Mario Lemieux supports Bettman

[DrMolotov 0]

Just listening to the press conference in Pittsburgh and Mario just gave his support to Bettman... WTF????

[Chadd 916]

Just listening to the press conference in Pittsburgh and Mario just gave his support to Bettman... WTF????

No kidding he's an owner

[Jim Bob 0]

What do you expect a small market owner to say?

[DrMolotov 0]

He also just said that the NHLPA never took him up on his offer to review the Penguins books.

[mik3 1]

He's an owner of a team that can't afford to stay competitive due to teams in his own division paying players hand over fist. Do you expect him to oppose a cap?

[Smith 0]

He also just said that the NHLPA never took him up on his offer to review the Penguins books.

Course not, the last thing the NHLPA wants to due is see the books.

[Chadd 916]

He also just said that the NHLPA never took him up on his offer to review the Penguins books.

Course not, the last thing the NHLPA wants to due is see the books.

If they don't think the books are accurate, why look at them?

[chippa13 1844]

He also just said that the NHLPA never took him up on his offer to review the Penguins books.

Course not, the last thing the NHLPA wants to due is see the books.

If they don't think the books are accurate, why look at them?

Mario offered full disclosure, meaning they would be able to see all the numbers and how they came about. Tough to hide stuff then.

[mik3 1]

The union just has blinders on, they feel teams make money and that the players deserve every dollar they ask for.

[Smith 0]

He also just said that the NHLPA never took him up on his offer to review the Penguins books.

Course not, the last thing the NHLPA wants to due is see the books.

If they don't think the books are accurate, why look at them?

They will never look at them, and they would be stupied to do it, because what ever number that they get are the numbers they will have to work with. Sure some teams are able to hide the money, but not all of them. What if some of the owners are tell the truth?

[DrMolotov 0]

He also just said that the NHLPA never took him up on his offer to review the Penguins books.

Course not, the last thing the NHLPA wants to due is see the books.

If they don't think the books are accurate, why look at them?

Mario offered full disclosure, meaning they would be able to see all the numbers and how they came about. Tough to hide stuff then.

This has been my problem with the unions stance from the get go, they were given the opportunity to bring in their own auditor and they choose to blindly hold there position. If they were so sure than they should have taken them up on the offer.

[Lightning 0]

the problem is that none of the players really know what is going on except for the player reps that actually go to the meetings. The rest of the players just follow along and hope that the season will start soon. I mean really, what player with an educatio of a highschooler, maybe, is going to understand the business side of this labor issue. They just think the owners have money and make money so why should they put a cap on what we make! THe NHLPA doesnt want to see the numbers because then they would have to explain to the players that they really dont have a leg to stand on. With the NHLPA buckling some to a cap, the owners have them by the balls now! They union knows they have to except a cap they are just trying their best to make it as player friendly as possible.

with Mario opening the books, it is very easy to get an independent accounting company to go over the books and do a complete analysis. Mario doesnt have other hugh business to hide revenues and losses like other owners. So if they did this and found out that the league financial structure was crap, they union would have no choice but to take the cap at 42 mil and say thank you!

[Jim Bob 0]

the problem is that none of the players really know what is going on except for the player reps that actually go to the meetings. The rest of the players just follow along and hope that the season will start soon. I mean really, what player with an educatio of a highschooler, maybe, is going to understand the business side of this labor issue. They just think the owners have money and make money so why should they put a cap on what we make! THe NHLPA doesnt want to see the numbers because then they would have to explain to the players that they really dont have a leg to stand on. With the NHLPA buckling some to a cap, the owners have them by the balls now! They union knows they have to except a cap they are just trying their best to make it as player friendly as possible.

with Mario opening the books, it is very easy to get an independent accounting company to go over the books and do a complete analysis. Mario doesnt have other hugh business to hide revenues and losses like other owners. So if they did this and found out that the league financial structure was crap, they union would have no choice but to take the cap at 42 mil and say thank you!

Nah, the NHLPA would just say that because Mario isn't hiding revenues doesn't mean that the other 29 teams aren't.

[Chadd 916]

Also keep in mind, wouldn't the Pens books be one of the best examples of a team in desperate need of help?

BINGO

[MDE3 0]

I think the most ominous statement (from the NHLPA) point of view is the statement that the last NHL offer without linkage is gone...."off the table". That last offer without linkage had to be in place for purposes of showing "good faith" later when this goes to some form of labor arbitration.

Given the potential future declining market due to this stoppage, I can see the next step being an "offer" of a "floating cap" in the $30,000,000 range from the NHL, with minimums at $18 m, and with provisions to grow at a 55%(of NHL Gross$) salary level as the league recovers.....No doubt an independant marketing study will be enjoined to prove that the declining fan base caused by this labor dispute has necessitated this new level of compensation.

This will no doubt create some pretty bitter response....and stage two of the game plan will be in place.

[freq019 0]

Mario doesn't own the team outright, Lemieux holdings or something like that does. I'm sure if they wanted to hide money they could hide money, Mario doesn't have anywhere to hid it but some of his partners might. Don't get me wrong I'm an enormous Mario fan, but I'm just trying to be realistic here.

[Louie 28]

Actually and I've only heard bits of the Pens Conference so far, but I am sure there will be articles in the papers, but Ken Sawyer the CEO said that they do not need to tap into the $300 million war chest and that they ahve prepared for this for years now. Pittsburgh is one team that will survive a lockout.

[Chadd 916]

Actually and I've only heard bits of the Pens Conference so far, but I am sure there will be articles in the papers, but Ken Sawyer the CEO said that they do not need to tap into the $300 million war chest and that they ahve prepared for this for years now. Pittsburgh is one team that will survive a lockout.

I remember a report last year that said they had $30M+ in the bank

[chippa13 1844]

I think the most ominous statement (from the NHLPA) point of view is the statement that the last NHL offer without linkage is gone...."off the table". That last offer without linkage had to be in place for purposes of showing "good faith" later when this goes to some form of labor arbitration.

Given the potential future declining market due to this stoppage, I can see the next step being an "offer" of a "floating cap" in the $30,000,000 range from the NHL, with minimums at $18 m, and with provisions to grow at a 55%(of NHL Gross$) salary level as the league recovers.....No doubt an independant marketing study will be enjoined to prove that the declining fan base caused by this labor dispute has necessitated this new level of compensation.

This will no doubt create some pretty bitter response....and stage two of the game plan will be in place.

Well, it should be a floating cap akin to what the NFL uses. It should guarantee a maximum and minimum cap level based on percentage of revenues. Hence, if revenues go down, salary goes down and vice versa.

[Chadd 916]

To a point I can understand why the players don't want salary tied to revenues when they don't have a say in the business practices of the league. As long as Bill Wirtz doesn't allow home games on TV, they have good standing to argue that owners aren't running their businesses very well and they aren't doing everything they can to maximize revenue.

[chippa13 1844]

To a point I can understand why the players don't want salary tied to revenues when they don't have a say in the business practices of the league. As long as Bill Wirtz doesn't allow home games on TV, they have good standing to argue that owners aren't running their businesses very well and they aren't doing everything they can to maximize revenue.

They don't want it tied to revenues because they claim the owners will hide revenues. However, that was addressed in one of the NHL's offers where they would work with the players on how the accounting would be done and would allow the players a say in the independent accounting firm to audit the books.

[Chadd 916]

To a point I can understand why the players don't want salary tied to revenues when they don't have a say in the business practices of the league. As long as Bill Wirtz  doesn't allow home games on TV, they have good standing to argue that owners aren't running their businesses very well and they aren't doing everything they can to maximize revenue.

They don't want it tied to revenues because they claim the owners will hide revenues. However, that was addressed in one of the NHL's offers where they would work with the players on how the accounting would be done and would allow the players a say in the independent accounting firm to audit the books.

According to some reports they didn't have real access to the numbers or have an opportunity to define hockey revenue.

[chippa13 1844]

To a point I can understand why the players don't want salary tied to revenues when they don't have a say in the business practices of the league. As long as Bill Wirtz  doesn't allow home games on TV, they have good standing to argue that owners aren't running their businesses very well and they aren't doing everything they can to maximize revenue.

They don't want it tied to revenues because they claim the owners will hide revenues. However, that was addressed in one of the NHL's offers where they would work with the players on how the accounting would be done and would allow the players a say in the independent accounting firm to audit the books.

According to some reports they didn't have real access to the numbers or have an opportunity to define hockey revenue.

It was in the offer the NHL made a couple of weeks ago where they said the players would have a say in how the revenues would be calculated and in selecting the independent accounting firm. That was a huge step for the owners.

[Chadd 916]

To a point I can understand why the players don't want salary tied to revenues when they don't have a say in the business practices of the league. As long as Bill Wirtz  doesn't allow home games on TV, they have good standing to argue that owners aren't running their businesses very well and they aren't doing everything they can to maximize revenue.

They don't want it tied to revenues because they claim the owners will hide revenues. However, that was addressed in one of the NHL's offers where they would work with the players on how the accounting would be done and would allow the players a say in the independent accounting firm to audit the books.

According to some reports they didn't have real access to the numbers or have an opportunity to define hockey revenue.

It was in the offer the NHL made a couple of weeks ago where they said the players would have a say in how the revenues would be calculated and in selecting the independent accounting firm. That was a huge step for the owners.

According to reports, that's what the NHL said but not what was really in the offer.

[chippa13 1844]

It was in the actual offer. In a PR move that offer was posted on the NHL website.