Per A Report, The NHL Is Considering NOT Giving The Blackhawks Long-Term IR Cap Relief For Hossa
The Athletic’s James Mirtle threw this little nugget about Marian Hossa into his story about Joffrey Lupul and the Leafs’ situation
My initial reaction to this news
This is absolute fucking bullshit and it better not be true. This is NOT cap circumvention. The Blackhawks are playing by the rules.
1) There is precedent for this with previous players like Chris Pronger, Dave Bolland, Nathan Horton, etc.
2) There were NO rules against long-term and front loaded contracts when the Blackhawks signed Hossa
3) Hossa’s skin condition is REAL
4) See point No.3
5) You can NOT change the rules because you’re jealous of a particular team’s success and you want them to be punished.
I have a message for all these little pissant teams that have allegedly complained…SHUT THE HELL UP. Instead of trying to punish the Blackhawks for being better and richer than you, you should just say thank you for all the talent and money the Hawks provide for the rest of the league.
Look at those road numbers. When the Hawks come to town all of you little dirtbag franchises like Colorado, Dallas, Arizona, Florida, Colombus, New Jersey etc…you guys actually get to sell tickets. Not because you are good. You’re not. You stink. Its because the Hawks have graced you with their presence for a night. The Blackhawks being good is good forever everyone. The Hawks make money for everyone in the league. Don’t you forget that.
And what do they get for their trouble? They get to be a farm system for the rest of the NHL. The Blackhawks are punished by the salary cap every single year.
Artemi Panarin, Nik Hjalmarsson, Scott Darling, Andrew Ladd(twice), Brandon Saad, Patrick Sharp, Johnny Oduya, Andrew Shaw, Dave Bolland, Troy Brouwer, Dustin Byfuglien, Nick Leddy, Teuvo Teravainen, the list goes on and on. You could probably make a playoff team out of just the guys the Blackhawks have lost in free agency and forced trades over the years. If the Blackhawks were allowed to pay and keep all the guys they spent years drafting and developing they’d be on a 7 year Stanley Cup streak and be regarded as the greatest team who ever played any professional sport. I’d say the Blackhawks have been punished by the salary cap enough.
If the other NHL owners collude with Bettman to make special rules that only apply to the Blackhawks then we have a Deflate-Gate type situation on our hands. I don’t know what I’ll do yet, but we can’t let that stand. The Blackhawks have done too much for the League to let them be victimized like this. Do the right thing, Bettman.