What You Need to Know September 14

Welcome back to another edition of " What You Need to Know". Let's dive right in.

• Justin Bieber, pop sensation and hockey star?

Your eyes are not deceiving you, like every good Canadian boy the singing sensation grew up playing hockey. Bieber had to put his hockey career on hold to follow his dream of singing. Earlier this week the Bakersfield Condors who play in the ECHL offered the singing sensation a contract to join their hockey team. The head coach of the Condors saw the footage of Beiber skating with the Toronto Maple Leafs and decided he would be a good fit for his team.

“Very rarely do you see this combination of skill and toughness, I think he could provide some elusive speed up front for us. Plus, he’s a right-handed shot, which we’ve been looking to add.” ~ Matt O'Dett head coach of the Bakersfield Condors.

Wow talk about a marketing plan, if Bieber does agree to go and practice with the team they might start selling out games.

• September 15th is right around the conner

In Fact the deadline in which league commissioner Gary Bettman set is tomorrow night at midnight. Sadly I will be away in the woods with little internet coverage, but I'm not foreseeing a deal being signed in the next 24 hours. The two sides met again on Wednesday, during the meeting the NHLPA led by Donald Fehr submitted another proposal to the league and the league than countered that proposal with one of their own. The two sides are still extremely far apart despite the league submitting what will likely be the best deal the NHLPA will see during this process. Fehr described the leagues proposal as a ploy for them "Trying to see what else they can get". Any hope of an outside source coming to rescue the CBA talks was put to rest when the Board of Governors unanimously voted to have a lockout if there is not a deal by Saturday. I hate to say it but start preparing for a lockout.

• Signings, Signings and more signings

With the lockout right around the corner teams are taking one last shot to lock up players before they are no longer allowed too. Signings over the last week include:

• John Carlson signs for another 6 years with the Washington Capitals


• Kari Lehtonen signs for another 5 years with the Dallas Stars


• Justin Abdelkader signs for another 4 years with the Detroit Red Wings


• Carlo Colaiacovo signs for another 2 years with the Detroit Red Wings


• Jonathan Blum resigns a one-year deal with the Nashville Predators


• Ben Scrivens signs a two year deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs


• Tyler Seguin signs a 6 year deal with the Boston Bruins

 

• New Name but same home

The Florida Panthers have changed the name of their home arena in Sunrise Florida from BankAtlanticCentre to BB&T.

• Sid the Kid is 100% healthy

One of the sad things about the impending lockout is that fact the world's number one player is finally healthy after 2+ years of battling with a concussion. Problem is there's nowhere for him to play. But the good news for the Pittsburgh Penguins and their fans is that Crosby has not had any setbacks to his health while training this summer. 

"Nothing. I've been feeling 100 percent. It feels good to not have to think about that, and to work as hard as you want. It's been really good."~ Sidney Crosby

• Gaborik making progress

Marian Gaborik is back on the ice skating with his teammates after undergoing offseason shoulder surgery. Gaborik says he is happy with the progress but will take his tame rehabbing and will likely be out until late November.

"I can play with the puck and shoot some muffins, everything has gone as planned, so I am very happy with the progress. I can feel the difference now and I can feel that it's getting better, so that's the most important thing." ~ Marian Gaborik

 That will do it for the news this week in the NHL.

 

CBA Deadlock

 

By now I'm sure you've heard the NHL (Gary Bettman and the owners) did not accept the NHLPA's second offer on Friday. As a result the talks have been



recessed and the two sides have not met since. Bettman said the league would not accept a deal that didn't include a salary deduction for the players, funny howhockey players are the least payed professional athletes.

When I read the news on twitter that the owners had not accepted the proposal my heart instantly dropped. Time is running out and with both sides seemingly far apart, now more than ever we face the prospect of a third lockout in 18 years. With just 11 days left until the September 15th deadline, it's time we take a look at what the sides are really wanting from each other.

Here's a few valid points each side has in this never ending battle over who will back down first.. the millionaires or the billionaires.

NHL

Let's start with the owners. Right now whether the players like it or not the ball is in the owners court. For the owners it's not about the love of the game, it's about how much money they can make and how little they can pay the players. The league made a record $3.3 billion last season, but the owners are crying poor?

• The owners and the league believe they deserve a bigger cut of the pie known as revenue. Right now the players own 57% percent of the generated revenue, compared to the leagues 43%. That's a pretty significant difference between the two sides. The other reason they want a bigger piece of the pie is to share with some of the smaller market teams who are on the verge of going bankrupt.


• The owners and Gary Bettman believe that they pay the players too much money. In reality yes they do, no professional athlete should be making more than $5 million a year in any sport, period! They are payed to a play a game that millions of little kids play for free. But in terms of professional sports the players are underpaid. Take NFL quarterback Peyton Manning for example. He's arguably one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, his salary is $18 million a year where as Sidney Crosby one of the best players in the NHL makes a mere $9 million a year. No Mr. Bettman you don't pay your athletes too much money.


• The owners are wanting to put a cap on the length of contracts offered to players. Right now we're seeing some very long deals that have players locked up for 12-13 years, the owners are wanting to rope those contracts back down to 5 year deals. Thus brings us to the point of why the owners, who want to shorten the contracts, have been handing out contracts ranging from 6-12 years right before the CBA? They have too. Let's say hypothetically the Pittsburgh Penguins only wanted to give Crosby a 5 year deal but he demanded a deal closer to 10. If the Penguins don't sign him for 10 years another team would gladly sign him. Which is why the owners (despite looking like hypocrites) are handing out long deals, if they don't another team will.

NHLPA

Next we move to the players, who don't really have much to fight over other than the fact the league is trying to take more money.

• The players union feels like they lost in the CBA negotiations back in 2004-2005. They feel like the NHL got a better deal and pushed around the players union. To insure that this would not be the case again this season they hired Donald Fehr. The players refuse to lose this time around. On twitter and in the news you hear the players saying they want a "Fair deal", all they want is whats fair. Problem is there is nothing fair in business and the world of sports.


• The players do not want a deduction in the revenue they earn from the league. Things included in this revenue are; ticket sales, jersey sales and memorabilia etc. Since the last lockout ticket prices have been raised 40%! The players believe they deserve the biggest cut of this pie, after all the fans are paying to see the players play.


• The players are fighting desperately to win these CBA negotiations. They can't afford to lose again to the owners.

The sad thing is both sides are fighting because they don't know what to do with all the money they made last season. It was the NHL's best season and helped them land network deals with NBC and HBO (winter classic) deals with these larger markets would almost guarantee bigger profit next season. But the owners are willing to risk their TV deals just because they don't know how to handle the money now.

Take a minute to watch this fantastic fan made video, it will give you chills. Alone us fans have no voice but together we make a sound.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWQs3O_IDas&feature=player_embedded

Bettman and the owners believe they can do anything they want and the players should just have to accept it. That may have worked in 2004 but it sure wont fly this time around. Hockey isn't about the money, it's about the moments and the memories that last a lifetime. Please give the fans the game they love and forget fighting over the money.

The Contract Trap!

When players play super well, in their rookie season their respective teams often sign them to monstrous contracts with big money attached. When young players gain these huge contracts from their teams, they often stop playing as well, as they did to get the contract. One explanation is-  due to trying to live up to the hype of their contracts! Right now there are perfect examples of 2 young players not playing up to their "standards" in the NHL. Luke Schenn of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tyler Myers of the Buffalo Sabres. These are two players whose teams are trying to build franchises around them, and they are pegged to be the future captains of their teams.

Let's start with Tyler Myers, Myers was drafted 12th overall by the Sabres in 2008, after 2 seasons in the NHL, the 21 year old Myers signed a contract that will keep "The Big Easy" in Buffalo for the next 7 years. Back in September Myers and the Sabres agreed to the 7 year deal worth $38.5 million. Myers is coming off 2 great seasons with the sabres, in which saw him win a Calder Trophy and surpass the 30 point plateau both seasons. But this season "The Big Easy" has become a major concern on defence, for the Sabres. Now last season Myers got off to quite a slow start but picked up his play down the stretch, "I felt the pressure last year and at times I was way too hard on myself," He said. "I got off to a tough start but was happy with my game after Christmas, especially after the All Star game." It appears lightning has struck twice, as Myers is playing very poorly to start off the season. Through this seasons' 8 games, Myers only has 2 points, which are assists. Myers is currently averaging a bit more than 21 minutes of ice time, and has gone 28 games without scoring a goal and 2 games without recording an assist. But it's not just his point totals that have fans worried, it's his play on defense, that's worrying everyone. He is making very poor choices on the ice; pinching at the wrong times, making bad passes, has to many turnovers and is losing his checks. Myers is now paired with veteran defence partner Robyn Regehr who will hopefuly help calm Myers down. One thing Myers needs to pick up is his aggressive play, through 8 games he only has 12 hits - less than 2 hits a game. Defenceman need to be aggressive and hit the opposition regularly, when defenceman are not hitting, often their point totals are effected, like in Myer's case. But here is a good thing for Sabres fans-, Tyler Myers will be fine! Based on last seasons' turn around from a slow start, this is nothing to panic over for Myers and Sabres fans everywhere. He is having a difficult time living up to his big contract, he just needs to get back to basics and become the reliable Tyler Myers that everyone loves! Myers is a player that the Sabres want to stick around for the foreseeable future and maybe even take over the captaincy one day, but first he needs to fix his slow starts to the regular season. Myers and Regehr should soon fine chemistry and Myers can stop worrying about the big contract looming over his head. But Myers slump will soon end, I'm positive about it.

Next up is Luke Schenn, despite Mike Komisarek being chirped hard by all the Leafs fans, it's Luke Schenn who needs to step up his game the most. Schenn's ice time has been reduced by 25% this season, making his new ice time average 15:43, which is the lowest amongst the Leafs D-men and to boot he is struggling majorly in his own defensive zone. Schenn was a big part of the major turnaround with the Leafs in last seasons' 2nd half. The Leafs rewarded him, with a huge contract extension; 5 years $18 million. Since he signed the contract, Luke has been uptight and has had trouble moving the puck. “He has had trouble starting games and I think Luke has put a lot of pressure on himself,” Wilson said. “He has to relax and he will be fine.” Coming off a strong season last year, in which he set a career record for assists. As soon as Schenn calms down, and just simplifies his game, his defence he will be just fine. For Schenn to succeed his game needs to be as simple as possible, 1 pass and out, nothing fancy, or he becomes flustered. Many bandwagon fans are calling for a trade, but HELLO after signing this contract, Scheen is not going anywhere! His future and the future of the Leafs is together and he's likely the future captain. Schenn should find a little extra motivation this season as he will be facing his younger brother several times with the Flyers. Plus if the Flyers make it to playoffs and the Leafs don't! i wont be a very fun time at the Schenn house this summer! No older brother wants to be chirped by their younger brother for playing better! Good news for fans, is Schenn has never really been, nor is he expected to be, a big contributer on offence, but he did lead the league in hits and blocked shots last season, and could very well do it again this season.

Unfortunately for these young defencemen fans jump on and off bandwagons faster than it took the two of them to sign their new multimillion dollar contracts. Right now they are trying to do to much and prove to bandwagon fans that they are worth the money they're being paid. They both need to simplify their game! For Myers he needs to be more physical for Schenn he needs to keep it simple. I have no doubt that these two defenceman will settle down and be just fine. It's part of the jinx of rookies signing their next major contracts, they always play like crap afterwards, someone needs to break that jinx, maybe one of them will win an award this season.
So my message to fans is to stop freaking out over their poor starts to the season, you are not helping them any by booing and chirping these young players. Give them time it is STILL early in the season, their teams are winning and the most important time for these two to play well is down the stretch!