CrashingTheGoalie

by Ron Spence
Hockey salaries were out of control, prior to the NHL lockout, and the resulting agreement.
During that time, four players were earning $11 million plus per season – not counting Sakic and Fedorov, who had higher front-loaded contracts.
They were: Mario Lemieux, Peter Forsberg, Keith Tkachuk, and Jaromir Jagr (three seasons).
Name the highest [...]

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by Ron Spence
When Bob Goodenough took over the NHLPA in February, 1990, he introduced salary disclosure. It’s something that’s taken for granted today.
How important was it?
Wayne Greztky’s father, Walter admitted to Terry Jones: “I knew Wayne was getting traded days before he did because Nelson Skalbania phoned me and asked, ‘How much does Wayne make?’ [...]

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Baseball’s first head gear was introduced in the early 20th Century.
Inventor Frank Mogridge designed an inflatable boxing glove-looking thing in 1905. The A.J. Reach Company of Philadelphia sold it for $5.
Hall of Famer Roger Bresnahan experimented with “head harnesses” and developed a leather batting helmet in 1908.
Necessity was the mother of invention, as he had [...]

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by Ron Spence
Do NHL owners patch the roofs of their arenas?
Do they fix their ice making plants when they break down?

Of course they do. It’s good business to keep their assets in top shape.
This is true of any business.

And the NHL is big business. The combined values of the 30 teams is nearly $6.7 billion [...]

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by Ron Spence
Alexander Ovechkin is earning $9,000,000 this season.
This is in contrast to a number of NHLers who are earning the league’s minimum salary – $500,000.
All of the 715 players listed by nhlnumbers.com can afford a cell phone.

And yet, the NHLPA has difficulty electronically assembling their membership to vote – or discuss problems.
This is just [...]

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by Ron Spence
If the eyes are the windows to the soul, then NHL Home Pages are the windows to the teams.
We can gain insights into many teams’ attitudes – and wallet thicknesses – by viewing their Home Pages.
The nucks’ Home Page uses the NHL’s generic format: game info, profiles, articles, and ads.
The look that’s aimed [...]

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by Ron Spence
Many ‘nucks fans are becoming expert capologists. 
They know how much each player is earning, his cap hit, and how much space Vancouver has – or doesn’t have – before they are over the Cap.
Vancouver’s highest cap hit is Roberto at $6,750,000.
The Islanders’ top cap hit is Rick DiPietro at $4,500,000, their second is [...]

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by Ron Spence
We’re told that Roberto should have his contract extended over the next couple of weeks.
How much should/will the Canucks pay Luongo?
Do they undermine the bank and pay him as much as Henrik Lundqvist? The Rangers’ netminder has been making an average of $6,875,000 per season?
Do they try and pay him what other goalies [...]

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by Ron Spence
“Assistant general manager Jim Nill said the Wings would try to sit down with Lidstrom during training camp to begin talking about a new contract,” wrote the Free Press.
I’d like to know what they’ll talk about.
This year’s salary cap is $56.8 million, and if it falls 15% – as they claim it might do [...]

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by Ron Spence
I have mixed feelings about Mats returning to the ‘nucks.
Last season, I was a combination of annoyed, frustrated, hopeful, and in the end – sad.
Because of these mixed feelings, I thought I would do an apple to apple comparison with another veteran – New Jersey’s Brendan Shanahan.
To try and find some context for [...]

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