Snider saves rinks; can he help save NHL season?
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Snider saves rinks; can he help save NHL season?
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
Give Flyers chairman Ed Snider credit. His youth hockey foundation has reconstructed four city rinks and given kids a place to play hockey.
On Tuesday, Snider attended a walk-through of Tarken Ice Rink in Northeast Philly. It is the last of four city rinks that have been redone and fully enclosed, making them operational during the entire year.
The Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation contributed $6.5 million to match a grant from the Commonwealth’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program. The public/private partnership resulted in a $13 million restoration project that saved the rinks.
Here’s hoping Snider, the Flyers’ founder, is just as successful in helping NHL commissioner Gary Bettman put an end to the league’s labor dispute.
Wednesday is the 25th day of the lockout, and it’s time we heard some of the NHL owners’ voices.
There are rumblings that some owners aren’t on board with all of the decisions that are being made. If so, we need to hear from them because they might just lead to some common ground between the league and the players’ union.
Oh, almost forgot: The league says it will fine management up to $1 million if anyone speaks up. Comments are only allowed to come from Bettman or his sidekick, Bill Daly.
Earth to the NHL: That plan hasn’t worked too well.
As Flyers center Danny Briere recently pointed out, the NHL owners are highly successful in the business world and they got there by voicing their opinions.
Bettman needs to eliminate the gag order. Maybe it wouldn’t trigger a quick resolution. But maybe, just maybe, it would get both sides (finally) talking about meaningful issues at the bargaining table.
That would be a start.
Follow Sam Carchidi on Twitter @BroadStBull.
I would point out that you could argue that, as a product, the teams are generally not in competition with each other. In fact, the teams really aren't the product, the LEAGUE is. Only in NY and LA do you see direct competition for everyone's sports/entertainment $$$. Revenue sharing makes perfect sense when seen from this viewpoint. But I can't imagine "Mr." Snider agreeing to that.— Phantoms9805- Can somebody help, I thought the flyers where owned by Comcast. Ed Synder was a "hired hand"?— newtownkid
- I think they should move all of the 'small markets' that are crying poor back to Canada or fold them up. Who wants to watch hockey in Florida except for northeast transports?— alihajishank
- IMO, the bottom line is that the NHL is too bloated. I'm sorry, but places like Phoenix, Nashville, Florida, San Jose, etc.. shouldn't be hockey cities. I know some of them are successful, but they're not hockey cities.— uncle meat
- I have two season tickets in the lower level. At $98 a ticket and $15 to park, I have now saved $1,477 with the NHL canceling the pre-season and 4 home games. Why should anyone give a damn when these millionaires decide to settle their differences? It's only going to cost all of us more money in the future regardless of how it's completed. As for me, I've already enjoyed a week in Orlando with my savings and am wondering if I really care if they come back at all.— Valjean24601
- I love the people who say Bettman doesn't know what he's doing ...He has grown the sport, more teams, more money for everyone ... he knows fans are just bags of wind who will NOT stay away once this is settled, they never have and never will ... not even with the ridiculous ticket prices! So continue to bleat like the sheep you have proven yourselves to be!— FatBoy90
- "He has grown the sport", if by grow you mean add expansion teams to markets in which no one cares about hockey, then yes. "more teams", how exactly is this a good or bad thing? Again, he added teams to areas in which no one really gives a hoot about hockey. As a result you now have these teams in struggling markets crying they have no money, which is adding to the problem of ending the lockout. "more money for everyone", apparently not enough since half the teams are crying about not making enough.
- So what did Mr. Snider have to say? Oh, nothing. This is called 'closing ranks' and no doubt the creep Bettman is very serious about fining organizations who say anything, lest there be the appearance of cracks in their unity to 'fix' the game.— PhillySubsMac
- If Snider really could say something that would move towards the end of a lockout wouldn't it actually be worth it for him? If he gets fined $1 million and the lockout is lifted he will make that million back in no time. On the other hand, if he sits there and waits and waits for a deal to come about he is going to end up losing millions in revenue. Just don't understand why these big market teams are sitting back and not using the leverage they have among the owners.
All goes back to the fact that these small market teams are killing the league. Either move them to a market that will follow the team or contract them. Contraction makes the talent level of every team better, creating a better product, creating better television ratings, creating more money.
— FatEagle - One last thing, Bettman turned down a more lucrative TV deal with ESPN a few years ago to stick with NBC. Maybe if he took the money then he would have to ask the players to cut back. Or the fact that his salary has more than doubled (nearly tripled actually) since the last lockout but the players salary's haven't even doubled. Someone needs to look in the mirror and start evaluating the league's economic issues.— FatEagle
- One of the things that Snider if fully against is profit sharing. Which is the only way past the deadlock. I like Mr. Snider quite a bit. But I disagree on this point. NHL needs profit sharing or it needs to be more mindful of the costs involving growing the sport in non-traditional markets. Because their current plan of doing it on the backs of players salaries isn't fair either. Both sides need to get to that 50/50 split but they need the Profit sharing in place to stop this from happening at the next CBA.— flyler
- Ed Snider has given Philadelphia its most successful sports franchise over the last 40 years. He values his fan base - he 'gets it' about Philly sports fans. He always tries to win no matter the dollars. I'm tired of fans bashing this guy. What other Philly team has gone to the finals 8 times since 1974? I'm sure he wants to get an agreement done and drop the puck. You dummies will miss him when he's gone.— Horse
- I have to agree -- it's good to know that when I'm soaring, he's soaring more. When I'm down after a loss, he's down more. This isn't just one of many "revenue streams" for him -- he really wants it. With the lockouts, rampant player migration to and from cities to the point where you get the feeling the players can't care overly about ANY one city they're playing in, and all that, it's good to know that the guy at the helm here REALLY cares about the city and the team heritage and traditions, and it's not just empty marketing blather. — janiscortese
- I take comfort in the fact that as much as I want the Flyers to get another Cup, Snider wants it more.
Nevertheless, I'm on the side of the players. NONE of them will be doing their current jobs at the age of 78 like Snider is. They have a much shorter shelf life and risk disabilities and dangers that no owner has to face. If there's lots of money ot be made, let them make it.
I would also like to see about 10 NHL teams just die out and go away. They should never have expanded so far as they did, and the league is murdering hockey in the cities that love it just to keep it on life support in the cities that couldn't give a damn.— janiscortese
