Report: NHL investigating Chicago Blackhawks' contract with Mar...

The NHL is investigating whether the Blackhawks ' contract with winger Marian Hossa circumvents the collective bargaining agreement and salary cap, the Ottawa Sun reported Thursday night.

[Northside Neuman]

How can they make them an example if they did what they supposedly did according to the existing rules? It doesn't seem fair that they change the rules after something they don't like and then penalize a team by playing by the original rules...

I not sure how they would prove retirement was discussed, Only the GM, agent and player would know, and I'm not sure how likely they are to incriminate themselves in wrong doing..

[dcd]

Northside Neuman wrote:

How can they make them an example if they did what they supposedly did according to the existing rules? It doesn't seem fair that they change the rules after something they don't like and then penalize a team by playing by the original rules...
I not sure how they would prove retirement was discussed, Only the GM, agent and player would know, and I'm not sure how likely they are to incriminate themselves in wrong doing..

The NHL governors can do whatever they want by majority (even disregarding rules (ie the overturned automatic one-game suspension to Malkin who fought with Zetterberg and got an instigator penalty within last 5 minutes of a game this past playoffs).
or
Ever heard of the Sean Avery face- guarding rule and how quickly that was implemented.
the Marty McSorley rule, Claude Lemiux rule, Dale Hunter rule
Chicago's in trouble with this one according to the Canadian papers (from the Ottawa Sun):

"The NHL is looking to put a damper on these 10-plus-year contracts with throwaway years tacked on at the end," a league executive said last night. "They are building a strong case against Chicago to make an example of them. This issue won't just go away. Lots of other GMs are supporting the league here."

But as section313 would say $5M and loss of draft picks won't hurt next year's chance of winning so just enjoy and not worry about it.

[Rocket Man]

Sounds like one of two things:

(1) the NHL is out to get the Blackhawks for firing Dale Talon or
(2) Dale Talon really screwed up and deserved to be fired.

I smell Detroit all over this one.

[sdgfds]

:P..

[Tell the Truth]

Rocket Man,

I'm going to guess (2) on this one.

And it has nothing to do with Detroit.

I heard there was a 13th year option at $100,000.

COME ON! What kind of contract in modern sports pays out $ 750,000 at the end? There isn't a professional player out there that's going to take $ 750,000 to go through the rigors for one FULL year!

Once again, the Blackhawks management messed-up and the Hawk fans are crying "Why us?"

Don't make excuses for your team.

[Jack Stephens]

To para-phrase "Mrs Robinson" by Simon/Garfunkel:

Where have you gone Al Secord
Hawk Nation turns is lonely eyes to you

Ok, so its doesnt rhyme...but I hope you get the idea.

Go Hawks!

[MikeC]

Rocket Man wrote:

Sounds like one of two things:
(1) the NHL is out to get the Blackhawks for firing Dale Talon or
(2) Dale Talon really screwed up and deserved to be fired.
I smell Detroit all over this one.

Of Course you smell Detroit, The wind is blowing in this direction.

[oreodog]

When the NHL has to try to determine the "motivations" behind this front-loaded contract you know the whole thing is a joke. If the collective bargaining agreement is so loosely worded so as to allow this kind of thing in the first place, the league (and its lawyers!) have only themselves to blame. This stuff is just so typical of bush league NHL it has me howling with laughter. Mark my words, this whole thing will blow away because if it doesn't, the league will be handed a big lawsuit it can't win--except maybe in Canada!

[MikeC]

Tell the Truth wrote:

Rocket Man,
I'm going to guess (2) on this one.
And it has nothing to do with Detroit.
I heard there was a 13th year option at $100,000.
COME ON! What kind of contract in modern sports pays out $ 750,000 at the end? There isn't a professional player out there that's going to take $ 750,000 to go through the rigors for one FULL year!
Once again, the Blackhawks management messed-up and the Hawk fans are crying "Why us?"
Don't make excuses for your team.

Hello Mr. Red Wing Fan. A Little Jelous the Hawks got Hossa?? You know the blackhawks with the way both teams sit now will take away the Wings winning ways.

Look at the brightside, At Least Detoilet still has the Lions right??

[Mister Chris]

While the Hawks and this contract were apparently within the rules, maybe the rules need to be changed. I'm no lawyer (and I thank God for that every day) but maybe the league needs to simplify the cap rule to apply money spent during a given year to that same year. Maybe roll it forward 1 year, but not allow twists like the Hossa's contract has. As has been pointed out earlier, there is zero chance that Hossa would play out the last years of the contract as currently written.

If a player got stolen from the Hawks by a team writing a funky contract, we would be all up in arms so I don't blame Detroit if they are the source of the complaint. Looks like they may have a point.

[Jack Miehoff]

Check out some of Detroits deals,no difference.The league doesn't want another Detroit type francise that outspends the rest of the teams.

[Lididio]

This is a league problem open to "what if's" and it should be on them to close the loophole and not set out to make an example of any particular team. Not allowing teams to avoid the cap hit is not the same as a garunteed contract; so force them to take the hit without having to pay a retired player.

[Coach Killer]

The salary cap really needs to go away. That's the only way to stop the silliness.

The reasoning behind the cap seems to make sense....protect the owners from themselves, keep salaries down which should make everyone profitable, and help protect poorly run teams by not allowing the best players to constantly migrate to the big market successful clubs which in turn keeps the poorly run teams bad.

But the system is not working as it was designed. Teams sign the obviously best players (Malkin, Crosby, Ovechkin) to 7-8 year deals so those guys will never end up in Phoenix or Atlanta no matter what happens. The guys that weren't obviously great players take less money to stay with the elite teams because who wants to play in Nashville or Florida where they'll never win anything?? To top it off, even with the salary cap the list of bankrupt or near bankrupt teams (Phoenix, Atlanta, Nashville, Tampa, Florida, etc.) is the same as it would have been without a cap.

It will be interesting to see if the cap disappears with the next bargaining agreement.

[Nick]

So basically the league is just assuming Hossa will retire before age 42 so the league is throwing a fit over the manipulation of cap.

What a bunch of crap!

Are they just making up CBA rules as they go along now?

[Tony]

Do ya think the Marx Bros. could do a better job running this team?

[Tony]

Maybe the league should throw in a clause that a player 30 or over can't sign a contract of 10yrs or more..sheesh....

[Section 317]

I think the Hawks are getting picked on. The Zetterberg and Franzen contracts call from them to make just $1M over the last two years of their contracts which run through the 20/21 and 19/21 seasons, respectively:

http://www.nhlnumbers.com/overview.php...

I don't know who in the league started this investigation, but it seems the Hawks aren't the only team offering front loaded contracts to effectively circumvent the cap.

With the Cap around $53M, the Blackhawks are likely to have money to burn. Let's do some simple math. The average REGULAR SEASON Blackhawk ticket ran $52 last year. If you take into account the increase for the playoffs, then a conservative estimate of the average ticket price for the entire season including the playoffs would be around $60. The Hawks broke the one million mark in attendance for the 1st time in their history. So, the Hawks have their player salaries more than coverred in just ticket sales alone. Throw in concessions and parking, and the Hawks have extra cash to spend every year...as long as the sellouts/success continues.

Here's my source for the league average regular season prices. It shows the prices of typical concessions as well::::

http://www.nhlnumbers.com/overview.php...

[Section 317]

http://teammarketing.com.ismmedia.com/ISM3/st...

I apologize. The above link has the team marketing info for anyone interested in checking it out.

[Witch Doctor]

Hossa curse continue !!

[Eddie Shore]

Ouch. Not good...first we sign an inordinate 12 year contact, then the guy needs shoulder surgery and will be out for months, and then the NHL wants to "make an example" out of us.

Who screwed the pooch on this one? Dale? Scotty? Stan?