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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2000-10-25, Page 10PAGE 10. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2000. From the sidelines Has hockey business overshadowed the sport? By Hugh Nichol Has the business side of hockey completely over­ shadowed the sport itself? Hockey writers certainly think so filling their columns not with the exploits of Patrick Roy and Brett Hull, but rather with financial tidbits involv­ ing the likes of Jason Amott, Eric Lindros, Mike Peca, Scott Niedermayer, Chris Simon, Derek Morris and Nikolai Khabibulin, players all deemed newsworthy for one simple fact. Their inability to agree on a contract has forced them into holdout status. In the beginning, times were sim­ pler, in that each player sold his services to the highest bidder on a yearly basis. In 1909 for example it was reported that Cyclone Taylor signed the richest deal in North American sports, a $5,250, 12-game contract with the Renfrew Millionaires. However, team owners soon realized that competing against each other was not economical and by using their knowledge of supply and demand they introduced us to binding contracts, collusion and gen­ tlemen’s agreements severely limit­ ing income opportunities for the aspiring hockey player. PeeWee Bulldogs split openers The Blyth PeeWee Bulldogs split their season openers with Lucknow. Travelling to Lucknow Oct 16, Blyth edged the home team 2-1. A nice wrist shot by Darren Austin beat the goaltender on the short side. Justin Dobie and Kyle Procter set up the play. Lucknow knotted it up before the end of the first. The score remained at 1-1 until the last two minutes of play of the third when Austin took a pass from Procter for the netter. He pulled a deke and snapped a hard wrist shot past the netminder. The Bulldogs had a strong game with great end-to-end action. Jeffrey Elliott had an outstanding game in net, stopping 36 shots. When Lucknow returned to Blyth, Oct. 19, they were prepared for retal­ iation. Action was back and forth through the first with no one scoring and Lucknow leading 7-6 with shots on goal. The second period saw the Lucknow squad explode for six unan­ swered goals as the Blyth defensive zone coverage broke down. Elliott was busy, facing 19 shot with his teammates only tallying eight. The second intermission appeared to help as Coach Chad Haggitt put his team back on track and they battled for a scoreless third. The Bulldogs had many good qual­ ity chances on which the Lucknow goalie made outstanding saves. It wasn’t until the NHL decided to expand in the late 1960s that the bal­ ance of power between player and management began to shift. More teams meant more jobs which meant a better bargaining position for those possessing the required skills. It was at this time that the use of player agents became popular, the obvious advantage being that the player could concentrate on hockey while his lawyer played the cat and mouse games associated with the squeezing of blood from a stone. Understandably the player agent and general manager did not always agree which led to the use of arbitra­ tion hearings. This format is straight forward in that player and club present their case in front of an i idependent arbitrator who then decides the true value of the service. The proceedings however are not for those sensitive in nature; in fact many believe the fear of the process convinces some players to sign for less simply to avoid facing the pro­ cedure. In order to win a team Roaring engines, dust flying After a cancelled grass drag event Thanksgiving weekend, the Lee farm near Walton hosted the rescheduled races, Oct. 21, under a lovely autumn sky. Though attendance was small everyone from professionals to four-year-olds just starting out had a chance to race the clock. bfussels.walton TRAILBLAZERS O.F.S.C. - EARLY BIRD DRAW Buy your permit by Nov. l/OO and you could win a great prize Super Grand Prize - An Arctic Cat ZR500EFI 1st Grand Prize - Hyland Single Bed enclosed trailer 2nd Grand Prize - Choko leather snowsuit and more Permit price on or before Dec. l/OO $120.00 Permit outlets: Radford's, Brussels; G & M Auto Parts, Brussels, McGavin's, Walton; Winthrop General Store; Vincent's, Seaforth; Middegaal's, Seaforth; Seaforth UAP; Faust Bros., Mitchell; Mitchell Tire; Mitchell Massage; Ross Rocher Auto Sales; Southwestern Performance. DRIVER’S TRAINING COURSE DEC. 9/00 Contact Ken: 348-8025 attempts to negate all aspects of the players valuation and while the mud slinging is considered strictly busi­ ness it can become personal such as the case several years ago when New York Islander manager Mike Milbury literally reduced his number one goaltender to tears. On the other hand if the player can convince the arbitrator he is a second coming, the windfall is mind bog­ gling. Case in point being - this summer’s decision to award John LeClair of the Philadelphia Flyers the largest arbitration award in NHL history, a $7 million, one-year con­ tract. Indirectly I am in the arbitration process with the new amalgamation. As of Dec. 31 my contract with the Village of Brussels ceases to exist and despite what is rumoured, no existing organizational chart shows a public works employee within the town limits. Therefore as the player I must state my qualifications by sub­ mitting a resume to the new admin­ istration of Huron East. Unfortunately there is no independ­ ent arbitrator to chair the proceeding and my options may be limited to a) take what is offered or b) withdraw my services in the same manner as AmOtt, Lindros, and company. So how does one determine a play­ er’s worth. Ten years ago Brett Hull scored 72 goals and made $125 thousand. Today his salary is $7 mil­ lion a year while his goal output last season was 24. Yet Hull is an estab­ lished drawing card and the amount is not unreasonable in that next sea­ son Rob Blake of the Los Angeles Kings has already stated he will not Elect DOUG LAYTON For Reeve Township of North Huron November 13, 2000 VOTE MASON BAILEY for Blyth Ward Councillor Township of North Huron Dedicated to Accountability, Affordability, Sustained Growth and Economic Diversity Resident of Blyth and Community since 1955, continually self-employed as a farmer, Real Estate Broker and Property Developer - patronizing, promoting and developing our community Married with 6 children and 1,8 grandchildren 39 years of experience 5 years • East Wawanosh School Board, during transition to Central Schools 9 years • Huron County Federation of Agriculture - 7 years on executive committee • 2 years as President 6 years • O.F.A. Board of Directors • 1 year on Executive Committee • 2 years as Chairman of Hydro Routes Committee, representing farmers' interests with respect to transmission lines 3 years • Board of Directors Ontario Mutual Insurance Co. 4 years • Board of Directors Clinton Public Hospital 3 years • Board of Directors North Huron . Publishing Company Inc. 7-1/2 years • Blyth council • 6 years as Reeve and County Councillor 12 years • Board of Directors - Clinton Community Credit Union, 1 year President. settle for anything less than $24 mil­ lion over three years while MVP tro­ phy winner Chris Pronger has his sights set on $10 million a season. Considering that baseball’s Carlos Delgado recently signed a four-year, $68 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays and that the NBA Los Angeles Lakers gave Shaquille O’Neal a three-year, $88.4 million extension it is obvious that profes­ sional sport has indeed become strictly business which may as well lead to the amalgamation of the sports and finance sections of our local newspapers.