Hockey 2013

[ila]

Originally Posted by smc

...I do not agree completely about the players. While it is easy to write them off as ?spoiled whining brats,? I try to remember two things. One is that like all workers, they sell their labor power to someone who does not do the actual work involved in delivering the final product (in this case, an actual hockey game on the ice). Yes, they are paid enormous amounts of money to do so (although nothing close to professional baseball, football, or basketball players), but that does not mean they ?have no right? to negotiate with their employers. That is true irrespective of whether one agrees with the negotiating stances they take. The other is that while I bemoan the fact that in a world where so many people go to bed hungry there are those who are paid millions to play a game, I try to remember that in this imperfect world a hockey player is really like the actor in a movie. Does Tom Cruise actually deserve to be paid $25 million for walking his way through some insipid action feature? Well, from an economic point of view, he?s the one who puts the audience in the theater seats and makes it possible for the investors (the bosses) to recoup their investments. Similarly, the hockey players are entertainers who put the fans in the seats. What you refer to as ?the money that is brought into the teams? is brought in because of the players, and so they have a reasonable right to negotiate (again, irrespective of whether one agrees with this or that negotiating stance.

I didn't make my opinion clear. I agree that the players have a right to negotiate their salary. I don't agree that they have a right to tell the owners that the owners will give the players a stated percentage of the profits. The players should be negotiating for a salary and bonuses.

Originally Posted by smc

I completely agree. The idea of the NHL being headquartered in midtown Manhattan is ridiculous. Just as I have long advocated on this site for moving north every team that is in a place where kids can?t play pond hockey naturally because of the weather (and have even advocated for specific Canadian cities that others never mention), I am for moving the NHL headquarters somewhere in Canada. Oh, and by the way, on moving day the Canadian border patrol should keep Fehr and Buttman from entering the country.

I like your idea about what to do with Buttman and Fehr on moving day. I got a good laugh about it.