History of the NHL Salary Cap

[Canadiens1958]

As we have seen previously:

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showpost.php?p=78522097&postcount=25

The NHL and a Salary Cap did go hand in hand. In fact more so than the above indicates.

From page 91 of The Montreal Maroons by William Brown, there was a Salary Cap during the 1927-28 NHL season of $135,000. Times were prosperous, the NHL was one season beyond consolidation and expanding,. New arenas had been built in major centers - New York, Montreal, Boston.

Yet with rosters in the low two digits, no mention of a salary floor or an average salary in the $10,000 to 12,000 range it is doubtful that many players earned anything close to Babe Ruth money $70,000.

Compared to the 1927 New York Yankees salaries, towards the bottom of the following:

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1927&t=nya

it is understandable why certain players turned their back on potential NHL careers.

 

[Hawksfan2828]

Well, that's not a lot, adjusting it to 2015 in US dollars that's $1,853,068.

 

[alko]

That pretty interesting. When and why did they cancel the Salary Cap?

 

[Canadiens1958]

Research

That pretty interesting. When and why did they cancel the Salary Cap?

From what I have read, it seems the NHL always had a salary structure in place. The main issue is when would the owners decide to make the knowledge public and for what benefit.

Example the 1932-33 Salary Cap was publicized after the Leafs had won the 1932 SC in the new MLG built with great concessions from unionized workers(accepting shares as part of their wage package) during the heart of the depression. MLG was a much larger facility than the previous Toronto venue, ran at near capacity, generating loads of non-ticket revenues for the team and Conn Smythe.

After such a season the players would have felt entitled to raises. Something the unionized workers who helped build the Gardens were not getting.

Raises would have rippled thru the league especially with a revenue template in place for non-ticket monies.

Salary Cap of $70,000 reduced the from the 1927-28 certainly cut short player raises.