Everything Else

Living Piggy LIves

By Sam Fels 1536 0

Figure we should keep the Hogs’ exploits separate from the rest of the kiddies. And that’s partly because they’re probably  not going to be as uplifting as reading about Phillip Danault or Broadhurst or the others. It’s been a stuttering start for the Hogs, and that’s being a bit kind.

One habit they’ve gotten into, which is detrimental to anything you want to accomplish, is blowing leads. They scored first in all three games they played this week, and yet only managed to win one. That’s not very good. They also love to take penalties, and dumb ones at times. But the combination of a pretty ferocious kill and some gymnastics by Carter Hutton have kept them from getting lacerated so far. The biggest injustice of the season is that the IceHogs’ only win came without Hutton in net, because he’s deserved it the most.

Everything Else

Your Weekend Viewing Guide

By Sam Fels 1287 0

It’s our second NHL-less weekend, and before we get to what you can do to fill the time — though not with anything wholesome or actually useful because who the fuck wants to do that? — let’s try and clear up some of the gloom and doom.

You have to look past the publicity stunts that abound in this negotiation right now. And it’s all publicity stunts. As evil it was, you kind of have to marvel at how the NHL was able to turn the PR war on it’s head in the span of what felt like seven minutes. But walking out of a meeting after less than an hour isn’t going to help anything, and nor is having your barely literate union members take to twitter to try and nail themselves to the cross.

In the end, both sides have gotten to a 50-50 split, and both have offered to get there next year. They may argue how to and what comes along with it, and maybe those obstacles are bigger than they seem. But the NHLPA’s “3rd” proposal and the NHL’s last really aren’t all that far apart, considering where both sides started from. And while there won’t be any news this weekend most likely, just like there’s been every time they’re not actually meeting there will be back-channel phone calls and conversations, and that’s kind of where the real work gets done.

Anyway, the viewing:

Everything Else

Nobody’s Right If Everybody’s Wrong

By Sam Fels 1240 0

I’m sure after I post this some detail will come out that completely flips it on it’s head. Such is the way. I’m also going to try and keep emotion out of this, as hard as it may be, to try and clearly see what the problems are.

Both McClure and myself have not called on the players to somewhat acquiesce to what the owners want because we think they are wrong. Anyone would be pissed off if your boss came to you and told you they wanted to take back part of your salary simply because they wanted to. It’s certainly not fair or what you’d expect any decent person to do.

We call on them to do that because of what reality says will happen. A lockout is not enacted by people who have any intention of breaking. It’s not a suggestion. You don’t put someone on the rack and then stop when they tell you it hurts and apologize. You have a result in mind, and you squeeze and inflict pain until you get it. And they’re going to get most of what they want. That’s how this works. The players seem to think they can win this. They can’t. And they’re still chasing a win, not a deal. Until they do the latter, we’re going to be in this Winter of Our Discontent.

Everything Else

Nobody's Right If Everybody's Wrong

By 1008 0

I’m sure after I post this some detail will come out that completely flips it on it’s head. Such is the way. I’m also going to try and keep emotion out of this, as hard as it may be, to try and clearly see what the problems are.

Both McClure and myself have not called on the players to somewhat acquiesce to what the owners want because we think they are wrong. Anyone would be pissed off if your boss came to you and told you they wanted to take back part of your salary simply because they wanted to. It’s certainly not fair or what you’d expect any decent person to do.

We call on them to do that because of what reality says will happen. A lockout is not enacted by people who have any intention of breaking. It’s not a suggestion. You don’t put someone on the rack and then stop when they tell you it hurts and apologize. You have a result in mind, and you squeeze and inflict pain until you get it. And they’re going to get most of what they want. That’s how this works. The players seem to think they can win this. They can’t. And they’re still chasing a win, not a deal. Until they do the latter, we’re going to be in this Winter of Our Discontent.

Everything Else

Hey Kids, Rock N’ Roll

By Sam Fels 1188 0

While we wait for what increasingly feels like we’ll be messages of doom after this meeting is over, let’s talk about what’s going on with the kids in the system these days.

As he cements his status as the Hawks leading prospect, at least the one outside of Illinois, Phillip Danault had a ho-hum weak with only five assists. That saw him drop to the seventh-leading scorer in the Q, so he’s gone back to being a total bum, obviously. As we say every week, keep in mind that the scoring rate in the Q can get a little silly. But still, 20 points in 12 games (9 goals) is worth noting.

However, his teammate in goal Brandon Whitney was having some issues with whiplash, as he conceded nine goals in two starts. Whitney’s save-percentage has dipped below .900 and his GAA is at 3.35. Elsewhere in the Q, Dillon Fournier got his season fully underway with four points in four games. He’s also a +8 in just six games overall.

Everything Else

Hey Kids, Rock N' Roll

By 1121 0

While we wait for what increasingly feels like we’ll be messages of doom after this meeting is over, let’s talk about what’s going on with the kids in the system these days.

As he cements his status as the Hawks leading prospect, at least the one outside of Illinois, Phillip Danault had a ho-hum weak with only five assists. That saw him drop to the seventh-leading scorer in the Q, so he’s gone back to being a total bum, obviously. As we say every week, keep in mind that the scoring rate in the Q can get a little silly. But still, 20 points in 12 games (9 goals) is worth noting.

However, his teammate in goal Brandon Whitney was having some issues with whiplash, as he conceded nine goals in two starts. Whitney’s save-percentage has dipped below .900 and his GAA is at 3.35. Elsewhere in the Q, Dillon Fournier got his season fully underway with four points in four games. He’s also a +8 in just six games overall.

Everything Else

Can’t Talk, Coming Down

By Sam Fels 1224 0

Obviously, there was going to be a bit of a come down from yesterday’s optimism, if you were one of those that chose to have it. The players union was never going to respond with, “Sounds great! Where’s my pen? Let’s go get a beer!” What we saw yesterday, after all the commentary, was at least a basis for what can be intense negotiations over the next week. And an agreement is only going to come after some marathon and pressured negotiating. Between the networks starting to exert their force and players starting to bark on various media outlets, combined with what really isn’t that huge of a difference between the sides now, I still think we’ll see those negotiations get started tomorrow and we’ll end with a deal. Maybe that’s just me wanting my job back, but it’s what I think.

Anyway, let’s look at some of the disputes that the players union apparently has over the latest proposal.

Everything Else

Can't Talk, Coming Down

By 1012 0

Obviously, there was going to be a bit of a come down from yesterday’s optimism, if you were one of those that chose to have it. The players union was never going to respond with, “Sounds great! Where’s my pen? Let’s go get a beer!” What we saw yesterday, after all the commentary, was at least a basis for what can be intense negotiations over the next week. And an agreement is only going to come after some marathon and pressured negotiating. Between the networks starting to exert their force and players starting to bark on various media outlets, combined with what really isn’t that huge of a difference between the sides now, I still think we’ll see those negotiations get started tomorrow and we’ll end with a deal. Maybe that’s just me wanting my job back, but it’s what I think.

Anyway, let’s look at some of the disputes that the players union apparently has over the latest proposal.

Everything Else

NHL Offer Update

By Sam Fels 1379 0

A couple things have come out in the intervening hours about the offer from the owners. Just wanted to get those out.

Let’s get to the big one here. According to Pierre LeBrun, who generally doesn’t miss on this kind of thing, the proposal contains a clause in Year 1 that teams can exceed the cap up to $70 million. This is breathtakingly huge. That means there wouldn’t have to be extra amnesties/buyouts, and players don’t have to worry about being axed from their teams ruthlessly.

Let’s do some math here. If 50% is a 57.7 cap for this upcoming year, and revenues grow by 4% for next year, the cap for next year would be around $60 million. While that will mean teams are going to have to cull some talent to get under the new number, they’ll have two years to do so instead of one and it’s not quite as bad as it would have been. So make of that what you will.

There’s more…

I didn’t mention the 5-year limit in my previous post. That will not delight players, but a term-limit was always going to be on the cards. One would think that can probably be negotiated up to a six or seven year limit. That shouldn’t be a deal-breaker.

The allowance for the first year is the big story here. While there have been some poo-pooing this offer today, that part of the offer is a major catering to the players. They don’t have to worry about losing anything off this year’s salary, which has been their complaint all along.

Everything Else

Yeah, I Had A Movement This Morning Too

By Sam Fels 1208 0

Whether you’re at work or staring at your pants angrily at home this afternoon like I am, your Twitter feed blew up with the news that the NHL came up with a new proposal for the NHLPA this morning. Before we get into it and what it could mean and what it might not mean and a bunch of other things, we have to say there are a lot of things we don’t know about it and there could be all sort of snakes and scorpions in the inner-workings of it. So take it easy there, Champ.

Ok, let’s delve into what we do know about it.