Anyone got the CORRECT answer? I’m hoping that the answer is something along the lines of this, “You could, but the punishment is so severe, that no one, not even Balsillie, would try it.” Putting on my “armchair GM hat,” If I found out that, by being over the cap, I’d have to forfeit all of my next year’s draft picks … I’d be very discouraged from being over the cap limit. And if I found out I’d be losing multiple years’ worth of draft picks, I’d never even consider it.

But I do have to throw this out there. What if you were George Steinbrenner? And you wanted to own a powerhouse franchise. And you were willing to pay whatever the cost was for being over the cap limit. With the idea in your brain that … well gee, if my $90 million roster doesn’t win the Stanley Cup every year, but gets close, I’m only giving up picks #29, #59, #89, #119, etc. In other words, ‘crapshoot’ to ’shot-in-the-dark’ type picks, anyway. To land decent players, from those draft positions, you do have to have EXCELLENT scouting. Really, truly. Isn’t this what a George Steinbrenner / Jim Ballsillie-type owner might try, if cost were no object??

I believe as you do, that the subject of long term contracts will be a part of the next collective bargaining agreement. The union should not care, since the player is getting what they want-a long term commitment.

Reckless contracts-I am trying to remember that Hawks’ center who was paid for years after he retired-Rasmussen was it? Reckless and stupid contract.

World Be Free, I want to give a hypothetical example of what ‘the problem’ is with these longer term deals, as currently structured by this CBA. Let’s just say… for spits and giggles, Kovalchuk and his agent, Jay Grossman, have made it abundantly clear that they will not sign ANYWHERE for less than a $100 million deal. This is hypothetical. Everyone can stop hyperventillating now. Still with me? Okay, the obvious choice might be 10-years at $10 million, for a (say it with me) cap hit of $10 million. That’s one way to get to $100 million. Here’s another. Kovy’s 26, roughly. What the heyyy, let’s demonstrate absurdity by being absurd! Atlanta’s offer is 20 years for a total of $100 million. Well, the “new” Cap Hit is $5 million-per-season.

Allright. Shrugging sarcastically. Anybody got a problem with a new Kovy deal at a cap hit of $5 million?? That pays him until he’s 46! Somewhere, Chris Chelios is smiling. Or laughing. Charles Wang, the disgruntled owner of the NY Islanders, inked goalie Rick DiPietro to a 15 year deal that pays the netminder until he’s 40. That contract made us all laugh heartily when it was announced. Commissioner Bettman’s reaction, at the time, was to say … “No one knows the wisdom of making such deals. Time will tell. But it’s not prohibited.” And Bettman urged the use of caution when making contracts of this size and scope. Islanders fans argued that $4.5 million cap hit, for DiPietro, was a good deal. Many bloggers here counter-argued, “And he’ll have $4.5 million reasons to ride the pine or sit up in the pressbox, being the highest paid spectator in the building” at the tail end of his career.

As a proponent of protecting the smaller markets, I’m opposed to “front loading” contracts. If the Blackhawks were actually going to pay Hossa $5.23 million for each and every season … until he’s 42, I’m fine with that. They’d be saving money up front, but paying through the nose at the end, and be STUCK with it, too. And when Hossa turns 40, making $5.23 million, under my scenario, fans will question why Chicago ever made this deal. He won’t be worth that kind of money. Probably.

Ladies and Gentlemen, GM’s ARE RESPONSIBLE for oversight and direction of the team they manage. That’s it. Some GM’s are good at what they do, planning properly for the future, drafting well, trading well and responsibly. Others, not so much. A reckless contract can ruin a team for YEARS. Who made the contract? Was there ever a GUN involved in the negotiations? Allright then. I think Commissioner Bettman could have interceded in some capacity to challenge the Rick DiPietro contract. Ohhh, maybe he couldn’t have negated it, but he could have at least tabled an emergency panel to review and discuss it, to make sure future contracts would have “pronounced warning flags” all over them, discouraging GM’s from reckless contract-making. Bygones. This CBA expires in 2011. Maybe that very topic will be addressed?

There’s a rink in Ft. Erie, Ontario that we all knew as “The Barn”. It basically was a barn with an ice surface; not certain if the place is still there.

Better yet, we had the rink in Cazenovia Park in South Buffalo with no glass, just fencing or “chicken wire” in the corners and end zones. Great to get your face rammed in that stuff! I never played HS hockey there, but I remember someone telling me that they were once spat on during a high school game by the opposing fans from a “prep” school.

Rinks do have unique sounds-you know you can get on the ice when you hear the Zamboni doors close and the sound of skates hitting a fresh ice surface.

Hockey is not for the weak, that’s for sure!