Rejected!!

Couple of days late with this one, but school has been starting, you guys understand. Anywho, our favorite Russian diva has been back in the news after the arbitration hearing for Ilya Kovalchuk sided with the NHL on Monday. Now, I know that there are a lot of people upset about this whole thing, most of them are probably Devils fans, but I am personally dancing about this decision! I mean, come on, when the GM of the team says that he doesn't believe that contracts like this should even exist during a press conference to celebrate the contract like that, then you know that this thing shouldn't really be able to hold up to any kind of smell test.

Here is the main reason that I think that this is a good thing. As most hockey fans know, the current collective bargaining agreement will end after the 2011-2012 NHL season. Many people have already feared that there will be another lockout, something that players have not helped along with all the rumors of Donald Fehr being tapped by the players to lead the player's union into negotiations. Money is always the issue in these, not that anybody involved in the negotiations really need more money, and you know that these types of mega-long term, front loaded contracts were going to be a huge issue. The league now has a precedent on their side that these sorts of things won't fly. They can come to the bargaining table already knowing that they have won that argument. If the players try to push too hard for that, they will lose badly. If this had gone the other way around, the players could just argue that it was allowed in the last CBA, and they wanted to make sure that it stayed that way. Now, all that will really happen is some kind of clarification.

This will pave the way, in my opinion, for an NBA-like maximum contract. If you aren't sure of what those are, just look at Lebron James' current contract with the Heat, and you will see what I mean. It would be a fantastic thing for the NHL to put in a Max contract that says the most years that you can have on a contract is 7 years, (6 in the NBA). Then, a good compromise as far as the whole front loading of contracts, could that the league says a player may only front load their contract a certain amount, not how nutty the whole thing was with Kovy, so that there can be a slight manipulation of the salary cap, instead of the attempt to completely avoid it as it happened with Kovy. A possible restriction on salaries based off of a player's age could be a good idea as well, also something that happens in the NBA. Bettman SHOULD know about all that, as he did come from the NBA, but of course, he remains absolutely incompetent.

All in all, a big win for the NHL and its fans. This is something that may help to prevent a work stoppage in a couple of years. One last word to Mr. Kovy. I know you really, really wanted to be the highest paid player in the NHL after this. Well, then the last thing that you would really need to do before being the highest paid player is to actually be better than the current highest paid players, which you are not.

Kovalchuk Files a Grievance

In an act that most people figured was going to come along, the NHLPA has filed a grievance against the NHL after it rejected Ilya Kovalchuk's 17 year, $102 million contract because the NHL said that it violated the CBA. In this Puck Daddy article, from Yahoo Sports, he outlines the process of how this will get to arbitration. The way that this sounds, it doesn't sound like there is going to be a resolution to this any time soon.

The issue that the NHL has with this contract is not the amount of money, or even so much the length of time, it's the way that the contract was structured. I will, again, reference you to CapGeek.com to see how Kovy's contract was to be paid out. What the NHL is saying is a violation essentially comes down to the last 8-10 years of Kovy's contract, when he would move from making $11.5 million a year, going down to the league minimum of $550,000 a year by the time he's 40 and no longer scoring 40 goals every year. The Devils did this to manage their cap hit from Kovy so that, even when he was making the $11.5 million a year, their cap hit would still only be $6 million. Basically, the NHL thinks that it is a dishonest contract because, even though the cap hit would still be at $6 million, they don't believe that he would still be playing by the time he was to be making the $550,000 per year. And that is a somewhat realistic assumption. Who is the last power forward that we have seen play well into their 40s? I honestly don't know.

What is going to be the result of all of this? I really don't know. I feel like the NHL will probably win this one, which would be a very good thing, all around. That would set a precedent for the next CBA, and really wouldn't give the NHLPA a leg to stand on when it comes to these insanely long contracts. The whole concept of front loading the contracts has really hurt some teams because they just don't have enough money, and then they become the Atlanta Thrashers and can't keep any stars because they have too much money tied up in 1 so they never really win, and then that one star leaves because he wants to win. Should the NHLPA win this one, and should Kovy get to keep this contract, and should the NHLPA then hire Donald Fehr to lead them into the next CBA "negotiations", I can almost guarantee you that there will be another lockout, or strike, the next time around.

Rarely will I ever pull for Gary Bettman, especially since I've rated him the worst commissioner in professional sports, but in this case, I have to put myself in Bettman's corner and cheer my guts out, because this is one batter that he can't afford to lose.

NHL and Donald Fehr??

Over the past couple of weeks, I've seen a couple of stories here and there mentioning that the NHLPA was interested in hiring Donald Fehr as the new head of the union. I didn't think too much about it, at first, I recognized the name but didn't really remember why. That is, until I saw a picture of him. As soon as I saw this photo, my blood instantly went cold. The casual sports fan might not recognize him, but if you are big into sports, especially baseball, you know exactly who this guy is.

Donald Fehr was the head of the MLBPA from 1986 - 2009. He was the acting head starting in 1983. Fehr was always known as a very powerful leader of the MLBPA, which, in and of itself, isn't that big of a deal; however, did his job a little bit too well. He was largely responsible, mostly because the union pretty much told him to do whatever he saw fit, for 2 work stoppages in the majors. One in 1985, and the famous one later in the 1994-95 season that caused the cancellation of all the post season and the World Series. Not a great track record there.

The thing for which he is probably the most notorious, just like the game of baseball itself right now, is his "work" to prevent any type of changes in MLB's fight against steroids. Wherever he could, he threw up road blocks in an effort to keep things from going forward. The players are equally to blame in all of that because they gave Fehr all of their authority. Fehr is possibly best remembered for his testimonies in front of congress, where he did everything possible to not answer questions about things the players were open to in changing steroid testing. Bleacher report also has a great take on Donald Fehr and his potential impact on the NHL.

Now, why is Fehr bad for the NHL? Not because he's a strong union head. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the union having somebody strong and competent to represent them. I don't think that anybody has an issue with that. But I would seriously caution the NHLPA before hiring this guy, mostly because of the statement that it makes. This guy has a serious track record with work stoppages. To me, this is the players trying to send a message to the owners that they are ready to not play again. This says, "You guys got us in the last round, now we're going to get you, even if we have to have another lockout, or strike, to do it." This would be disastrous for the NHL, who is just now really starting to regain its popularity that it lost after its last lockout. They players are showing that their interests lie solely in their contracts and not in the well being of the game or the fans. Are they really willing to ruin the league with another work stoppage? Do they really think that the fans will take this? I suppose it's something that we will all find out in the days to come, but my serious word of advice to the players of the NHL is to NOT hire Donald Fehr. It would be a recipe for absolute disaster.