bigfan wrote:
Your front offices are loaded with lifers who don't know the first thing about running a lemonade stand, why would you think they should be involved in a sport that produces millions?
I don't know if you're talking about the Blackhawks or the NHL itself here. For the record, the NHL grossed $3.3 billion with a B last season. That's pretty impressive when you consider they lack the media-based revenue streams that other leagues have. In terms of attendance, the NHL has to be well ahead of the NBA. That's the only way the math works out.
At any rate, the Blackhawks have flushed out a lot of the crusty lifers who know hockey without knowing business, and I, for one, applaud them for it. Sometimes I feel like I am the only one when I see people still bitching about firing Dale Tallon. The 2010 breakup had a lot to do with some systemic flaws of the CBA, like you mentioned: Kane and Toews were eligible for performance incentives that veterans weren't, and those bonuses they earned by excelling (regular season scoring, plus Toews's playoff MVP) counted against the cap, went past it, and thus wrapped around to 2011. That sucked. I don't begrudge them their success, but it does no one any good to punish the team because a player on an entry-level contract was subjectively voted to have won an award. That said, Tallon had screwed the team over by throwing out money with no perspective before you even get to the overages from the ELC bonuses, and he had to be held responsible for that. Should there be a hard cap and floor? I lean toward no; not with the disparity in team-to-team revenues unique to the NHL. But there was one, and he had to be mindful of that as all general managers did.
As for the NHL, they've been bringing in executives from all over, most notably John Collins coming in from the NFL to develop the Winter Classic. It's not like the league is being run by Mike Keenan here.
_________________
Molly Lambert wrote:
The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.