Taxes on UFAs signing in Montreal.

[Rob Sense]

1- Habs don't only lose out on FA's to California or Florida. A lot of players still sign in Buffalo (Okposo), Minnesota (Staal), Detroit (Green) and those have similar weather and are taxed, as well.

2 - If one of the reasons players don't come here is because they don't want to send their kids to French school, that says more about them than Montreal.

yes the dreaded fear of having their kids learn another language...maybe they fear that the kid will spontaneously wear a beret or crave smelly cheese! The difficult choices that a pampered snowflake must make.

 

[Heffyhoof]

We should invite that main board clown who mentions taxes basically any time someone signs anywhere. After all, I've learned from those great scholars that somehow every other state and province has these massive loop-holes that players can use to ensure they are earning near the same as a player in Florida. Just don't ask why Florida doesn't have the same loopholes.

 

[salbutera]

1- Habs don't only lose out on FA's to California or Florida. A lot of players still sign in Buffalo (Okposo), Minnesota (Staal), Detroit (Green) and those have similar weather and are taxed, as well.

2 - If one of the reasons players don't come here is because they don't want to send their kids to French school, that says more about them than Montreal.

I have never seen that happen: Gionta, Cole, Petry all embraced and wantingly sent their kids to do schooling in French albeit private…. Oh yeah all were American players too.

Miller Time went ballistic a couple of months back on one of my posts saying money may be most important to me but not players…. well when your career is maybe 10-12 years if you’re amongst the most fortunate…. it is the prime driver

Over 80% of these players don’t have a post playing career to fall back on & they’ve got another 40+ years to live

The other key factor is anonymity IMO - American athletes are raised wanting to be “the star athlete”, Cdn players simply aren’t culturally which is why Subban stood out like a sore thumb & created so much backlash. It’s why American players have been more willing to sign as UFAs vs Cdn ones IMO - they embrace the star power associated w being a Hab ($$ being equal of course)

As for Minny - who have they really signed except Parise & Suter, both mid Westerners who made it clear they wanted to play close to home (Chi or Minny). As for Staal, loved anonymity..

Habs UFA focus, should they want to even go that route, needs to be American players, bonus contracts are just too much of an advantage to pass up for US players …

 

[ReHabs]

yes the dreaded fear of having their kids learn another language...maybe they fear that the kid will spontaneously wear a beret or crave smelly cheese! The difficult choices that a pampered snowflake must make.

I'm raising my kids in a multilingual household with yet even more languages in the jurisdiction we reside -- by the time my children are teenagers they will be fluent in five languages if you'd believe it. It's awesome -- I have three under my belt and I feel like I could've had five easily in hindsight.

With that said, moving somewhere where the local language is alien/different is not for everyone. I've struggled at times... sometimes big, sometimes little. Hockey players and their wives are not typically the most intellectually curious types so I don't think it's fair to expect them to full-breasted embrace a radical change in language.

In Montreal we're cursed in a variety of ways (big and little) and blessed in a variety of ways (big and little). I think Habs fans have to simply accept it. It could be a lot worse. Truthfully, I don't think I'll move back but my heart will always belong in my hometown. Every time I visit my love (for the place) and decision (to not re-settle) are re-validated.

 

[salbutera]

Sick and tired to read about taxes....

Houses and overall cost of living is way cheaper than about anywhere else in North America.

These guys are paid in US$ on top of that.

Not true…

A $5M home is Westmount costs approx $8M in Forest Hills (Toronto), costs $3,5M-$4M Cdn in Henderson (similar affluent neighborhood) 20-min from Vegas strip ..w newer, bigger, more land and modern luxury layout / amenities and 1st class schooling system

It’s not only income taxes but lower cost of luxury living in a handful of US no tax southern markets

 

[ReHabs]

Historically Anglo-saxons have been the rulers vs being ruled

Not since 1066

 

[BLONG7]

Taxes
Media
2 Official Languages
Fans/Pressure
Insane History of the Team ( Cups )
Lack of Anonymity

The list goes on and on eh guys...........
One thing can change ALL of this....................Winning!!
HuGo is on it............so many changes have been made to the organization since the Gong Show has left......but there are many that will never go away. Taxes is the primary one, because we all know sadly money makes the world go round.

 

[SOLR]

For what it's worth, Georges Laraque claims taxes are not a problem, he didn't pay provincial taxes in Quebec when he played for the Habs, he paid taxes in Alberta, that's where he lived, officially. He said none of his teammates paid provincial taxes in Quebec. Not sure how reliable that info is though...

Unless you are a Quebecois living here, taxes are connected to the tax residency.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Habs players don't have to send their kids to French schools. Any player who does is doing it as a conscious choice.

 

[Help]

if a free agent is to sign here i would request that it be a free agent that wants to be here above anywhere else because they like the organization, the internal culture, the roster makeup and their role within it. if they enjoy the spotlight, have interest in the culture and language, that's a huge bonus. the "negatives" will be positives for the right candidate

im not going to lament when players sign elsewhere for reasons of privacy, money, or the like. respectfully, if that's where your interests lay, that's very cool. but they are not likely to be the type to thrive in this market anyway. its not a great fit. let the mercenaries and sunsetters go where they will

there will come a time for a big free agent signing. it's 2-5 years away. until then the concern is building a promising roster through the draft and development to appeal to that eventual free agent, and i like the foundation so far

 

[Lshap]

Pezzetta says he loses 54% of his salary. That's on $750,000. Can you imagine what a star loss is?

At the end of the year, the tax difference is minimized. I don't know the specifics, but I know a competent accountant will get a substantial amount of Pezzetta's money back.

yes the dreaded fear of having their kids learn another language...maybe they fear that the kid will spontaneously wear a beret or crave smelly cheese! The difficult choices that a pampered snowflake must make.

It has nothing to do with fear or culture or personal feelings about a language. Parents want their children to have academic success – period. An American grade-school kid won't thrive in an environment where he/she is learning math, history, science in a language they don't understand. Expose kids to a new language? Absolutely. Immerse them in a new language? More difficult.

 

[Adam Michaels]

yes the dreaded fear of having their kids learn another language...maybe they fear that the kid will spontaneously wear a beret or crave smelly cheese! The difficult choices that a pampered snowflake must make.

I have never seen that happen: Gionta, Cole, Petry all embraced and wantingly sent their kids to do schooling in French albeit private…. Oh yeah all were American players too.

Miller Time went ballistic a couple of months back on one of my posts saying money may be most important to me but not players…. well when your career is maybe 10-12 years if you’re amongst the most fortunate…. it is the prime driver

Over 80% of these players don’t have a post playing career to fall back on & they’ve got another 40+ years to live

The other key factor is anonymity IMO - American athletes are raised wanting to be “the star athlete”, Cdn players simply aren’t culturally which is why Subban stood out like a sore thumb & created so much backlash. It’s why American players have been more willing to sign as UFAs vs Cdn ones IMO - they embrace the star power associated w being a Hab ($$ being equal of course)

As for Minny - who have they really signed except Parise & Suter, both mid Westerners who made it clear they wanted to play close to home (Chi or Minny). As for Staal, loved anonymity..

Habs UFA focus, should they want to even go that route, needs to be American players, bonus contracts are just too much of an advantage to pass up for US players …

Why are you guys replying to a post I wrote 6 f**king years ago?

 

[shamrun]

im sorry if I’m missing something when I say this, but if the league truly wants parity, then why don’t they make adjustments to the cap based on taxes? How is it fair for Montreal to have the same cap as Vegas, when the state has no tax? That’s an unfair advantage under the cap system. You truly are not playing with the same money when you think about it. To a free agent, it’s more attractive to sign in Vegas because they’ll save on taxes. That could work out to quite a bit of money. Montreal would need to offer more to level the playing field. Why not adjust Vegas cap down and Montreal’s up in this case? I believe there are other States in there as well. It’s not a level playing field.
I’m just speaking financially btw. not climate, history, competitiveness or other attractions.

I am not a tax wizard but players also receive money from outside of their salaries. Like cole caufield also does mcdonald ads and jersey sales i guess. I understand they will get taxed on that as well but they have more avenues for revenue than playing in a non hockey market. Is that not enough to entice high end UFA's?

 

[Lshap]

Why are you guys replying to a post I wrote 6 f**king years ago?

This is the most 'Husband' question I've ever seen.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Why are you guys replying to a post I wrote 6 f**king years ago?

Stand by your posts!!! Hahah

 

[GoodKiwi]

Why are you guys replying to a post I wrote 6 f**king years ago?

Oh, how innocent you seemed back then...

 

[CanadienShark]

Pezzetta says he loses 54% of his salary. That's on $750,000. Can you imagine what a star loss is?

That poor baby who only makes 10-15x more than a normal person every single year.

And dude. No need to necrobump this.

 

[salbutera]

Why are you guys replying to a post I wrote 6 f**king years ago?

LOL … I didn’t even see that

Sorry about that I just saw the alert and responded

 

[Scintillating10]

That poor baby who only makes 10-15x more than a normal person every single year.

And dude. No need to necrobump this.

How much they pay tax here in Quebec is important factor. Didn't want to start new thread. Too many now

 

[salbutera]

if a free agent is to sign here i would request that it be a free agent that wants to be here above anywhere else because they like the organization, the internal culture, the roster makeup and their role within it. if they enjoy the spotlight, have interest in the culture and language, that's a huge bonus. the "negatives" will be positives for the right candidate

im not going to lament when players sign elsewhere for reasons of privacy, money, or the like. respectfully, if that's where your interests lay, that's very cool. but they are not likely to be the type to thrive in this market anyway. its not a great fit. let the mercenaries and sunsetters go where they will

there will come a time for a big free agent signing. it's 2-5 years away. until then the concern is building a promising roster through the draft and development to appeal to that eventual free agent, and i like the foundation so far

Following has been beaten to death… Tavares is the only PPG F to have ever signed as UFA w a Cdn market. Yes rarely do those types ever hit the open market.

 

[LaP]

Taxes
Media
2 Official Languages
Fans/Pressure
Insane History of the Team ( Cups )
Lack of Anonymity

The list goes on and on eh guys...........
One thing can change ALL of this....................Winning!!
HuGo is on it............so many changes have been made to the organization since the Gong Show has left......but there are many that will never go away. Taxes is the primary one, because we all know sadly money makes the world go round.

People overlook winning too much. Players want to win.

 

[salbutera]

That poor baby who only makes 10-15x more than a normal person every single year.

And dude. No need to necrobump this.

They’re not “normal people”, they are the 750+ best at what they do.

Just as top Dr’s go where the $ are, top lawyers do the same the best of the best in any profession go where the $ are. It’s the reality of life

 

[MasterD]

That poor baby who only makes 10-15x more than a normal person every single year.

And dude. No need to necrobump this.

That's true, but his money making years playing the NHL are almost over already.

Lots of guys have a very hard time afterwards. 325000$ doesn't last you a lifetime if you make it at 23.

 

[salbutera]

That's true, but his money making years playing the NHL are almost over already.

Lots of guys have a very hard time afterwards. 325000$ doesn't last you a lifetime if you make it at 23.

And you don’t have a profession to fall back on because your life was spent focusing on becoming a pro hockey player

 

[CanadienShark]

They’re not “normal people”, they are the 750+ best at what they do.

Just as top Dr’s go where the $ are, top lawyers do the same the best of the best in any profession go where the $ are. It’s the reality of life

He's not a good NHLer. I think ALL pro athletes are overpaid, but that's obviously a whole other discussion.

That's true, but his money making years playing the NHL are almost over already.

Lots of guys have a very hard time afterwards. 325000$ doesn't last you a lifetime if you make it at 23.

It's hard to feel bad for a guy that is/can be set up relatively well for the rest of his life and retire before age 30. Or he could do like the rest of us, and get a real job after.