Sure, if company B is willing to offer me a ridiculous sum of money to do my job and I take it, it will benefit me for a short period of time. However, as is the case now, company B will eventually not be able to sustain such a payroll. So eventually, company B folds and I'm out of a job. And with my new market price, company A tells me to go fuck myself, and companies C,D,E,and F, do the same. The point I'm trying to make is that the player's association is going about their arguments all wrong. They dont want a salary cap because, for the most part, that's where players make their money in the NHL. In the NFL and other sports, players make ridiculous amounts of money from bonuses, incentives, and especially ENDORSEMENTS. The NHL is not as popular in America compared to other sports. Therefore, the view of the players is that they want to make as much as they can from their salaries, and the owners have been complying. But now they've dug themselves into a hole. What if they never get back up and running? What if they resume operations and nobody comes to watch the game or buy the merchandise?? Hockey will die, and then none of these players will have anything. The guys playing in Europe and stuff right now aren't making nearly as much as they would in the NHL. Originally, I shared your view that if a team is willling to pay me x amount of money then its not my fault. But, now that I'm worried that the NHL will never come back, I've changed my tune. Think about it this way... The average NHLer makes 1.9 million dollars a year.....the average salary, for a decent job, would be about 50,000. You would have to work about 40 years to make an average NHLer salary! FUCK THEM, they get PAID TO PLAY SPORTS. I was a great hockey player when I was younger but knee injuries caused me to leave the game. I would have killed for the opportunity to play hockey for a living. Even if it was 30,000 a year to play in Alaska. What happened to the love of the game? 1.9 million a year could definately feed my family I dunno about yours.
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