Interesting comments from Jeremy Jacobs

[Jason Harris 31]

From today's Boston Herald:

"After talking to ownership groups in other cities, Jacobs revealed at the B's second annual charity golf tournament at Pine Hills Golf Club that the sport is growing in popularity – a far cry from what many predicted during the collective bargaining agreement stalemate.

``I talked to Calgary, small-market team, they're sold out,'' Jacobs said. ``Edmonton, sold out. Most of the Canadian teams are sold out. . . . We are looking at increased interest in Boston over what we had historically and we should surpass where we were two years ago in attendance.''

I know it's a bit disingenuous for Jacobs to imply the resolution to the lockout is what's bringing back interest in Boston, when it was his payroll philosphy that killed a pure hockey market, but still interesting news nonetheless.

[chippa13 1844]

It wasn't Jacobs philosophy, it was the philosophy of other teams that killed the interest in Boston. Did I hate that the Bruins stuck to their budget at times? Yes. But the flip side is that Jacobs was right all along. The league couldn't sustain the player salaries that were being handed out.

I always held that with a more level playing field that interest would grow in cities which have historically struggled. Competitive balance has always been the key to growing the game in places like Nashville, Carolina, Florida, Phoenix, and Anaheim.

[Jim A 4]

Jacobs ruined Boston by his own doing...his handling of the Bourque trade was the last straw for me....deciding to not send him to philly and instead sent him to the Avs (who at the time were out of the playoff race) showed that there is no loyalty in sports..and the deals weren't really any different..he just wanted him far away..of course..Ray got his Cup..so its all good..

[chippa13 1844]

Competitive balance has always been the key to growing the game in places like Nashville, Carolina, Florida, Phoenix, and Anaheim.

You have a point, but I believe it goes much much deeper then that. Florida recently had the best pure goal scorer since Bossy in Bure and LA had the best player ever in Gretzky. Yet it seems interest has not been sustained.

Because those teams couldn't afford to surround those players with talent and sustain a competitive team. LA made it to the finals with a strong but overachieving squad and then had to be dismantled because of all the stuff that happened with the owner. Florida only had Bure, there was nothing else. Sure, Bure was fun to watch, but was he exciting enough to draw fans to a sub .500 team night in, night out.

[chippa13 1844]

Jacobs ruined Boston by his own doing...his handling of the Bourque trade was the last straw for me....deciding to not send him to philly and instead sent him to the Avs (who at the time were out of the playoff race) showed that there is no loyalty in sports..and the deals weren't really any different..he just wanted him far away..of course..Ray got his Cup..so its all good..

Ummmm, the Avs lost in the Conference Finals to Dallas the year of the Bourque trade, so they were hardly "out of the playoff race" and won the Cup the next year with basically the same squad. I'd say the Avs were a pretty good pick.

[Jason Harris 31]

It wasn't Jacobs philosophy, it was the philosophy of other teams that killed the interest in Boston. Did I hate that the Bruins stuck to their budget at times? Yes. But the flip side is that Jacobs was right all along. The league couldn't sustain the player salaries that were being handed out.

Chippa, I agree that the league couldn't sustain the player salaries that were being handed out.

But, and I don't mean this flippantly, the Bruins should have been one of the culprits, since they were among the revenue leaders for years. Look at the Celts in the 80's: revenue leader with the Lakers until a salary cap. Look at the Sox: revenue leader after the Spankees. The Bruins: Forbes magazine consistently named them among the most profitable, since they had high revenues with somewhat lower salaries.

Boston supports its teams....IF they feel the team is commited to winning. There is no doubt Jacobs' philosphy has been proven correct for the league as a whole, but there is also no doubt that Boston would have supported higher salaries for the Bruins.

But, I'll repeat this: Jacobs ruined that market; fortunately for him, the salary cap might save him.

[zingbergeur 0]

I always kind of thought that teams like Detroit and the New York Rangers were to blame for what happened because of their 90 million dollar payrolls.

[Jason Harris 31]

I always kind of thought that teams like Detroit and the New York Rangers were to blame for what happened because of their 90 million dollar payrolls.

I'm not saying that the Bruins are to blame for the higher salaries. Quite the opposite, although some people blame them for causing entry level salries to soar after they structured the contracts for Thornton and Samsanov differently than had been.

I'm saying that the Bruins ownership ran the team so much like a business that it has ruined such a strong hockey market. They filled the stadium for years upon years, but I believe the 2004 season had record lows for attendence.

The point I'm making is a professional sports team has to fall somewhere between wanton, runaway salaries and penny-pinching, pay us for your second trip to the buffet. When it came to salaries, the Bruins too often were fiscally sound, but marketing foolish.

[Chadd 916]

I always kind of thought that teams like Detroit and the New York Rangers were to blame for what happened because of their 90 million dollar payrolls.

I'm not saying that the Bruins are to blame for the higher salaries. Quite the opposite, although some people blame them for causing entry level salries to soar after they structured the contracts for Thornton and Samsanov differently than had been.

I'm saying that the Bruins ownership ran the team so much like a business that it has ruined such a strong hockey market. They filled the stadium for years upon years, but I believe the 2004 season had record lows for attendence.

The point I'm making is a professional sports team has to fall somewhere between wanton, runaway salaries and penny-pinching, pay us for your second trip to the buffet. When it came to salaries, the Bruins too often were fiscally sound, but marketing foolish.

You forgot the amazingly asinine contract they gave Martin Lapointe.

[Chadd 916]

And the Isles Yashin contract and Washington Jagr contracts never help.

It's one thing to overpay a handful of stars, it's another thing entirely to overpay an average player. Once Lapointe got the monster deal, $5M/year I believe, every guy who scored 20 goals a year was using him in arbitration cases. I would say the Thornton contract and Lapointe's contract had much more to do with the salary escalation than Yashin or Jagr.

[Jason Harris 31]

Going back to Jacobs' comments, what I found interesting is his claim that hockey appears to be rebounding nicely, that most of the Canadian teams are selling out.

I felt all along that the doom and gloom was greatly created by the media to add angles to their stories. I'm sure the casual fan may stay away for a while, but hockey has such a passionate following, it's obvious the hardcore fans aren't giving up on the sport.

[chippa13 1844]

I always kind of thought that teams like Detroit and the New York Rangers were to blame for what happened because of their 90 million dollar payrolls.

You can actually trace the beginning of the salary problems to three contracts, the Rangers offer sheet to Sakic that the Avs matched, the 'Canes offer sheet to Federov that Detroit matched, and the Bruins rookie deal for Thornton.

As for the Boston/Jacobs thing, yes, Boston fans hated that Jacobs wouldn't throw open the doors to the safe for players. I even carped about it once or twice, the worst example being Sinden taking Bourque to arbitration.

However, over the last decade or so I realized a couple things. First, that owners have a right to actually profit from a franchise; second, that salaries were killing franchises and robbing hockey mad, smaller markets of teams (see Quebec and Winnipeg); and third, that had things continued, the NHL would become a mirror of MLB, with a couple of teams entering the season as favorites, a few teams with a slight chance, and everybody else who starts the season with virtually no chance.

The more I thought about those things, the more I realized that while Jacobs was looking out for himself, Sinden was trying to look out for hockey. He was always vocal about how the game couldn't handle what was going on.

[Jason Harris 31]

The more I thought about those things, the more I realized that while Jacobs was looking out for himself, Sinden was trying to look out for hockey. He was always vocal about how the game couldn't handle what was going on.

Very well worded, Chippa.