gc2005 said:
That's great for owner solidarity. Great way to send a message to the union that all's well in replacement world.
You know, you really should THINK about what you write before you start posting. You don't see the great irony when its your players union holding the association together by threatening to take away pay or force the membership to pay it back should they cross the line and play for a team without NHLPA approval? Yeah, that's a great way to send a message about PA solidarity to the WORLD that all's well in the NHLPA world!
Force 10 teams to play against their will with replacement players because Gary says so. Fine the Red Wings $20 million because they don't want to use scabs. Force the Maple Leafs to sell the team and move it to Seattle where no one will even know they're using replacements. Revoke Montreal's franchise because they might not be able to use scabs due to provincial legislation, not to mention fan backlash. What a joke.
That is the deal the owners made when they signed on. That is the deal the owners made when they agreed to give Bettman the power to negotiate this solution. They all read the fine print and they all knew where this was headed all the way back to 1999. The league has given the teams plenty of options, its up to the teams to select the one that works best for them.
Even if all teams are "forced", as you say, you can't get fined for incompetent management. Give away tickets for free. Sign Manute Bol, your neighbours and BOD's children to play for the Flyers. Make an effort to ice the worst possible team mankind has ever seen just to embarass the league. What the hell, if that's what Gary wants, go for it.
Yup, that would sure show the league. It would sure show the fan base as well! We can't compete without over-spending as we do have the incompetant management that you think we do, and we'll prove it by icing the worst product possible! Again, do you bother to think before you post?
Here's something very interesting for the replacement player argument. Here are the rosters of the Washington Capitals (a random team) from 1999-2000. This is really only four seasons ago, but it shows the incredible turnover that a team will face in a very short time.
1999-2000
77 Adam Oates (Edmonton)
55 Sergei Gonchar
17 Chris Simon (Calgary)
22 Steve Konowalchuk (Colorado)
12 Peter Bondra (Ottawa)
10 Ulf Dahlen (retired)
44 Richard Zednik (Montreal)
6 Calle Johansson (Toronto)
8 Jan Bulis (Montreal)
11 Jeff Halpern
13 Andrei Nikolishin (Colorado)
27 Terry Yake (Europe)
14 Joe Sacco (retired)
15 Dmitri Mironov
2 Ken Klee (Toronto)
20 Glen Metropolit
28 James Black (out of the system)
33 Jim McKenzie (Nashville)
19 Brendan Witt
29 Joe Reekie (Chicago)
21 Jeff Toms (out of the system)
* Jaroslav Svejkovsky (retired)
36 Mike Eagles (retired)
4 Alexei Tezikov (out of the system)
24 Rob Zettler (retired)
37 Olaf Kolzig
23 Miika Elomo (out of the system)
38 Nolan Baumgartner (out of the system)
25 Barrie Moore (out of the system)
39 Alexandre Volchkov (out of the system)
3 Jamie Huscroft (retired)
1 Craig Billington (retired)
That is six holdovers from four seasons ago, or only about 18% of the team remaining. The bottom line is that each and every year you are cheering for replacements, whether you want to admit it or not. Its the nature of the game. You PA folk have to get over it already. Most fans recognize this and have learned to cheer for the team, not the clowns in the jerseys.