I love when punks like Daniel Alfredsson come out and say that the players will *never* accept a salary cap.

Hahahahahaha, Pardon me?

Yes they will. It won’t be a ridiculous low-ball like 35 million. I am guessing 45 million sounds about right.

Sorry Daniel, the players are talking tough about being willing to sit but you and the other players will start thinking twice when you face the prospect of a year or two taken away from your prime earning periods in relatively short careers.

It is not just the loss of salary, it is the loss of time on a short career.

The players have been enjoying salaries escalating well beyond talent and well beyond the means of the NHL.

A cap is needed, as much as anything, it is needed to keep idiot owners (Colorado, Detroit, New York, Toronto etc.) from spending too damn much.

A cap would also go a long way towards parity in the league. That is a BIG selling point of the NFL.

After they get a cap in place, it will happen, then they can see about fixing the rules to beat the trap, which really is killing the NHL.

As for the across-the-board pay cut of 5%, it means nothing. There was a post here earlier that broke down the number. But the key to that proposal was the cut was on existing contracts. What about the free agents? Do teams negotiate with them and then ask for 5% back afterwards? Jagr gives back $500,000 a year over the rest of his deal. Then what?

The two things that really need to change are arbitration and rookie salaries. Rookie salaries should be a percentage of the league average (less than half, say 40%). Arbitration should be an either or, not something off the top of the arbitrator’s head.

The players are to blame by asking for high salaries and the owners are to blame by giving it to them. Hockey is following the exact same path as baseball. There are only a couple of teams, Detroit, Rangers, Kings, Leafs and Stars who are always rumoured when big named players are available.

The owners have been fighting off the urge to spend on high priced free agents this year, but that will not last. Look for Jagr to end up a Ranger.

The only way to save the NHL is some form of salary cap. It will have to be the players that bend on this one, not the owners, becasue they won’t. The owners have been preparing for this for a long time.

Expect no hockey in 04. The only way it will happen is if the NHLPA wisens up and realizes, for the good of the game they have to play. If there is no hockey for one or two years, expect fewer teams. Teams like Anaheim, Nashville, Carolina, Islanders might have trouble surriving an extended period of time off.

PLAYERS: 5%? Who do you think you’re kidding? Come back to the table when you’re ready to talk 20-25%.

OWNERS: $35 million? Who do you think you’re kidding? Come back to the table when you’re ready to talk $45-50 million.

Quit dicking around, get this figured out, or you’ll all be shooting yourselves in the foot. A strike/lockout will kill any and all momentum this sport has gained of late. Teams will fold. Roster places will be harder to come by, hundreds of players will lose their jobs. Owners will go bankrupt. You’re all going to lose if you can’t pull your heads out of you know where real soon.

While I have little doubt these new proposals are really what both sides would like, it looks more like negotiating tactics right now. Using the media, putting as much pressure on the other side as possible. Both sides doing their usual song and dance.

Despite all the evidence to the contrary, neither side is stupid. They both have a pretty good idea of the economics of the game and the outside economic factors that impact the league. Each side has had to run dozens of sets of numbers by now. I guess it just depends on how stubborn each side is willing to be.

One last thing. That 5% is the biggest load of crap

currently it’s infinite, next year it could be 70, year after 60, then set at whatever (I used 45 as an example)

that way, you don’t get shot in the foot for having jagr at 11 million a year on your team for the next 2 years at least.