55fan

Good insight. You are right about the motive. I guess hockey players don't really need motivation to win games as much as I need it to put stuff in boxes.

OK, all you financial types out there... I'm going to throw something out here, but I don't know if it would work for the NHL. Let me know what you think. I work for a company that has a profit-sharing program. We get wages- not great wages, but wages nonetheless, plus other benefits for working, but at the end of the year, we get a share of the profits in addition to that. It is based on the assumption that the company will make X dollars profit. If they do, the remainder of the profits gets split with the employees. If they don't, then they don't have to give us anything, but the one year that they didn't, they gave everyone a couple of hundred bucks anyway. Where I work, the sharing is based in units. You get so many units for longevity, evaluation scores, and number of hours worked in the last year. The units are totaled, the money is divided, and we all get a check. Last year mine was close to three grand. Not bad for a $12/hour job. So could this translate to the NHL? Players have their contracts. Owners pay the contracts. Then at the end of the season, they divvy up what's left above a certain amount. The owners get a sure profit or they don't pay the bonuses (which wouldn't count against the cap since they'd be even all around). If there is a profit, then everyone gets a piece of the pie. They'd have to negotiate what the level of profit is for there to be a bonus, and also what the terms of payment would be, but it would get everyone marketing the league in hopes of more money. Is this a viable solution? Or would it not work with something like the NHL?

I like it that he spoke honestly. The part about this whole thing being way too complicated for the average Joe to understand was a bit condescending, but maybe I'm over-estimating the average Joe. I do agree that the owners run the thing, but owners have to take their employees into consideration. If this was the players just demanding more money, I'd be on the owners' side, but this is about the players getting paid what the owners have said they will pay them. Good read, even if I didn't particularly like what was said. It's nice to hear someone just answering the questions rather than going all PC.

Private Dancer- Tina Turner

Everything. The person below me lives in a place where an ice cream truck comes around playing its annoying little song.

Be cynical, but with a side of optimism. Orange crush or sunkist?

I'm up. And that's no good. All I have on the agenda for the morning is clean the house, which I think qualifies as good. The person below me has dreamed of committing a crime and woken up feeling guilty.

Drive, unless the destination is overseas. Oats, peas, beans, or barley?

Private Eyes- Hall and Oates

In October I'm going to see my mama. Aunt Marge is coming from Ohio to visit. The person below me has had a nerf ball.

Wow. Neither sounds the least bit appetizing. I guess if you put some cocoa mix in the milk, I'll go with that. Flounder or cod?

All these "bang"s and no one has said Bang a Gong? Bang a Gong- Power Station (cuz's I'm feeling too '80's for T-Rex)

The players make the team. It's not Detroit hockey if it isn't the Grind Line, the Russian Five, or The Captain Himself, Stevie Y. Try to replace the Production Line! I dare you! Yeah, the players make the team, but the team changes as players come and go. If new guys were brought in all at once, it would be a shock to the system, but they would still be the guys in the Winged Wheel.

Yes, but it will only be two periods long. Or it will be held in March. Seriously, I think that if the NHL is in business on December 31, there will be a classic.

But only if we play the first half and get locked out during February. I don't know that it would favour us, but at this point, I'll take any hockey.

Holy crap. Some of those match-ups are hardly fair and others are too close to call. I think it stands to reason that whomever gets paired with Yzerman is screwed. Imagine me voting against Murph!

Nope. No clue, but you probably never heard of Chad Everett or Bobby Goldsboro. The person below me has worn false eyelashes.

If difficulty is the only issue, give it a shot. If there are other factors, then weigh them. Cake: Let it go to waste or waist?

Since I have to do that every summer, I will just extend my summer passtime, plus I now have football. No, it doesn't take the place of hockey, but it will just have to do for now. The person below me will now reveal to us the first celebrity upon whom (s)he had a crush.

Are we talking wishing or realism? I fear that we will lose the season unless Bettman pulls his head out of his ass. (Hint: The head is the end with less hair.) Shower in the morning or evening?

Keep on Loving You- REO Speedwagon

Under the Boardwalk- the Drifters

Bridge Over Troubled Waters- S&G

Wow. I honestly had not even thought of the charities. The players and the league both contribute quite a bit both individually and as a group. Maybe this would be the solution: Instead of arguing 57/43 vs 50/50 or other numbers, maybe we should be going x/x/10 with the 10 going to charity. Both sides might be willing to give a little if they knew that the money wasn't going to the other side, but to a charity. It wouldn't solve the other points, but it would be a starting point. I still think that the league wants to lock out this season so the players will be more willing to give up Sochi next year just to have a season to play.

Now that Carrie Underwood is a hockey wife, I think it behooves her to write sad, sappy, lamenting, wailing songs about how bad this is for the players, their families, the people who are employed by hockey, and the fans. Then she needs to follow Bettman around singing them all non-stop until he cracks and signs whatever is put in front of him, preferably his own pink slip. Heck, I'll sing backup vocals. Anything to speed this along.