Your 2012 National Hockey Lockout Thread

[The_Admiral]

I'd have to think the variance calculations can't kick in on existing contracts or else all hell would break loose. But man oh man screw the Preds so hard for accepting a contract they knew they couldn't afford and then turning around and crying poor. I almost wish the rules would screw everyone over just to screw them.

[BBTV]

What I don't understand about "capped" sports is how the players can bargain for 45% or 50% or whatever % of revenue, but then when that revenue dips, their contracts remain static, which punishes anyone else looking for a deal that off season. I think that the salaries should be variant in relation to the change in the cap, so a player may take up 15% of the cap, not necessarily make $10M. Wouldn't that be more fair to the players as a whole since if they grow the game and increase revenues, they're not bound by contracts they signed in a low capped year, and if there's a bad year, players looking for deals aren't punished by deals that other guys signed in good years?

[The_Admiral]

Their contracts don't remain static. A portion of their salary is held in escrow through the season, and then partially refunded at the end of the season so that leaguewide payroll is equal to 57% (or 50% now) of hockey-related revenue. A player making $6 million a year is really making a percentage of a percentage. In some years of the CBA they made more than they were owed, in others less.