Archive for the ‘10 Thoughts’ Category

Thoughts on Thoughts: Holding the line on contracts, Bure and more

Posted by Justin Bourne under 10 Thoughts on Nov 15, 2012

“Thoughts on Thoughts” is a feature that looks at Elliotte Friedman’s terrific weekly post “30 Thoughts.” Justin Bourne selects his 10 favourite tidbits, and elaborates.

Last edition: Silence is golden for NHL, players

Friedman’s column, November 12th: Holding the line on contracts

Opening: Here’s a paragraph from Elliotte’s opening (which focuses on lockout analysis) that absolutely killed me (emphasis mine):

We know the NHL and NHL Players’ Association are close on revenue sharing. We know they are less than $400 million apart on the make-whole provision. They are still arguing over who is going to bear the financial burden of lost revenue from this season.

Wwww…hut? That’d be like going to dinner, arguing over who’s going to pay, and during the argument ordering and consuming more food. If neither side can afford it and wants to pay for it, why are we making the situation worse?

The rest of the opening discusses the “make whole” offer from owners, that led Elliotte to note that the current one would upset three quarters of the players in the union, which made me think: what would happen if one particular player really went off the rails and said “Fuck it, the current offer is fine, let’s do this, I want to play.” Kicked out of the union? Black-balled from the NHL? I don’t see the latter being likely if the guy is a legitimately good player… I’d love to see someone break from the mold and be honest, just to see what would happen. Read the rest of this entry »

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Thoughts on Thoughts: Silence is golden for NHL, players

Posted by Justin Bourne under 10 Thoughts on Nov 07, 2012

(Pic from thespec.com)

“Thoughts on 30 Thoughts” is a feature that looks at Elliotte Friedman’s terrific weekly post “30 Thoughts.” Justin Bourne selects his 10 favourite tidbits, and elaborates.

Last edition: NHL lockout enters crucial week

Friedman’s column, November 6th: Silence is golden for NHL, players

Opening: This week’s 30 Thoughts opening discussed the general state of negotiations, and lays out how (and why) both sides are being cautious.

The players held back-to-back conference calls Sunday and Monday. They are much more careful with their optimism. There are two reasons for this: the botched Oct. 18 meeting in Toronto and Donald Fehr’s paranoia about ill-timed quotes.

In a nutshell, things are progressing, and some stupid public comments from either side could set things back, as once happened when Fehr was with the MLBPA. As we know, if things go the wrong way at this stage, we’re in for the long haul.

The opening also mentions that the NHL thinks Donald Fehr has been tone deaf about what the players really want: a deal. I don’t know how desperate the players are as a whole, but I do know that most of the guys I’ve talked to would rather play for less than not play at all. Then again, those guys aren’t businessmen, and know about as much as you orI about the process of negotiating a fair CBA. Read the rest of this entry »

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Thoughts on 30 Thoughts: NHL lockout enters crucial week, Luongo and more

Posted by Justin Bourne under 10 Thoughts, CBA, Roberto Luongo on Oct 23, 2012

Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

“Thoughts on 30 Thoughts” is a feature that looks at Elliotte Friedman’s terrific weekly post “30 Thoughts.” Justin Bourne selects his 10 favourite tidbits, and elaborates.

It’s been awhile since we’ve had a new “30 Thoughts” article from Elliotte Friedman, but yesterday he gifted one to the world. He covered the obvious stuff – lockout progress – but also the Roberto Luongo situation, NHLers in the AHL and more. Let’s dive in.

Last edition: Zach Parise ran the show in free agency

Friedman’s column, October 22nd: NHL lockout enters crucial week

Opening:

Elliotte crunches the numbers in the opening and breaks down just how quickly the league and PA would have to tidy up loose ends for there to be a full 82 game season. Bettman has made it pretty clear that his personal deadline for that is Thursday (the 25th), but Friedman figures there’s a handful of days wiggle room there, especially if the League torches the All-Star Game:

The now-vapourized NHL schedule ran from October 11 until April 13. That’s 185 days. If you cancel the All-Star Game (and you have to believe that’s likely), the league only needs 180 days, because that’s a five-day break.

I had to include that paragraph, because I love imagining the long, thoughtful debate about cancelling the ASG game – in Columbus, a team with almost zero all-stars – or not. I picture “The Bob’s” talking about it like they talked about Tom Smykowski in Office Space. “He’s gone.” “Useless.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Thoughts on Thoughts: All things Rick Nash

Posted by Justin Bourne under 10 Thoughts on Jul 30, 2012

In my previous column I mentioned Aaron Portzline‘s “61 Thoughts” post he wrote yesterday on all things Rick Nash (and I mean all things. It checks in at just under six thousand words), and it’s finally time to sift through the 15 most interesting and elaborate (10 wasn’t enough). The selection process was not easy, so you should probably go read the rest when you’re through here. Assuming you have some time, of course.

Let’s not waste time here, and hop right in: Read the rest of this entry »

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Thoughts on Thoughts: Zach Parise ‘ran the show’ in free agency

Posted by Justin Bourne under 10 Thoughts on Jul 18, 2012

“Thoughts on 30 Thoughts” is a feature that looks at Elliotte Friedman’s terrific weekly post “30 Thoughts.” Justin Bourne selects his 10 favourite tidbits, and elaborates.

Last edition: Time to free up NHL free agency

Friedman’s column, July 19th: Zach Parise ‘ran the show’

Opening: Friedman’s opening today was largely about the process of bringing Parise and Suter to the Wild, and how it was the ex-Devils captain that really made it happen.

Money was immediately made relatively unimportant in the discussions due to the ridiculous early offers, so Parise really had the time to make the right life choice. Check out the link above for the rest of that story.

This was Friedman’s last 30 Thoughts column of the 2011-2012 NHL season, so in turn, this is the last 10 Thoughts. The bonus here though, is that Friedman had a whole bunch of goodies today, extending his post to 44 Thoughts – in turn, here are my comments on the 15 most interesting tidbits.

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5. (re: the owner’s new CBA proposal to the NHLPA) Also, while the rookie contracts were to be extended to five years, they weren’t necessarily guaranteed. They were set up as two guaranteed seasons, with three more one-year club options. So, if you’re a star, you’re locked up long-time. If you’re a bust, you’re done quick. In theory, this makes some sense, but, as part of the overall package there’s no sale.

The five year entry-level contract was the first thing to jump out at me when I saw the owner’s proposal (and that was before I knew they could tell guys to hit the bricks after two if they felt like it). Won’t happen, can’t happen.

That means that players out of college (I was 24) can’t earn their worth until they’re pushing 30. That means Stamkos would have one more season of earning like, $850K after winning two Rocket Richards. I know it’s just a negotiating jump-off point, but the NHLPA can’t allow that to happen for the simple, playground-level logic of “That’s not fair.”

Read the rest of this entry »

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Thoughts on 30 Thoughts: Time to free up NHL free agency

Posted by Justin Bourne under 10 Thoughts on Jun 26, 2012

“Thoughts on 30 Thoughts” is a feature that looks at Elliotte Friedman’s terrific weekly post “30 Thoughts.” Justin Bourne selects his 10 favourite tidbits, and elaborates.

Last edition: Rich Nash’s potential suitors

Friedman’s column, June 21st: Time to free up NHL free agency

Let’s not beat around the bush here: Elliotte Friedman including a picture with a University of Alaska Anchorage player in it was a direct nod to this column, right? I mean, that’s my alma mater, and he knows I FJM (or MST3K, for you sticklers) his column every week, so….yep. I’m sticking with the theory that it was no accident. Thanks buddy!

Let’s dive in.

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Read the rest of this entry »

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Thoughts on 30 Thoughts: Rick Nash’s potential suitors

Posted by Justin Bourne under 10 Thoughts on Jun 21, 2012

“Thoughts on 30 Thoughts” is a feature that looks at Elliotte Friedman’s terrific weekly post “30 Thoughts.” Justin Bourne selects his 10 favourite tidbits, and elaborates.

Last edition: Nick Lidstrom Hangs up the skates

Friedman’s column, June 18th: Rich Nash’s potential suitors, plus 30 thoughts

Opening:

The opening is…a lot to weigh in on. Please, click the above link (after you’re done here, of course) and read up on the teams with the best odds to snag Rick Nash. I have no idea where he’s is going (not that anyone does, but Elliotte has better ideas than most). Let’s get to “10 Thoughts”

Read the rest of this entry »

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