Former Flyers give spin on lockout
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Former Flyers give spin on lockout
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
Maybe if the NHL owners and the Players Association could listen to some of the former players, the lockout would be quickly resolved.
Former Flyers Bernie Parent and Orest Kindrachuk made some comments that hit home Monday as they participated in a Scott Hartnell-led charity golf tournament in Cherry Hill.
“I think it’s sad. I don’t know if you read the quote from Brooks Laich" - the Washington forward who said grownups are ruining a kid's game - "but I think that’s it," said Kindrachuk, who, like Parent, played on the Flyers' Stanley Cup championship teams in 1974 and 1975. "It's too bad the dollar sign has to dictate everything."
NHL players received 57 percent of hockey-related revenue in the last collective-bargaining agreement. They want around 53-54 percent in the new deal. The owners are willing to give 49 percent to start the six-year pact, which goes down to 47 percent.
“Should employees get 57 percent of the revenue? If I owned a company, I don’t want to give my employees 57 percent, so I understand where they’re coming from," Kindrachuk said. "But why not just say, ‘Hey guys, let’s go 50/50 and see how this works for the next five years? Let’s just do it.’ It would really be nice to see guys get together and say, ‘What is BETTER for the game?’ Not what’s better for the players and not what’s necessarily better for the owners. What is better for the GAME. And sitting out is not."
Kindrachuk says he has talked to fans "and there are some that aren’t coming back. And Philly’s lucky (because of its strong fan support), so I can’t even imagine what it’s like in some other cities.”
Both sides should “do what’s good for the game," Kindrachuk said. "Are there small-market teams struggling? Absolutely. But then again, you have these owners handing out ludicrous contracts, so they’re their own worst enemies, too.”
Back when he played, the NHLPA "didn’t have a lot of influence or power," Kindrachuk said with a smile. "I think back then, everybody was (finding it) hard to believe we were getting a contract to play hockey.”
He said the most he made in a season was $125,000; today's players avearge $2.55 million.
"I had an offer from the World Hockey League in 1972, a four-year deal worth $600,000 with Houston," Kindrachuk said. "My dad and I sat down, and I said, ‘Dad, I want to play in the NHL. I don’t want to play in the World.’ So my second year, I went to (minor-league) Richmond for $14,500.”
Parent, the Hall of Fame goalie, was asked if the players ever came close to striking when he played.
"How can you when the tickets were $9.50 for the Finals?" he replied. "What do you want to do? Bring it up to $10?
Parent said the elite players made $400,000 in his era. As a rookie with Boston, Parent said he earned $18,000. "That's pretty good in 1965," he noted in a good-natured tone. "Today, boys use this to buy dinner."
Briere, Giroux plans? Several high-profile French Canadians, including the Flyers' Claude Giroux and Danny Briere, are considering forming two teams to play games while NHL players and owners battle it out at the bargaining table, according to TrueHockey.com.
The report said the idea is to have two teams, one representing Montreal and the other representing Quebec City, travel throughout Quebec playing at least one game per week. There's talk of all the proceeds going to charity.
The idea of adding other Canadian markets such as Ottawa and Toronto has also been tossed around, TrueHockey said..
Follow Sam Carchidi on Twitter @BroadStBull.
Does anybody really care if hockey gets cancelled?— jgalt52- I have been a teacher for 17 years. Cumulatively, I haven't even made $800,000. The average hockey player makes over $2,000,000 annually. Something just isn't right.— robertthomas
- And why should you? You work ½ of the year and so do the hockey players but the hockey players are measured based on outcomes whilst teachers are not with the possible exception of the NCLB Act.
The only one who should be earning $2 million dollars is me.— MikeWizowski - And the average (*average*) hockey player's NHL career is over in what, 6 years?
Also, since you're a teacher, I'd expect you to be sharp enough to adjust for inflation. The $30,000 you were earning quite a few years ago was worth a lot more then than $30k now. You have to compare apples to apples.
I'd also like to point out that you're only looking at how much players make -- what about the rest of the people who make a living off the NHL? Coaches, scouts, equipment staff, owners, salesmen, etc.? Guess how much those owners make per year?
And finally -- all of those folks, from players to owners, get what people want to pay them for the entertainment they provide. They are in a for-profit business of making money. They are not public servants or educators. You are. You can't honestly believe that someone who goes into the noble profession of education should expect to be compensated on the same level as the most-elite athletes/showmen in the world.— Wrack - More important than the self-serving comments above, unrelated to the article, is the pathos of a legend, and a stalwart hockey player, Kindrachuk, who made less money than an entry level player today, and had the humility which makes Hockey my favorite sport. Bobby Clarke called everyone "Sir", and Gene Hart brought professional sports to me, a six year old falling in love with a sport and the Flyers logo.
Now, we have the haughty chin-up glare of Bettman, and the unrealistic grab for cash by the players, who are well compensated. The owners? I'll never be a fan of any corporation, the quintessential anti-corporatist I am, and Snider was the profiteer of Comcast-Spectacor, becoming a mogul. The owners and players should divide the pot 50-50 and call it a day, or they will ruin Hockey, like the spirit which continues to pervade Toronto and Bettman's league, anti-Flyers, no matter how much the game has changed from the day a legend like Parent made saves that were positively unreal.— PhillyboyinNYC - Professional sports people need to make more than the average worker.The owners have put themselves in this situation.We all make our own beds so now they sleep in it.When you sleep, you not make money.— Andrew Grier
- THANKS Mr. Snider for the lockout. I love the Flyers but sorry not you. There was a time when I thought you were the greatest for building then Spectrum and getting the Flyers for Phila. in 67. But now wtf, do you need to own even their souls.— mrh1955
- I wouldn't blame the owners, except for maybe putting themselves in this situation by agreeing to a deal that gave the players 57% of revenue in the last agreement... insane. I agree with a 50/50 split, at least to get a new agreement for 5 or 6 years. Then take it down some in the next agreement. The inmates should never run the asylum but we need the inmates to play the game. I think hockey is the greatest game on earth and it would be sad to see the season go down. Let clearer heads prevail. Go Flyers!— 1983ufgator
- Kindrachuk is absolutely right. It's not about the owners or the players, it's about the GAME. But the GAME is the one thing neither the owners nor the players are considering in their non-negotiations.— StayOnYourSkates
- Come on, Bernie. According to WestEgg's inflation calculator, $18,000 in 1965 is worth about $123,000 in 2010 dollars (sorry I don't have 2012 data)-- hardly a pittance. And the elite players making $400k? That works out to about $2.7 million in 2010 dollars.
Point is, you have to correct for inflation! It's foolish not to.— Wrack
