HOCKEY FANS don’t need me to tell them that things hook pretty grim for this year’s National Hockey League season. When NHL Senior Vice- President of Hockey Operations Briah Burke made his stop in Vancouver to lay out the team owners’ latest proposal to the media last Monday, the message he carried was that they were pre- pared to shut down the whole sea- son if they had to. In their struggle with the NHL Players’ Association, Burke said, owners feel they are losing too much revenue to labor costs — to the point that some teams are in serious financial trouble. “Our goal is to stabilize exist- ing franchises,” Burke insisted. He said players’ salaries are escalating far quicker than rey- enues, and warned if that fact is not brought tinder control, more teams will find themselves in a 66 Burke defended the free spending of some owners, saying that a $5 million con- tract for a star player may be a sensible business deal... 99 dire financial stiuation. So owners are prepared to close down the season in an effort to get anew deal. “I know the owners are pre- pared to do that,” he said. “When we took the vote last Tuesday the vote was 26-0.” Ironically counted among those 26 owners were people like Michael F. Shanahan (St. Louis Blues), Bruce McNall (L.A. Kings) and Howard Baldwin (Pittsburgh Penguins). Owners whose team payrolls were $23.5 million, $23.4 million and $20.1 million respectively, according to NHLPA figures. . But as owners paint themselves as victims of rising salaries, these three owners — and their seem- ancouver Kevin Gillies VIEW FROM THE CHEAP SEATS ingly infinite pocket depths — are in large part responsible for the escalating salaries. But Burke defended the free spending of some owners, saying that a $5 million contract for a star player may be a sensible business deal for a wealthy team like the New York Rangers when weighed against its total revenue. However, he continued, when an Edmonton Oilers’ players mea- sure their value and stats against a Ranger player, and demand simi- lar compensation, they either crip- ple the team financially or are let go. Tickets are hard to sell if'a team has no superstars or is not competitive. That, Burke says, is why the players are willing to play “strike- free” under the current agreement. The current owner proposal — that the players turned down — consists of three main compo- nents. ’ The first is that there will be a built-in guarantee that player rev- enue will not diminish under the term of the new contract. “Whatever percentage of rev- enues you (players) have, we'll guarantee that you keep the same percentage,” he said adding that the league believes it can raise revenues through television deals and corporate sponsorship. “We view this as almost like a ship anchored at low tide. As the tide and revenues rise, so will the dol- lars paid to the players.” Burke also said team salaries would be indexed to ensure their growth. The second component of the owners’ proposal is the establish- ment of a revenue reallocation system, “We have proposed that teams that are on the high end or free- spending end of the spectrum will pay a tax for an excess over a cer- iain trigger.” Burke explained. “In negotiations we used a trigger fig- ure of $14.2 million because that represents the average league pay- roll for fast season.” NHLPA numbers said iotal NHL player salaries were $393.2 million with the median team puay- roll being $15.1 millicn (what the Hartford Whalers pay). Money collected from the “graduated, progressive tax” would go to teams under the “trig- ger” figure — smaller market or revenue teams —- to be spent on additional player payroll. This is the component of the league pro- posal that the players’ association calls a salary cap; though Burke refutes that it is a cap. The final component is what the owners like to call a “more meaningful” free agency. Burke said that aside from a “franchise player exemption” per team, the league proposal would give every player the opportunity to become an unrestricted free agent at some point in his career. It would include the abolition of salary arbitration which Burke called “inflationary.” But Bob Goodenow, president of the NHLPA, said he wants nothing to do with the proposal. Instead, he wants the status quo maintained, although he has pro- posed taxing gate receipts to sub- sidize small-revenue tearns. Teams that sell the most tickets would prop up teams that sell the fewest tickets. In general terms, the owners want a league with more teams and players making less; currently the average player salary is in the $500.000 range with 26 teams. The players association would rather see a league with higher salaries but fewer teams. One has unlimited growth potential, the other doesn’t. In the meantime, everyone is losing money and the fans have no hockey. About the only positive thing to come out of a non-season is that the Vancouver Canucks will still be defending Western Conference Champions when (and if) the 1995-96 season gets under way. Till Endurables 2401 Granville & 8th open. Parking _& Piano! VANCOUVER 732-4287 2401 Granville St. 10--5.*0 Monday--Saturday Sundays & Holidays 12--5 Barbara & John Tilley NORTH VAN 987-6424 1194 Marine Drive f8.c. MAIL ORDERT: WHO TO CALL: Sports Editor A.P. McCredie 985-2131 (113) oe ARE ENE Be WS CAP COLLEGE striker Romolo Ferrari (left) challenges a Malaspina defender during their league game last week. The college teams played to a 1-1 tle. 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