UPDATE: NHL investigating Hossa, Pronger contracts

if Hossa did take this contract and make a deal to retire before its over, then I've lost alot of respect for a guy who used to be my favourite player.

RobbyJ wrote:Rather than hoping to deter, my way prevents them from doing it.

It's the cap hit that the GMs are concerned about... not the salary. And the cap hit doesn't change no matter how you slide and dice the salary. That was my point.

6 of one, half a dozen of the other.

Whatever closes the loophole works for me. Constant salaries would work, for sure. NHL players, their representatives, like those big paydays at the start of new deals, tho', I'd imagine.

Union-wise, it's always harder to take away something previously granted than to extend something already existing. Hence, why I suggested just extend the 35+ over for all NHLers, regardless of age, and with exceptions for medical reasons.

But if the NHL can make constant salaries work, that would solve the problem, absolutely.

I just heard that Pronger's contract is under investigation as well - as it should be if they're going after Hossa.

SpezDispenser wrote:I just heard that Pronger's contract is under investigation as well - as it should be if they're going after Hossa.

But Pronger's is a 35+ contract... his cap hit stays on the books even if he retires...

Oh yeah...good call. They're still doing it though.

from Craig Custance of the Sporting News,

Marian Hossa’ contract isn’t the only one being scrutinized by the [color:6c02=blue ! important][color:6c02=blue ! important]NHL. An NHL source told SportingNews.com that the league is investigating Philadelphia’s 7-year deal with [color:6c02=blue ! important][color:6c02=blue ! important]Chris [color:6c02=blue ! important]Pronger to see if it circumvented the CBA and salary cap.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly confirmed the investigation of Pronger’s contract in an e-mail to SportingNews.com.

Daly said Pronger’s contract was being investigated for the same reasons as Hossa’s deal.






They still think that Pronger's deal lowered his cap hit enormously.

Way to antagonize the PA. Loopholes were found, live with it!

They have to do it to "look good". They don't want to appear to be hunting for witches. Plus it would just invite comments like:

"Just because Holmgren is stupid doesn't mean you you cut him a break!"

Remember, the end result is not that the contract has to be done over, but that the team is penalized.

That's a strange one... are they suggesting Philly made the contract extra long in order to reduce the cap hit? That only hurts them in the long run if he retires early... I don't get what the NHL is looking for...

RobbyJ wrote:

wprager wrote:How about this:

1. Constant salary over duration of contract
2. Remove the current 35 rule
3. Players retiring at 35 or earlier, cap hit comes off the books
4. Special dispensations for early retirement brought on by injury or other incapacity.

If players want more money up-front, arrange an interest-free loan like many companies do. Just make sure that the principal is paid down from the player's salary.

With constant salary any retiring player could come off the books whether for injury or any other reason. There would be no benefit to the club or player.

If players want more up front money sign a higher priced one or two year deal.

That works, but there's no long-term security.

Yes, yes, I know. Pick one or the other. But the players have gotten greedy and the agents even more so. And the owners don't seem to mind cutting the checks. It's the paying public that is screwed over. We need a fan strike.

How 'bout just put the UFA age back where it should have been @ 31. Then who cares.

Either that or no guaranteed contracts...

In either scenario, this problem goes away.

shabbs wrote:That's a strange one... are they suggesting Philly made the contract extra long in order to reduce the cap hit? That only hurts them in the long run if he retires early... I don't get what the NHL is looking for...

I think they're emboldened by their "victory" against Balsillie and just want to bully people with their new muscles.

SeawaySensFan wrote:
I think they're emboldened by their "victory" against Balsillie and just want to bully people with their new muscles.

SeawaySensFan wrote:

shabbs wrote:That's a strange one... are they suggesting Philly made the contract extra long in order to reduce the cap hit? That only hurts them in the long run if he retires early... I don't get what the NHL is looking for...

I think they're emboldened by their "victory" against Balsillie and just want to bully people with their new muscles.

Are those Internet Muscles?

Wonder if Garrioch's planning any trips to Chicago anytime soon? Judging by this piece, there might be a 'welcoming committee' waiting at the airport for him...


Blackhawks must hammer back at NHL crybabies in trumped-up investigation
Mike Kiley, Blackhawks Confidential, ChicagoNow.com, July 31, 2009

The Blackhawks should consider getting a few lawyers their own United Center lockers if they plan to be under investigation by the NHL every few weeks.

Can Brooks Brothers make up some black and charcoal-grey suits with an Indian head on the jacket pocket? Want to look spiffy at all the press conferences that might be called at a moment's notice.

And yet Perry Mason's services won't be required in my view to extricate them from the most recent head-scratcher. The Hawks are going to win this one, too, or else the NHL and the GMs said to be behind this effort are going to come off looking like a bunch of petty crybabies.

That would be an accurate representation, of course. There's no business like screw business and that's what fellow GMs are trying to do to the Hawks.

The crux of the matter is whether the team tried to circumvent the sacred salary cap by frontloading Marian Hossa's 12-year contract so that very little money would be expended in the last few years of it.

Duh! The Hawks would be stupid if they didn't try to figure out the best way to lure Hossa with $62.8 million and fit those numbers into the most reasonable package available.

If that's cheating, Wall Street should be shut down by midnight and a ghost town by Monday. Sweetheart deals go back to Antony and Cleopatra. They structured their deal, too.

There appear to be no concrete rules violations. Read closely what NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in an e-mail to the Ottawa Sun after it was leaked to the Sun Media that an investigation was underway by an appropriately angry and anonymous GM most likely.

"We're trying to understand how it was negotiated and whether the intent and effect is to circumvent the cap," Daly wrote.

Intent and effect. Sounds like hearsay evidence to me. Not even the Hawks can be convicted on hearsay. Intent and effect are not clauses that can be violated.

There is no way for the NHL to decide on its own what intent and effect is. That would be subjective, not objective in any court of law. Are we in philosophy class here?

The intent was to shock the hockey world by adding a scoring forward that no one expected would be going to the Hawks. The effect was jealousy league-wide, especially by teams that don't have owners as pro-active as Rocky Wirtz.

Hawks players should learn a lesson from this exercise for the season. Teams are going to pull every dirty trick they can to knock the rising Hawks off their pedestal. Be prepared, you're going to have fend off low blows from all directions.

Here's the most laughable aspect of Daly's contentions to me. He wants to find out if the Hawks and Hossa discussed his retirement before he ever played his first game for Chicago.

Sure, Hossa and the Hawks are going to admit to that one. You got us. Turn off that light in our faces. We have Hossa booked into a retirement home at 40, 10 years from now. Want to see the lease we signed?

Once again, unprovable tripe. The NHL is wasting our time with this nonsense. None of it is worthy of their time, which apparently isn't worth much in August, anyway. They got nothing to do but preen for the media.

Just because some NHL and team officials are leery of long-term contracts, they have chosen to make a mountain out of a molehill here. They need to change their system internally, not make one team an example.

Blackhawks president John McDonough should react strongly and furiously to such intrusions and innuendoes. This new guy in the league has to take a stand that puts an end to other clubs deciding to trump up an investigation into his team.

If McDonough can't stand up and yell "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore," replace him. There's a reason the fighting culture has been sustained all these years in the league. Some guys only understand when you hit and hit back.

Boom Boom McDonough has to create his own hard-nosed persona, make his bluster a reality.

At least the NHL had time stamps and actual documents as concrete evidence in the delayed mailings to the restricted free agents that prompted the last investigation into the Hawks. The Hawks won that one, too, escaping any penalty from the league.

Again, listen closely to the chicken$hit league executive who didn't have the courage to put a name to his quotes to the Ottawa Sun about the Hawks' situation.

"They are building a strong case against Chicago to make an example of them," this coward huffed and puffed. "This issue just won't go away. Lots of other GMs are supporting the league here."

OK, is it the league investigating or other GMs? Right there you have a conflict of interest that can reverse any adverse finding against the Hawks.

A better investigation is how you sign a guy for $62.8 million knowing he probably needs shoulder surgery in a couple weeks and never say a thing about it.

The real investigations never get done. Just the vindictive ones.

Daly has clearly prejudiced his case with his comments to the Sun. The Hawks should be on the phone today telling him to shut up or put up.

The Hawks need to take the initiative. The best defense is a strong offense. Come out punching and don't stop. The NHL and other GMs will fold up like crybabies.

These whiners and b!tchers are the reason hockey is showing itself in this investigation as a sport without balls.

I just dont get why teams dont sign guys until their 70 at this point. Seriously, whats the difference?

If it's within the rules, it's within the rules.

Neely4Life wrote:I just dont get why teams dont sign guys until their 70 at this point. Seriously, whats the difference?

If it's within the rules, it's within the rules.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Watch Burke try to do that just to make a point.

He'll sign a $100M 70-year contract... cap hit: $1.429M/year. Sweet.

Think of the roster you could build!

Well, um, the NHL acts on the direction of the GMs, so they must be technically investigating each other.

It's not like the NHL executive acts unilaterally on league matters. These decisions are made by voting and present governors with no influence by the executive, other than their recommendations.

When does the NHL act based on vindictiveness? Never happens.