You can also thank Lou “If anyone can do it, he can” Lamoriello for offering it to him and taking his reported $100mil / 10 years wishes seriously.

I think the bigger question is whether the Kovalchuk deal would have been rejected in the first place had the NHLPA had an Executive Director in place. Perhaps if the players had someone strong to stand up for them, maybe the NHL would have thought twice about publicly going this route.

The worst part for me is that these type of contracts are few and far between, and it’s the majority of the players that are going to get their buttholes hurt after the next CBA. When they talk about the different contracts they are going to “investigate”, you only hear about Luongo, Hossa and Kovalchuk. There isn’t even one of these contracts per team.

I have absolutely zero issues with the requests the NHL are making. In fact, I like the ideas. At least then there will be something documented as to what constitutes a valid, reasonable contract and what doesn’t, and if teams want to continue to sign these types of deals, they know that their overall goal of reducing the cap hit won’t be as effective. Like you, I just hate when they are doing it. The NHL needs to accept that the agents and GMs are smart people, took advantage of something that was overlooked during the negotiations for the first CBA, and there’s nothing they can do about it right now.

I’m probably either too optimistic or too naive here, but I just can’t believe that if the players come to the table on this and give these reasonable concessions now, that the league will throw that kind of goodwill in their face come 2012 and force their knowledgeable hockey fans away from the game by locking out the players while demanding that they completely overhaul a system that, at it’s core, is a good starting point. Yes, forget the crap about the “Spirit of the CBA” in regards to competitive balance (because that’s actually anti-competitive horseshit), but a salary cap/escrow system with revenue sharing is a good idea for the league that only needs minor tweaks to fix some problems. One of those minor tweaks happens to be these contracts.

I continue to say the Zetterberg and Franzen deals have nothing to do with this entire situation beyond giving other GMs and players the basic idea for this situation, which has been mutilated by the deals currently in question. That said, those kinds of deals are not good. As much as the Wings are rewarding Franzen and Zetterberg for their loyalty with these long-term deals, the Canucks and Hawks have massaged the concept to one that’s an obvious breach of good faith.

The owners simply have too much to lose at this point from another lockout. Yes, the KHL may be a joke of a league compared to our North American product, but let’s see how many players get deals over there during a lockout and how many fans start watching those games online. I know the KHL has funny rules about limiting non-Russian players on teams, but I’m not sure those rules would hold up if enough talent wanted over there because they’re tired of the crap bullying happening by the league. Whereas the NHL sold the concept that the players were the greedy bastards who caused the last lockout, nobody’s buying that here, least of all the third of the teams’ owners who are struggling to run their franchises well. I’m not convinced that there’s enough muscle behind some of the crazier positions the NHL might take in the next CBA talks to get the players to agree.

I think Donald Fehr scared them and they’re lashing out in a power move that will backfire. The PA should talk a tough game, suggest a few of their own alternatives to end CBA-breaking contracts, and ultimately collectively bargain the limits. The biggest problem I had with Bloch’s decision (other than the whole “competitive balance” crap was that it drew a line in the sand, but nobody knew where that line was. The league is trying to define the line; they’re just being dicks while doing it.

Collective bargaining agreements and their modifications need to be collectively bargained, not altered in the middle of an agreement – the second a union allows that without full negotiations they are screwed, blued, and tatooed.

There is a word for giving a little bit now in the hopes that it will be enough and the crocodile might eat you last – appeasement. It doesn’t work in diplomacy, it doesn’t work when you are trying to bribe a brother or sister, and I can’t see it working in labor negotiatons.

This is the CBA the league wanted. If it has holes, close them in two years. Quick being dickless pricks about it and throwing a temper tantrum now.