When in Doubt, say Collusion

[lapniappe]

if you guys were listening to the FAN, and other sports stations today, the C word was being used.

Collusion.

if this was last year, how much do you want to bet, that Hatcher, Kariya, and others would be wearing the blue, white and red lady liberty of manhattan? (or at least been tendered an offer)?

Federov probably would still decline an offer with the Wings, but the Leafs would have been beating down his door so fast, people would have worried about Quinn's heart condition.

at least 2/3's of the UFA's would diminish, as most of them would have recieved a qualification.

Mike Penny said that he didn't call a single agent; they actually called him, and his response had been like 29 other gms (or assitants), told them, call back when you're serious.

It's sad really. that in 10 years of the current CBA, the owners finally realised that THEY control the market, and not the other way around.

but the agents are muttering collusion (which legally can't be upheld, as Clarke DID sign a "top notch player" in Hackett).

Collusion, as i understand it, is a unified stance against or for something, depending on the situation. it was a BIG deal in Baseball a couple of years ago.

however; with the ecomomics of the league, it can; and should be considered "common sense"

these guys are throwing away good coin, and 4 year contracts, for the promise of something else; something that may, or may not come.

how surprised are we going to be, when in october X amount of players aren't playing in the league?

[Gerard]

I don't know if they'll be not in the league but they could easily be poorly paid (relatively speaking). Collusion is also the easiest way to re-gain control knowing it's pretty well impossible to prove. Players like Kariya etc. will pay the price (not pun intended) for the mistakes of the past.

That said, all it would take would be one guy to upset the apple cart. Would ANYBODY trust Clarke to hold the decisions that seem to colluded to?? That contract for Hackett may very well be the disguise of nabbing Hatcher or Kariya. He's the sneakiest of all those out there and the bottom line, as it's always been for him, is look out for #1. I don't like this one.

[lapniappe]

i really have no clue.

if there is collusion....i like it. i mean it's going to hurt the year considerably, but why give out X amount of dollars for players, who quite frankly don't deserve it?

Kariya is considered loyal, etc etc.
so loyal he could NEVER possibily go to another team.

then why not take the 4 year 6 million dollar pay cut? they could have signed Teemu with the 5 million freeded up, plus signing bounses. (which is just as bad but still).

he says no, and is testing the water.

if Quinn (hah!) was to offer him 10 million smacks, would he go, no? i'm waiting for Anahiem to send me another doable offer?

uh. no.

and he doesn't have the numbers (playoff wise; and yes i know, they've been in the playofs like twice), but Kariya was no where to be found in the playoffs. replace Kariya with Green, Francis, Battagalia, Tangay, and they probably would have had identical numbers.

having a great regular season is all well and good, but we ALL know it means jacksquat in the playoffs. THAT'S the only reason we HAVE the regular season.

if Clarke does upset the apple cart (Sather doesn't have enough money to do anything, and Holland's apples are being hold by Hasek and Joesph, and who know's what Quinn will do, if anything), then I honestly do suggest that Quinn jumps in with both feet, and gets us the defensemen that we need.

[freshwind]

I hate that word collusion. The pressure the NHLPA puts on players to not sign a deal is collusion. Look at the heat Bourque took when he signed a lowball deal with the Bruins because he didn't want to upset his family, and liked where he was.
The success, albeit courtesy of the trap, of the lower salaried clubs has more to do with it than collusion.
Owners are asking gm's for value for THEIR money, return on THEIR investment.
If it was a Dallas/Ranger final and no one was signing, then maybe you could say collusion, now, I'm not so sure. The final 4 were all in the lower echelons of salary, so $$ doesn't breed success, how can you interpret that as collusion?
If both sides were at LEAST negotiating, then you could have a sustainable argument for bargaining in bad faith, currently, no.

[Gerard]

fw, I enjoy reading your stuff partly b/c i'm weak on off-ice things. But it does seem odd that suddenly players who are stars are, politely, getting put on the back-burner. In other years Kayiya would have had tons of offers by now. He may not have been given 10M but a deal of 7-8 would certainly not have been too far off. Owners would be looking at the real poss. of adding the Olympic player, and others, to get themselves on a run for the Cup. Especially after the Cinderella ride of the Ducks (and don't forget about the Wild) it goes to show that anything can happen. That may be further proof to suggest that teams don't need to add extra, and very expensive, players but it still reaks of silence and all it will take is one guy to spill the whole thing. Mr. Clarke in Philly has always done things his way so i'm betting on him nabbing Hatcher and then the battles will be on.

[NorthernDancer]

Let me take a wild guess on who saidthe C word. Would it have been that anti-everything that smells of good business, Damien Cox ??
On another note, did you see that Dave Perkins of the Star is very supportive of the Vancouver Olympic bid. What a turn-around from when he was flaming the Toronto summer bid a few years ago.

[Leafs_Pam]

NorthernDancer said:

Let me take a wild guess on who saidthe C word. Would it have been that anti-everything that smells of good business, Damien Cox ??

ND, both Damien Cox and Al Strachen are poor excuses for media reporters. I usually take anything either of them say with a grain of salt.