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Z should be in politics, "I know for a fact the Russians will probably stay." esteef

Who said I was pro owner? If you look back at previous post it clearly says I'm fed -up with both sides. Also I hate the concussion/injury argument. Barring a catestrophic event whats stopping an injured player from getting a real job like the rest of us? Sure they have a high risk but theyre all well paid to play for a living. This has nothing to do with free speech. The players can say anything they want (And some of them have) but its always something that ends up making them look bad. There's an old saying : "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt".

As I said yesterday, I think Fehr's been brought in by the PA and 22 owners to take Bettman out... That little turd has gotten to powerful! I don't care how long this lockout lasts, I want Bettman gone!! With the amount of money 1/3 of the teams are losing, there's no way all 30 owners wanted a lockout!

Free speech? Really? There's a big difference between being free to say something and being smart enough not to. esteef

It is difficult to enforce US contract in Russia. If Ovechkin liquidates all his US assets prior to bailing then I really do not see how Capitals can get anything out of him. But I do not think he will shut the door on NHL at this point in his career. Maybe later.

For the record, the NBA and NFL both take the players share from sport related revenue. Same thing as the NHL, with maybe some minor differences in the details. The major difference with the NBA is that the players can go over their share. It's a sliding scale from 49-51%, and it's possible for players to go 6% over that without any changes to revenue forecasts, cap, tax limit, etc. They can even go higher than that, but then they start changing things. From what I've read, it seems unlikely the players would go over by more than a small amount. They hold 10% in escrow, so team payrolls would have to be a larger amount than that over the cap. The other major difference is the NBA has half as many players. I think the NHL players would be fine with a lower share if their average salary more than doubled. The NFL has traditionally had a fairly weak union. The owners seem to roll over them pretty easily. Given the number of players, the massive revenues and the profit margins, you'd think the players would push harder for a better deal. The main difference is the amount of revenue. Like $9 billion in the NFL. I'm sure the NHL players would be thrilled with half of that. I have no problem with the NHL asking for a ~50% split, I just think they need to rely on revenue growth to get there instead of expecting it this year and rolling back salaries. From Fehr's comments, it doesn't seem like the players mind that idea either, provided revenues grow fast enough.

I haven't been so disgusted over a loss in a loooong time as I was last night. It sucks to have the whole pitching staff pitch lights out. Even Benoit who has been horrid of late pitched as good as he could and then one man comes in and f***s up the whole thing. That's what makes baseball special though. It's a team sport but in many ways it's not. I still think the Tigers will win tonight. All season long they have played well with their backs against the wall and while I know the A's now have momentum and they are at home and probably the better all around team, I think someone... maybe Cabrerra and Verlander are going to simply will the Tigers to victory. Verlander might pitch a complete game or Cabby might get 4 hits with 5 RBI's or something but it's going to happen. I have faith.

i have to agree that i think the players should keep their mouths shut, just like the owners should and have. nothing good comes from either the players or owners bashing each other through the public. i don't know about anyone else but i am tired of going to mlive and every day it seems there's a new article with zetterberg quotes criticzing the league and the owners. we get it, you don't like or agree with the owners. repeating it dozens of times to the media isn't going to solve anything.

Why are the owners wrong for not wanting 18 of their franchises to lose money? We can blame the owners of those teams for handing out huge stupid contracts (And I really do) but in the end it has to be fixed or the league will lose franchises which in turn equals less revenue, less jobs for players and no big TV conract. This is why this lock-out makes me so mad. The owners were stupid and the players are greedy and have lost touch with reality.

I think billy is referring more to people here bashing Jimmy D for speaking out but applauding (to some degree) Zetts. esteef

Hold on Hold on...let me back the ol GMC up here. So let me get this straight. It is ok for players or player reps to say what they want because it's freedom of speech and they are just trying to force the owners and big bad bettman to give into their demands but the owners or anyone representing them need to keep their mouth shut. Do I have the gist of it?

So, it was good then that Jimmy D made his comments, right? He's just trying to force Fehr's hand by talking to the public. It's basic negotiating and he's not doing anything wrong or badly. It's being petulant, and wanting some attention. Nothing more, nothing less.

Ville Leino

Personally, I don't like this from him. With the situation we are in, the players need to be unified, you don't want individual players making comments. Hard to control, but from an NHLPA perspective, I'm sure they don't like seeing comments from the players.

Why, so you can say "no"...again?

fyi "hockeyyinsiderr" is a teenage kid and all of his posts are completely fabricated by him. He has no inside info.

What's the Spanish word for s***? Because that's more fitting than potato. Unbelievable. Valverde was so lucky last season. It was a fluke to convert every save and it's showing big time now because he is not closer material at all. He throws 93 MPH fastballs in the strike zone nearly every pitch and hopes it lands in a glove. Benoit has really been no different in the second-half as well. What was nearly a guaranteed win every time a season ago is now the complete opposite. You can't trust either in a close game to hold a lead. Goes to show how unpredictable bullpens are in MLB from year-to-year. The A's use Doolittle, Cook and Balfour and have major success. You could definitely see this coming right when Valverde entered between his garbage and the A's penchant for always finding a way to win it seems, but man does this loss sting a lot. JV has to throw a complete game tomorrow basically and hope this unreliable offense can put up a few runs.

I love how they pay tribute to the NHL commissioner in this. Harry Buttman is the league commissioner who is short of size and long on annoying personality, played in the movie by a dwarf.

i think the owners that are against the lockout didn't want to appear to the union as not being unified, so they voted for it knowing that since only 8 are needed to approve lockout, their vote would be useless

That s*** is so shady.

I don't know either. Are you basing it on only a few Russians? Because the Wings currently have a Russian player that is the antithesis of that. And they have had several in the past as well. Larionov, Fetisov, Vladdy, Kozlov.

Boyle should have kept his mouth shut. Even if he was privy to some inside information (Which he probably isnt) does he honestly beleive there arent players out there who just want to play and arent in favor of asking for the moon? I am willing to bet my life savings (Granted it isnt much) that there is a MUCH higher percentage of players who just want to play then there are owners who do. This is why the players will cave first and revenue will probably end up being split some where close to 50 -50. Like every other sports league. The best thing the owners have done is not say anything. Every single time a player opens his mouth in the press it ends up sounding selfish, immature and just plain stupid.

Thank you for the information. No wonder Bettman needs a lockout. He has to use all his time managing 10 facebook accounts.