Rob Ray is a kind of guy that makes me look up to hockey players. Our local radio announcers, who travel with the team, say if he had his choice of jobs, he would probably rather be the equipment manager than the coach. .He'd rather hang out with the guys and use a hammer and nails.
I admire Ray for standing up for guys like Commodore, Ference and Pothier. No matter what happens, guys like these have very difficult decisions and have more serious interests at stake than many of the top players. And if for the sake of their livliehoods and families they have to make difficult decisions to be replacement players, guys like Ray will be walking through the line with them. And I admire Rob for that. He's not a guy thats gonna stand for rich primadonna players thinking too much of themselves. But these guys arent millionaires. And I dont thikn its fair that they should feel any repercussions if the game were to resume.
Nevertheless, this is big business, and the players through their association have an obligation to maximize their interests and not fold to unfair extortion or pressure from management just because its a difficult thing to stand up to them for what is right. And noble and down to earth as Robs deeds are, if he doesnt want to work with his union, he may find that they get better off at his expense. So its not easy.
Rob Ray doesnt want a cap
While Ray doesn't support a salary cap to settle the current lockout, he'd like to see more members of the NHL Players' Association step up and challenge executive director Bob Goodenow to go back to the bargaining table with commissioner Gary Bettman
Martin Gelinas doesnt want a cap.
That doesn't include simply accepting the NHL's hardline stance, however. "I don't believe in a salary cap. Any solution has to be fair, and a cap is all in the NHL's favour. My dad is a barber in Shawinigan (Que.). They don't put a cap on the cost of haircuts all across Quebec because a few guys are having trouble or put their store in the wrong place. There has to be a middle ground. I'm not the only guy saying this. A luxury tax might benefit the teams with less finances."
Like Gelinas, Ray, and many others, they are saying the same thing. They dont want a cap, dont think its fair, but want Goodenow to get in theere and negotiate something. But all Bettman is settling for is a cap. And Ray himslef is saying he doesnt want that.
Its fair and good to push Goodenow to do something, but what? Maybe some pressure on Bettman to get off the cap is needed.
Burke looked right into the camera again and told the players, if you're not gonna propose linking salaries to revenues, dont even bother. So what are the options?
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Re who is in the NHLPA, I remember there was a thread wondering why certain players werent appearing on the NHLPA website. I didnt think much of it at the time. Seems more intriguing now