Amidst all the cba hoopla, there is a truth that I have yet
to read in the media.

Gary Bettman is getting a bad rap.

Sure, the guy reminds me of a cross between Alvin the chipmunk
and Dennis Hopper's character in Blue Velvet.

And he's not in the same universe as other league commissioners
like Stern and Tagliabue, who can lead a league to success with
a combination of street smarts, charisma and intelligence.

Bettman has a smug condescension that rivals David Spade but
exhibits none of the wit.

But the guy's been a lightning rod, taking criticism that should
be directed at the owners he represents.

Expansion? Bah, every owner wanted to pocket the extra bucks,
and the NHLPA lusted after the additional jobs.

Quality of the game? Pshaw, Bettman hadn't watched a game of
hockey before he was hired away from the NBA to the NHL. Hockey
operations is left to hockey lifers like Brian Burke and
Colin Campbell.

Bettman was brought in for one reason only - to make the league
more money. And if you look at it objectively, he put forward
a pretty savvy business plan.

I guess that perspective is about as popular as Marv Albert
at the Knicks City Dancers' Christmas party.

But that shouldn't block the facts.

-- The First CBA --

The expiring CBA was a brilliantly laid out plan.

Players would be bound to one team from the draft for a decade
or more.

Free agency wouldn't hit for at least a few years. And it when
it did, all the cards were in the owners' hands.

Arbitration would measure a player's value relative to similar
players across the league.

And if an owner didn't like the award, he could walk away from
the ruling. And then, if another team didn't sign the person for
at least 80% of that salary, they would get the rights back.

Want to buck the system and sign a star player? Well, the original
team has the right to match. But if they choose not to, they get
five years of first round draft picks.

What could a player do?

Well, they could wait until they were about 30 years old and then
be an unrestricted free agent.

Or they could sit out ... until they were about 30 years old.

It was a detailed execution whose structure favored the owners
by leaps and bounds ... except it didn't factor in the owners
themselves.

Owners caved easily to restricted free agent demands. Mediocre
unrestricted free agents won the lottery annually. Draftees were
given bonus structures that were ways to circumvent the rules that
were in place to protect the owners. And the players did it all
with no structural leverage.

--- The CBA Today ---

When NHL suit Bill Daly now says the league wants cost certainty,
and that the players should take a set percentage of actual revenue,
it's a smoke screen.

Bettman is simply trying to shield the simple fact that the
owners are fighting each other like kids in a sandbox.

And he knows that the NHLPA sees right through it, which is why
Bettman must adopt a strict "hard cap" approach. There can be
no intelligent negotiation when Bettman represents idiots.

And it's pathetic.

When the Carolina owner signs Federov out of spite from the
Detroit owner for $10 million per year, why should the rest of
the players accept a smaller pie to work with?

If Bobby Clarke wants to spend $9 million a year on a power
forward with a bad back, why should that minimize how a deserving
player on his team should make two years later.

A hard cap is simply a way for owners to protect themselves from
themselves.

It's a way of letting them make poor judgments on long-term
contracts and be able to say "whoops" later on.

Any other explanation is a smokescreen.

The NHLPA has addressed the owners' financial concerns individually,
with ideas such as a luxury tax for the top spending teams,
an immediate "give-back" on contracts, and entry-level restrictions.

But it's pointless.

Gary Bettman already handed the NHL owners the perfect structure
to financially manage the game and they bludgeoned the opportunity.

The only fun point about the NHL's current events? Bobby Clarke
seems intent on seizing the "up yours, I have my owner's money and
I'm going to spend it" award from the Rangers. He signed RJ Umberger
for $1.5 million per year today.

And somewhere Bettman inhales his oxygen mask and screams for
Simon and Theodore ...

-Gabe

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