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.