Why it doesn’t matter how long the Kovalchuk saga drags on

I had a rant all ready for this week. But then, a few things happened:

1) Earlier today, Susan Lee posted on the topic I had in mind: Women’s hockey. Catch it here.

2) Also earlier today, the NHL and the NHLPA agreed to extend the deadline for a decision on whether to accept the latest version of the contract the New Jersey Devils are offering Kovalchuk (say that three times very fast).

3) Larry Brooks of the New York Post appears to have uncovered an ultimatum that the NHL has given the NHLPA.

A decision could be made tonight, tomorrow, next week. The NHL could accept the contract, refuse the contract, refuse the contract and get to work on the Luongo, Hossa, and/or Savard deals. The NHLPA could file a grievance. Kovalchuk could end up in the KHL. Luongo could end up not getting all those dollars he has yet to prove he deserves (don’t. even. bring up the Olympics). Hossa could end up on Dancing With The Stars.

No matter how this little saga ends though, it’s already set the stage for The Thing We Don’t Like To Talk About. No, I don’t mean a hockey rumour blog. I’m talking about the next lockout.

There are far, far, far more knowledgeable people than myself on how and when the next lockout will happen, so I won’t even try. I will say we’ve been waiting for it for years, maybe not since we found out there would be a salary cap but definitely since the teams started playing fast and loose with the CBA loophole and front-loading everything in sight from their employment offers to their grocery bills.

With the front-loaded contracts, the General Managers decided they weren’t going to stand for a salary cap. With the rejection of the original Kovalchuk contract, the NHL decided it wasn’t going to stand for the GMs not standing for the salary cap. With their grievance, the NHLPA decided it was … well, you get the idea.

Eventually, though, this stops becoming something we’re sick of hearing about and an issue the players refuse to go to work over. And to be honest, I can’t say I can blame them. A salary cap would have been fine if, as the league promised, it had brought parity to the league so that every season could be anyone’s season. Off the top of my head I can name three teams that haven’t been or come close to the playoffs since after the last lockout, and many more teams that have been there every year or four out of the five years.

A basic summary of what happened is: the players got screwed out of money, and the fans are not any better off… but the owners are happier than they used to be.

I don’t expect the players to just sit back if things don’t balance out in their favour. Couple the salary cap with the Olympics issue and you’ve got yourself some form of a strike on your hands. So we can get bored of this now, but we need to be ready to be plenty bored sometime in the next few years.

Why it doesn’t matter how long the Kovalchuk saga drags on

I had a rant all ready for this week. But then, a few things happened:

1) Earlier today, Susan Lee posted on the topic I had in mind: Women’s hockey. Catch it here.

3) Larry Brooks of the New York Post appears to have uncovered an ultimatum that the NHL has given the NHLPA.

No matter how this little saga ends though, it’s already set the stage for The Thing We Don’t Like To Talk About. No, I don’t mean a hockey rumour blog. I’m talking about the next lockout.

I don’t expect the players to just sit back if things don’t balance out in their favour. Couple the salary cap with the Olympics issue and you’ve got yourself a strike on your hands.