Arbitrator Rules With NHL in Kovalchuk Case

So the contract's been overturned & Kovy's back on the market again...

Hold on to your sombreros, mi Amigos... Here we go again...

almost 2 years ago Alighieri 29 comments 1 recs |

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Correct decision, anything else would have made a mockery of the cap.

Don't write cheques with your mouth that your body can't cash

by Gazelle68 on Aug 9, 2010 6:07 PM EDT reply actions

Instant karma

for trying to bend the rules…FAIL!

Why do people consider Lou a great GM? He just landed a couple of players via lucky SOB, and we have the same number of cups…plus we have a better core…I’m not impressed.

I hate Kovy for this BS, the NHL is too good for this crap! Go to the KHL I never want to hear your stupid name again!

Every day is a great day for hockey!

by Slo-mo Malkin on Aug 9, 2010 6:15 PM EDT reply actions

Why do people consider Lou a great GM?

Because he’s the longest tenured General Manager in the NHL. He consistently ices a competitive team. In his 20+ years as the Devils GM, the team has only ever missed the playoffs twice. He won three Stanley Cups in nine years.

I understand disagreeing with the Kovalchuk contract, but to suggest that Lou isn’t a good General Manager borders on the ridiculous.

by kellyn on Aug 9, 2010 6:41 PM EDT up reply actions

plus Lou had on occasion been rather disdainful about the Kovy contract… He’s just doing what any good GM would reasonably do, exploiting known loophole & advantages to give his team an edge…

Is it October yet?

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by Alighieri on Aug 9, 2010 8:23 PM EDT up reply actions

I still have my original thoughts on this…..Was the request from Kovi such a no win situation (reportedly he wanted 100 million whatever way he could get it) that they had to find a way to do it, even knowing that the likelihood of it standing was slim? Lou is a bright guy. Sign what Kovi wants, knowing it has a good chance to be challenged and possibly overturned. Then wait. If it’s accepted, you get the player on the terms that suit your bottom line. If it’s not accepted, the player now knows that his demands equate to an impossible situation under the salary cap and those demands need to change. Then, maybe you negotiate again with a whole new understanding from the other side. No, I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but I’ve done enough contract negotiating in years of management to know that you have to make decisions along the way to get to where you want to be and where the organization can be.

by SuMac on Aug 10, 2010 6:33 AM EDT up reply actions

I’m not convinced that Kovi &/or his agent are quite as bright as you give them credit for. It would be nice to see Kovi’s demands change, but we’ll have to see.

Also, I got the impression that the Devils ownership were the ones behind the deal, and Lou just kind of had to play along — albeit with a little of the “maybe they’ll be dumb enough to accept it” kind of attitude. It would be a shame if he lost his job over this (I’m guessing no, but I’m less than impressed with the Devils’ ownership, so who knows!). My sense is that ownership said “Make it happen,” and Lou said, “Okay, but this is the only way we can make it happen. And while it’s in agreement with the technical requirements in the CBA, it might get rejected.”

Then again, who knows!

Shero gets an A. Burkie gets a checkmark.

by PopRocks on Aug 10, 2010 11:25 AM EDT up reply actions

I actually was giving credit to Lou and the Devils for the thoughts about whether or not the deal would be accepted, though I see how it sounded like I had Kovi and the agent guiding this. I actually only saw them as making the demand and requiring that it happen. In terms of the Devils ownership, Lou did indicate or at least suggest that ownership told him to make it happen, so I see that point totally. That might be the extent of it. I’m just surmising, in my bored-August no-hockey-to-keep-me-busy, kind of way :)

by SuMac on Aug 10, 2010 12:10 PM EDT up reply actions

Right there with ya! For the record, I think we mostly agree on this, but just said it differently :)

Shero gets an A. Burkie gets a checkmark.

by PopRocks on Aug 10, 2010 1:17 PM EDT up reply actions

I actually like Lou’s moxy for attempting something like this…

He basically played chicken with both the NHL & Kovy’s group simultaneously… If the deal was allowed in, he’d have a marquee player for peanuts. If it was rejected, Kovy’s group must scramble and must reduce their demands…

Intentions & who pushed who into the deal aside, you gotta admire his guts for this… I’d probably get hustled if I met in at a poker table…

Is it October yet?

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Just so I never have to answer this again. I'm from Singapore so whenever you see me online, I'm either sleep deprived or just waking up.

by Alighieri on Aug 10, 2010 7:25 PM EDT up reply actions

playing chicken….good description. And, I know he’d beat me at the poker table

by SuMac on Aug 10, 2010 9:50 PM EDT up reply actions

We just have short term memory bias

and he hasn’t been as good since the lockout. I pray for the poor GM-in-waiting who takes over from LL when he retires (I’m guessing right around when Brodeur calls it quits).

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by red army line on Aug 11, 2010 6:45 AM EDT up reply actions

What makes you think Lamoriello is going to retire? He’s only in his sixties. He’ll probably outlive us all.

by kellyn on Aug 11, 2010 2:51 PM EDT up reply actions

Because when Brodeur is gone they’ll have a weak team, and the 60s are the time to retire for most people.

by red army line on Aug 11, 2010 10:29 PM EDT up reply actions

I’m sorry. Did you miss the part when the Devils were without Brodeur for more than half a season and still managed to win their division? What evidence do you have, besides your opinion, to back up the claim that the Devils will somehow go in a steep decline without Brodeur? People have been predicting the decline of the Devils for years and the impending retirement of Lou Lamoriello for just as long. Just because you wish it were so, doesn’t make it so.

by kellyn on Aug 12, 2010 1:44 PM EDT up reply actions

That’s a weird argument…

Same number of cups over how many more seasons?
And how many no. 1/2 draft picks did the Devils have to stockpile to create their current core?

Shero’s a very good GM. But it doesn’t take a genius to know that you pick Malkin once Ovechkin’s gone in 2004, or you pick Crosby first overall in 2005…

Briere, Betts and Pronger; Briere, Betts and Pronger; Briere, Betts and Pronger;
Our team is so much stronger
We've got Briere, Betts and Pronger...

by PursuitOfLappyness on Aug 10, 2010 5:27 AM EDT up reply actions

maybe you all are right

but I am taking this as a sign the end is in sight in NJ. if I was the NHL I would punish Lou for allowing this to happen, if he is so “great”, he should know better than to screw the system. I think he is setting an example that other GM’s think they can bend the system to do whatever they want, and that’s messed up. Really pins the guy as a jerk in my mind.

Every day is a great day for hockey!

by Slo-mo Malkin on Aug 10, 2010 7:49 AM EDT up reply actions

Hm … but he didn’t “screw the system”: he tried to push the boundary further than it’s been pushed so far, and he didn’t get away with it. If the arbitrator’s ruling had gone his way, then you might be right about other GMs. But as it stands, they at least know that the NHL is going to fight back at some point.

And there’s a sense in which Lou was just exploiting a loophole in the CBA. Which is exactly why the (rather vague) “no circumventing the cap” clause is in there. But it’s not like he completely thumbed his nose at the rules or anything. He attempted to get something done with Kovi in the midst of the various demands that he faced. That makes him a savvy business man, but I’m not sure it pushes him over into the land of la jerk.

Shero gets an A. Burkie gets a checkmark.

by PopRocks on Aug 10, 2010 11:31 AM EDT up reply actions

I agree the Lou is a good GM and I think Shero is a fantastic one, but Craig Patrick was the GM when Geno and Sid were picked in 04/05.
So, basically Shero walked into a good situation (as did Danny B), but he’s done a hell of a job to put good players around the two stars.

So when's October you ask? Well, here's your answer.

by PensFan8725 on Aug 10, 2010 12:51 PM EDT up reply actions

kudos to Quisp at Jewels from the Crown

he was all over this in real time
including saying the NHL would win

by Diomedes7 on Aug 10, 2010 12:22 AM EDT reply actions

Was alerted to this by Cari & then I found the link on Puck Daddy… It’s the original text transcript detailing the decision by Bloch…

I love how most of his justifications have been discussed at length by us fans… We R SMRT!

Is it October yet?

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by Alighieri on Aug 10, 2010 10:48 AM EDT up reply actions

ahhv korse we r!!!!!!
Seriously, I wonder what kind of punishment the Devils will get for this.

So when's October you ask? Well, here's your answer.

by PensFan8725 on Aug 10, 2010 12:56 PM EDT up reply actions

Word on the street is that the NHL only wanted to block the contract and don’t intend to hit the Devils with any penalties.

by kellyn on Aug 10, 2010 2:27 PM EDT up reply actions

NJD is probably safe for now… If they have to relinquish draft picks, they’ll be pretty low on the spectrum. Which is what they would have expected to begin with if they had Kovy playing for them…

Is it October yet?

Twitter

Just so I never have to answer this again. I'm from Singapore so whenever you see me online, I'm either sleep deprived or just waking up.

by Alighieri on Aug 10, 2010 7:29 PM EDT up reply actions

Oh

well, see, that’s what happens when I go on vacation for a few days and only use the computer for a few minutes a day.

So when's October you ask? Well, here's your answer.

by PensFan8725 on Aug 11, 2010 4:06 PM EDT up reply actions

We R SMRT

For some reason I got a visual of Fredo Corleone when I read this

“I’m smart!”

by mhuff13 on Aug 10, 2010 12:56 PM EDT up reply actions

That’s not fair!

I’m not balding yet… :-/

Is it October yet?

Twitter

Just so I never have to answer this again. I'm from Singapore so whenever you see me online, I'm either sleep deprived or just waking up.

by Alighieri on Aug 10, 2010 7:33 PM EDT up reply actions

I can see some kind of fallout with the Savard, Pronger & Luongo contracts… Bloch did mention the possibility of those contract approvals being rescinded…

I think Hossa’s off the clock though. He’s already played a year of his contract but the rest of the guys have yet to have their extensions kick in…

Is it October yet?

Twitter

Just so I never have to answer this again. I'm from Singapore so whenever you see me online, I'm either sleep deprived or just waking up.

by Alighieri on Aug 10, 2010 8:25 PM EDT reply actions

Discussing those other Ks now is more about LINE DRAWING

they won’t be nullified
but the NHL also doesn’t want Hossa’s K to be “The Line”
or Prongers
or Luongo’s

by Diomedes7 on Aug 10, 2010 9:17 PM EDT up reply actions

I feel bad for the players too. I think guys like Luongo and Savard can at least play out those contracts…expecting Kovy and Hossa to play them out is a different story.

I think Pronger ( as much as I hate him ) may also be able to play out his contract, he looks a lot younger than he actually is out on the ice.

I am glad they did something, though. If they kept on allowing those contracts to pan out, why not just hire a bunch of old men out of a Canadian retirement home to go skate around for 60 minutes, because that’s what the NHL will become.

Every day is a great day for hockey!

by Slo-mo Malkin on Aug 10, 2010 11:11 PM EDT up reply actions