A feat that none of the very first NHLPA members would ever have envisioned or intended

I’m saying sometime in late 2005 early 2006, neither side is willing to budge, and even if the league starts back up will the fans return to make it a real league again?

2. Should there be contraction?

There should definately be contraction, but it won’t happen, remember when Bud Selig mentioned it a few years ago and the players union went insane. The only way teams will contract is if the owners say “screw this” and the NHL has to assume control of more then 5 teams.

3. Should the NHL participate in the 2006 Olympics?

I always was adament that NHL players did not deserve to be at the Olympics, as it is the best AMATEUR athletes in the world. NBA players at the olympics made me laugh..especially seeing as the US team didn’t do very well this year. It’s a shame but no they won’t be there this time..nor should they really be there, though the 3rd liners making 1.8 million couldn’t care less they still get paid.

4. will there be a salary cap?

There will be some form of a cap, whether it’s in a form of a luxury tax or revenue sharing..I figure the best way to penalize a team for going over their cap is to take away draft picks and money..imagine if for every million you go over the budget you lose a draft pick..the Red Wings wouldn’t even have to have a scouting department.

5. who do you hate more? Bettman? or Goodenow?

Bettman has undone over 85 years of tradition in ten years, and his time we saw teams relocate (from cities that wanted their team to markets where they were less popular..with the exception of the Av’s and Stars – they pretty much balanced out), the league expanded way to fast and he negotiated the worst TV contract in the history of any Major League Sport, the average salary has tripled, Joe six pack can’t take his family to a game anymore.

Goodenow on the other hand seems to be the Messiah that the players have been looking for since the times of Tommy Ivan..The Eagle screwed the players hard and now the players want they’re just desserts…it’s hard to blame the players in this because I know if someone said to me “We want you to play here for 11 Million a season” I’d say where do I sign. It’s not good when the Union is divided though and both guys will lose their jobs after the Lockout is over.

The players have to realize that the average person makes 30 a year and can’t sympathize with someone who makes millions for playing a game that anyone else on earth has to pay to play…along with endorsements i’m sure no player is hurting badly.

I’m afraid we’ll see replacement players before we see the Shannahans on the ice again.

2. I refuse to answer this based on the fact that it will never happen anyway, and everyone who poses the question seems to think that all they have to do vote on it and it’s done.

3. Yes, but with a slight alteration to the rosters. If the big eight teams are going to have all their players available, then so should teams in the qualifying round. And, limit the age of players to those under 30.

4. Yes. If the lockout goes longer than a year, which I believe it will, the NHL will declare a legal impasse, and have a CBA declared by the courts.

5. If either one of ‘em were on fire, I wouldn’t piss on ‘em to put ‘em out.

All these players signing everywhere tells me the players aren’t as united as Goodenow and Trevor Linden would lead us to believe. If you took a private poll i’m sure half of the players wouldn’t care less whether a cap is introduced.

Ted Lindsey 10 years ago would have sided with the players, but he and the rest of the hall of famers out there have to think the players have to compromise big time if they want to save this game. They wanted nothing more than to get a piece of pie that matched revenue. They succeeded. I don’t think they ever wanted to see a guy like Wade Belak making $950,000 a year.

I just hope they get this thing solved or she’s going to be a long cold Canadian winter.

A. The more the league expands, the more people are exposed to it

B. the more people are exposed to it, especially at a young age, the more people play it. Over the last decade the US has opened as many ice rinks as canada. there is a whole generation of americans who are playing the sport in all its forms. Kids who would normally grow up playing baseball and football are picking up hockey sticks.

A+B= More players who are developing into possible NHL players. The League may seem watered down right now, but as a whole the league hasnt seen such a large number of truley skilled players enter the league in a long time. Its only a matter of time before this new generation of hockey players enters the league and fills out all 30 teams with young new talent.

the league itself has entered a phase where the old stars are in decline, yet the new stars arent ready to fill in their shoes. Give it a year or so and this wont be such a concern. Give playres like Ovechkin, Fluery, Malkin, Stuart, Baker, Suter, Lethonen, Zherdev, Ryder, Heatley, Kovalchuk, Bergeron, Orpik, Regehr, Staal, Nash, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Fischer, Horton, Dustin Brown, Gomez, Spezza, Gamborik, Malone, let guys like these grow into their roles and really hit thier primes and then claim the league is watered down.

There is a gap in talent between the old guard and the under 24 group. there werent enough of the “next marios” to go around in a 30 league team, but that wont be the case much longer. More and more players are being developed, and that number will grow as the sports popularity grows.

Call the game like it needs to be called, and you up the tempo and allow the skill players that the leauge has to really put their skills on display. Create a new CBA that creates parity and gives any team a chance to win the cup on any given year, and watch the game succeed.

The league did indeed expand to quickly and it may have spread the talent thin, but that is a problem that is righting itself quicker than you think.