A Geek's Stance on the Lockout 2012 Edition

So much has gone on over the last 2 months, and yet very little has actually happened.

I feel the need to come forward and at least voice my opinion on the subject of the current NHL labor dispute.  I just wish to put down my thoughts here at my cozy little home on the internet--mine which is the smallest of soapboxes--and assure everyone that I understand your frustration with this entire issue, whether we agree on the finer points or not.

"As far as the actual dispute goes, I still support the players. No matter what happens, I will always remember that THEY were the ones who were willing to move forward under the old CBA rules until the new one gets hammered out. Whether or not that would've been a good idea or not is irrelevant. The point is the players wanted to play, and the owners made the choice not to let them. I will not financially support a league that tries to fix greed with more greed."

Cold War 2012 Has (unofficially) Begun

The dread for many has been mounting for a while now.  For some, it only really started setting in after all was said and done, with last year's Cup finals coming to a conclusion.  For the eternal optomists, it may not have set in...until now.  With little more than a day left before the expiration of the NHL's previous collective bargaining agreement, the NHL owners and the NHLPA are not meeting again to try to hash out a deal until next week, according to numerous professional sources.

Which means, as far as those not at the negotiating table are concerned, the NHL lockout of the 2012-2013 season has begun.

There was much cause for hope over the last few weeks, with the PA very sure that a deal could be reached and plenty of time left before the September 15th deadline.  Hopes started to sour, however, as soon as the owners--led by most NHL fanbase's Public Enemy #1, Gary Bettman--issued their initial proposal.  The terms were outrageous, even from a business standpoint: Massive slashes in pay across the board along with new restrictions that would restrict a player's freedom in almost every aspect and phase of their career.  Counter-offers were made, turned down, and new proposals were written up, only to meet the same fate, and now here we are, with the lockout all but official.

Some will blame the owners, with their plea to stake claim to a bigger piece of an already growing pie.  Revenues over the term of the last CBA have vastly improved, but that apparently is not enough.  Some will blame the Players' Association, believing that people paid such a substantial amount for their annual salaries should suck it up and take whatever the owners offer them, what is a couple-hundred thousand dollars to them anyway?

What is being missed, though, is the key concept that fueled the last lockout and changed the face of the NHL when it returned: Parity.

What has worked so well for the inner workings of the NHL and its franchises should be the foundation of these labor talks.  There needs to be equal treatment and equal consideration if these talk are ever to amount to anything beyond some children's squabble.  'I deserve more and this is why!' is countered with 'No, -I- deserve more and -this- is why!' when the point is simply this: both sides of this dispute are necessary to create a winning formula for a sporting league.  You have some of the finest business minds on one side of the table looking over at a group of some of the finest athletes on the planet at the other end.  Take either one of the components away and you do not have a lucrative product.

These two groups need to better learn how to share, because until they do, the fans are the ones who will suffer, and that is one group that is completely out of the control of the owners -or- the players.  If you lose the trust of the fans, TV's go to different channels, jerseys don't get bought, and seats don't get filled.  This lockout is bad business all around.

Take a seat close to the fire, comrades.  The Cold War is just beginning.

Frk Inks Entry-Level Deal

In what continues to be a stagnant summer for Detroit, the Red Wings have officially announced that Martin Frk, the Wings' 49th pick overall in the latest entry draft, has signed with Detroit to an entry-level contract.  Frk played last season with the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL, where he logged 16 goals and 13 assists in 34 games.

An assessment of Frk shows that scouts feel his shooting ability is pro caliber, but many worry about primarily his skating and overall conditioning.  With the system Detroit has in place, Frk will no doubt get the proper care he needs to develop fully into a reliable NHL forward.  If he is able to bring his conditioning and skating up, paired with his already devastating shot, he could wind up becoming a star sniper in the Red Wings' future roster.

During what has an uneventful summer, Detroit fans have been divided, but many feel this offseason has been a huge disappointment as management has not been able to do what they feel is necessary to fill--any more than partially--the gaping holes left by retirement and otherwise departing players.  With the loss of Nick Lidstrom and Brad Stuart on the blueline, defense has been the key concern is Hockeytown, and many fear the best solutions have already been gobbled up by the competition.

Though the signing of Frk is a solid one, perhaps the locking up of prospects is the only thing Wings fans have to look forward to before the next season starts--whenever that may be...

Quincey Gets Raise, Wings Evade Arbitration

Detroit did what they had to today to keep their blueline from crumbling any further.

Reports are coming in that Kyle Quincey and the Detroit Red Wings have agreed on a 2-year contract, paying Quincey $3.55 Million this coming season, and $4 Million in the next.  This currently makes Quincey the 2nd highest-paid defenceman on the Detroit roster, and unless something drastic happens between now and the start of the season, it will likely stay that way at the beginning of the 2012-2013 campaign.


As of now, only Niklas Kronwall ($4.75M) is paid more to patrol the blueline than Quincey, and Jonathan Ericsson ($3.25M) is right behind him.  The remainder of the Red Wings' defence core consists of Ian White ($2.875M), Jakub Kindl ($0.883M) and Brendan Smith ($0.875M).


Detroit still needs to find some way to plug the enormous hole left by the departure of Nicklas Lidstrom to retirement and the defection of Brad Stuart to San Jose.  Quincey was by no means Top 4 defense caliber during his short tour at the tail end of last season, but perhaps being put through training camp and having time to properly work with his teammates will help him turn his game around.  Detroit has too many woes back at the blueline to foster 4 3rd-pairing D-men if some big help isn't acquired (and assuming a young/average player is brought in to fill out the roster).


The summer is drawing on, and as the halfway point of July has come and gone, Detroit's options are thin.  It seems as though the question has shifted from "What will they do?" to "What can they do...?"