NHLPA vs. NHL; Some Numbers to Chew

Okay, I have heard a lot of talk about the fall through of the deal. $6.5 Million? That's what people are talking.

Remember, there are 30 teams... that means the difference that the two sides are talking about is actually $200 Million. Now *that* puts a different light on things...

Now the caps that were being suggested were $42.5M by the NHL and $49M by the NHLPA. Based on last year, there are 10 (almost 11) teams that exceed the $49M range already. Detroit is the highest at 77.9, Rangers have 76.5, Dallas at 68.6, Philly at 68.2, Colorado at 63.4, Toronto at 62.5, St Louis at 61.7, LA at 53.8, Anaheim at 53.3, Washington at 50.9 and New Jersey just under at 48.9. Now Calgary, the runners up, had a total of 36.4... Tampa Bay, who won the Cup, had even less at 34.1. So why do some of these teams pay more? Why do some players (no names) demand such salaries for no show performance?

Here are some player salaries from last year:

Peter Forsberg (COL) $11M

Jammy Jagr (WAS) $11M

Pavel Bure (NYR) $10M

Sergei Fedorov (ANA) $10M

Nicklas Lidstrom (DET) $10M

Keith Tkachuk (STL) $10M

Joe Sakic (COL) $9.9M

Chris Pronger (STL) $9.5M

Rob Blake (COL) $9.3M

John LeClair (PHI) $9M

Mats Sundin (TOR) $9M

I will go back to Calgary again...

Iginla makes 7.5, Turek makes 4.3, Gelinas makes 2.4 and Conroy makes 2.2

Everyone else is under $2M and the average for the team was $950,000.

Lets look at the top team, Detroit.

Lidstrom 10, Joseph 8, Shanahan 6.5, Hasek 6, Chelios 5.9, Yzerman 5.8, Hatcher 5, Hull 5, Schneider 3.8, Whitney 3, McCarty, 2.3, Maltby 2

And the rest under $2M with a team average of $1,500,000.

So a lot of these guys are spoiled. They get on a team in a High Market area, get a salary that is out to lunch, and what happens when they outlive their welcome? Well now for Calgary to go pick up a 3rd line guy from Detroit that makes 2.5 Million, it breaks them. In fact that guy will become a first line guy on the team (Have a look at Conroy)...

I dunno. $6.5 Million? Yeah right. I doubt they would have cancelled if *that* is all it was over... Now $200 Million, I could see it.

All stats taken from USAToday.com and may or may nor reflect current salaries and payrolls... Well, I guess not at all really :)