No hockey this season? Maybe...Maybe not...

Well it looks like as if the hockey season might get cancelled...The NHL owners are going to meet on January 14th (kind of a late date cnosidering the fact that in 94-95, after the player's strike, the season started January 20th) and are probably going to decide on cancelling the season.

If that happens, eventually the owners might get what they want: A player's union falling apart...For the 2005-2006 season, there will be over 400 players without a contract which represents more than 50% of the league's total players.

Chris Pronger even said in an interview that he doesn't think there will be hockey before 2006...that's encouraging isn't it?

I also came across this Sporting News analyst Paul Grant's article on Yahoo Sports which gives interesting numbers on the 4 pro leagues (NHL, MLB, NBA and NFL) Did you guys know that the Washington Redskins are the most valuable franchise of all professional sports? Not those damn Yankees...nooooooooo sir! The Redskins are the most expensive franchise evaluated at an astounding $1.1 billion, while the Yanks are only worth somewhere around $832 million...while the New York Rangers are the most expensive team in the NHL at a lowly $232 million...Interesting...

Enjoy the numbers...oh and by the way...the NHL ought to find a way to get TV contracts like the NFL and MLB if they want to survive somehow...How in the world could they NOT think about trying to make something out of TV for this sport???

Goodenow and Bettman meet...Hockey soon?

As I mentioned in a previous post on my blog, a friend of mine told me that he had reliable sources informing him that there would be hockey in the NHL on January 15 as the players were ready to sit and talk seriously about signing a new bargaining agreement in order to save the 2004-05 season (or at least the 2005 season).

Well, Goodenow and Bettman finally met and this time it was the NHLPA that brought the biggest arguments so far in order to reach a new deal. Here are some of the aspects of this new proposal:

- 24% cut in player salaries effective immediately when the season starts. This will mean a $528 million rollback in the next 3 years.
- Future Salary Restraints (Entry Level System, Qualified Offers and Arbitration), meaning that the salary cap for rookies entering the NHL would be lowered to something around 800 000$ per season. The bonuses that these players can earn would also be brought down, resulting in a rollback of about 55% in salaries for "first contract" players.
- A payroll tax with thresholds that begin at $45M, tax rates between 20% and 60% for first time taxpayers and higher rates for repeat taxpayers. If a club triggers the tax, its payments will be pooled for distribution by the NHL and NHLPA.
- A revenue distribution plan in order to help poorer teams with options ranging from $65 million to $190 million.
- Comittees formed in order to help make the game more interesting, better marketing and the permission from the NHL to let the players participate in the Olympic Games in 2006 and 2010.

For those of you interesed in the technical side of the new proposition made by the NHLPA, you can actually find it here. Surprisingly, it is a veryyyyyy heavy document with 235 pages! Good thing someone was kind enough to make a draft of the important points in the proposition.

Personally, I think this is good. The players are not 100% happy with it but most of them so far are acknowledging the fact that this is about as far as they have to go in order to save the season. The only problem is that in this proposition made by the NHLPA, nothing has been said about a system to keep the players from making or asking for as much money when the become free agents. Sure the teams will save a lot of money, but it won't stop stronger teams from getting even better. For example, take the Detroit Red Wings...They are already one of the strongest teams in the league. Won't they be happy to be able to save 24% in salaries on the signed players that they already have in their roster??? Say they currently have $50 million in salaries to pay, by saving 24%, they will save $12 million. If you were the Detroit GM, what would you do? Go after some free agents and offer them something like 6 million per year and there you go...2 extra players on your team to make it even stronger...It's a wheel that keeps turning and somehow, I don't think that they will have resolved this problem by taking salaries down 24%...Something has to be done with the free agents and the amount of money they are making.

But otherwise, it's a very interesting offer from the players' side. Let's hope that they can reach an agreement soon and start a new season somewhere in January... I said January 15 there was going to be hockey in the NHL...with the looks of this last offer, I wouldn't be surprised if that actually happened.

I miss my Coyotes and even more so now that they had signed a bunch of free agents and had built a pretty decent team for the upcoming season.

Come on boys...lace your skates and get ready to play!!!!!

Dimebag Darrell shot to death...and going to a concert

Ex-Pantera lead guitarist Dimebag Darrell was shot to death on wednesday night while playing with his band Damageplan in a club in Columbus Ohio. Apparently, some angry guy in the crowd jumped on the stage, said something to Dimebag, then shot him in the head and kept on shooting when he was down. He then proceeded to shoot other members of the band...killing another one and then started shooting in the crowd. He was restrained by a security guard from the club and was then shot by a policeman who was there. The killer eventually died as well...

I'm a fan of Pantera's music...didn't know about Damageplan before wednesday night when I read about the news here. I think it's a sad story and the heavy metal music scene in mourning his loss. He was a great guitarist and some of his best work (in my opinion) can be heard on Pantera's Far Beyond Driven album which stands as one of my 5 favorite albums of all time (all bands included...well in the ones I listen to anyways...hehe)

RIP Dimebag

On a happier note, January 8 I will be attending another concert: Slipknot live in Montreal!!! This is bound to be a hell of a rock show. I've heard that they are really something live...and their most recent album kicks much ass (Vol.3 The Subliminal Verses) Slipknot is a band I grew into liking but it took a while for me to get into their music. I had heard one song from them The Heretic Anthem and I liked it...I just didn't pay much attention to the rest of their music. Eventually, Vol.3 came out a couple of months ago and their first single Duality was incredible so I went and bought their album...enjoyed it very much...still do and went to buy their previous album which is not as good in my opinion. I still have to listen to their very first album which I was told by some fans is their best one. I might go and buy it before the concert. Can't wait for this gig...get ready to see some pics!