Oh for crying out loud.
Name one team Stanley Cup team that was based on the size of the owner's wallet.
Detroit? Only the most recent cup featured any major UFA signings. ANd even Hull and Robitaille were two UFAs who were no longer wanted by their old teams.
Detroit's payroll is high because jackasses like Pete Karmanos went and offered Fedorov the sun and the moon as an RFA.
So if Fedorov was worth $5M, then what was Yzerman, SHanahan and Lidstrom worth?
Everybody else was drafted, or came in trades of significant cost.
New Jersey? How many big UFA signings can you peg on big Lou?
Colorado? Look at their cup wins. They've got Sakic (draft) Forsberg (Lindros trade), Roy (Montreal meltdown). Yeah, they had some major deadline deals (Ray Bourque comes to mind), but these guys, like Detroit, aren't responsible for the high salaries all over the league.
I can understand small market fans who are upset because they've watched their best players leave, year after year. I was an expos fan until 1987, when the owners colluded against the players.
But a salary cap isn't going to help much. Fact is, Jarome Iginla is still going to get big offers from teams that don't mind maxing out their cap.
See, the salary cap means no team in the league will have consistent lineups.
You know why Detroit fans and Colorado fans love their hockey?
Because they've had the same core for a decade.
What does Steve Yzerman mean in Detroit.
What does Peter Forsberg and Joe Sakic mean in Colorado?
If a team drafts three great players, like Yzerman, Fedorov and Lidstrom, will there be room to keep them with a salary cap?
My fear is that there will not be with this new system.
You guys will whine and whine "Now you know how it feels to be an Oilers fan"
Well, if you wanna fix the NHL, you don't want everybody to feel like an Oilers fan.
You want everyone to feel like a Wings fan.
Unfortunately, a salary cap accomplishes more of the former than the latter.