Ilya Kovalchuk

WELCOME TO THE DOG AND PONY SHOW…BETTER KNOWN AS…”THE NHL”…
ON TUESDAY THE LEAGUE ALLOWED THE NEW JERSEY DEVILS TO SIGN ILYA KOVALCHUK TO A 17 YEAR CONTRACT WORTH $102 MILLION…
TODAY THE LEAGUE REJECTED THE DEAL…
ACCORDING TO ESPN…
NEW JERSEY GENERAL MANAGER LOU LAMORIELLO KNEW THE NHL HAD THIS PLANNED…
AND STILL SIGNED KOVALCHUK…WHILE THE LEAGUE DID AND SAID…”NOTHING”…
AS A RESULT…THE PLAYERS ASSOCIATION NOW HAS 5 DAYS TO FILE A GRIEVANCE…
AFTER WHICH THE WHOLE MATTER WILL BE HANDED OVER TO AN ARBITRATOR…WHO WILL HAVE 48 HOURS TO DECIDE WHETHER OR NOT THE DEAL IS VALID…
THE REAL QUESTION IS…WHY???
WHY HAS THE NHL DECIDED THAT “NOW” IS THE TIME TO GET TOUGH???
AFTER ALL…THIS IS THE SAME LEAGUE THAT HAS MADE FRONT-LOADED CONTRACTS “THE STANDARD”…
THE LIST INCLUDES…JOHAN FRANZEN…HENRIK ZETTERBERG…MARIAN HOSSA…CHRIS PRONGER…MARC SAVARD…AND ROBERTO LUONGO…
THE ANSWER IS SIMPLE!!!
NHL COMMISSIONER GARY BETTMAN HAS LESS THAN A YEAR LEFT ON HIS CONTRACT…
AND THERE IS NO GUARENTEE HE WILL BE OFFERED A NEW ONE…
TO BEGIN WITH…THIS CURRENT CBA…WITH ALL OF ITS LOOPHOLES…BELONGS TO BETTMAN…
AND HE IS THE ONE WHO SHUTDOWN THE LEAGUE FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR…TO GET IT…
THE LEAGUE IS ALSO FIGHTING FIRES IN A NUMBER OF CITIES…INCLUDING PHOENIX…NASHVILLE…ATLANTA…AND DALLAS…
IN PAST BETTMAN HAS BEEN ABLE TO HOLD ONTO HIS JOB…BASED ON HIS ABILITY TO PUT MONEY IN THE POCKETS OF THOSE OWNERS…
THAT IS WHAT DROVE ALL THE EXPANSION IN THE 90’S…
THESE DAYS IT’S TELEVISION…
BOTH THE NBC AND VERSUS DEALS RUN OUT AFTER NEXT SEASON…THOSE 2 DEALS BRING IN A MERE $75 MILLION…
BUT THANKS TO THE RATINGS SUPPLIED BY THE OLYMPICS…AND THE STANLEY CUP FINAL…
THE NEW AMERICAN CONTRACTS…COMBINED WITH THE CANADAIN DEALS COULD BE WORTH AS MUCH AS…$500 MILLION A YEAR…
BUT WHAT’S THE POINT…IF IT ALL WINDS UP IN THE HANDS OF THE PLAYERS???
IN THE END…THE KOVALCHUK CONTRACT IS ABOUT ONE THING…WHO RUNS THE NHL…
TODAY GARY BETTMAN FIRED THE FIRST SHOT…