Legace sounds off on union committee

[Madferret]

Legace sounds off on union committee
TSN.ca Staff

With the NHL and the NHLPA slowly inching towards a new collective bargaining agreement, Detroit Red Wings goaltender Manny Legace had some choice words for his union leaders.

''The whole thing is a farce,'' the Red Wings' union representative told the Booth Newspapers group on Wednesday. ''We basically sat out for nothing, wasted a lot of money for nothing. It makes no sense to me.'' With a deal expected to be announced some time in the coming days or weeks, Legace wonders why the 'PA didn't accept a better deal that was offered last winter.

''They (ticked) off all the owners and (the owners) went out to screw the players,'' Legace said of union leaders. ''They had the right intention. They made everyone buy into what they told us. Now it seems like they're giving up everything just to start the season on time.

Legace said he would support the union if they continued to take a strong stance. ''If we're going to give up all this now, why wasn't the union smart enough to get a deal done sooner, instead of saying, 'Screw you,' (to the owners) the whole time?'' Legace told the paper. ''I lost $1.3 million. What was the purpose?

''We hurt businesses downtown, we hurt fans, we hurt everybody - for nothing. I feel bad for those people. I could understand if we were still sticking to a cause. What reason did we sit out for? It doesn't make sense.''

Asked if Goodenow is to blame, Legace said, ''It's not just him, it's the whole (executive) committee.''
*With files from the Booth Newspapers group

I think what Manny is trying to say is that Bob and the NHLPA can kiss his @ss...

[Mel]

I would guess a vast majority of the players feel the same way. They just followed the union's leadership, and turned out to lose a year off their careers and gain hatred from the fans. Seemingly all for nothing now.

Similar to Roenick's tirade.

[Madferret]

Legace lets loose on NHLPA strategy
Associated Press
DETROIT (AP) - Detroit Red Wings goalie Manny Legace criticized players' union head Bob Goodenow on Saturday for failing to reach a labour deal that could have saved the cancelled 2004-05 season.

"We lost a season for no reason," Legace told The Associated Press. "We should've crumbled last September when the owners wanted a salary cap." Despite at least one report indicating the NHL's labour situation is essentially resolved, the league and the players' association deny that is true.

The Los Angeles Times, citing anonymous sources close to the negotiations, said Thursday the agreement would feature a hard salary cap linked to 54 per cent of league revenue, a 24 per cent rollback of existing contracts and qualifying offers.

The salary cap would be $37 million US and wouldn't include medical and dental benefits and pension payments, the newspaper reported. "They're not going to announce anything until it's 100-per cent finished and I'm sure they're not going to do it before the all-star game," said Legace, referring to baseball's all-star game Tuesday night in Detroit. "I'm hearing it's all but done and the lawyers have been looking over it, and that it could take 14 to 20 days."

Legace said Goodenow did a great job negotiating for the players in 1994, but that the NHLPA executive director failed them during the current negotiations. "It makes no sense what we ended up doing," Legace said. "For years, Bob was telling us, `No cap. Owners aren't telling us the truth about their books.' Then out of nowhere, he gives the owners a 24-per cent rollback and it looked like we were panicking.

"Then after saying we wouldn't even consider a salary cap, he backed down on that at the last minute just before the lockout. It was too late, and now we're taking a worse deal." Legace said when he was a players' representative for the Red Wings during the 2003-04 season, he publicly said the union should accept a salary cap.

"Bob came to one of our games and screamed at me in our dressing room after I said that," Legace said. "He freaked out on me. He thought I was showing a sign of weakness." NHLPA spokesman Jonathan Weatherdon said the union declined to respond to Legace's comments.

Commissioner Gary Bettman cancelled the season Feb. 16 because of the lockout, which started Sept. 16. The NHL became the first major pro sports league in North America to lose an entire season to a labour dispute.

Manny Roenick?

[leaferfan87]

I think it is pretty clear at this point that Bob Goodenow is toast. Jeremy Roenick comes out with his tirade then Sean Avery then Manny Legace. These players were tricked into thinking that Goodenow could outlast the owners, which he could not.

[Mel]

I'd like to be a fly on the wall when the players meet to ratify the new deal, whenever that may be.

I wonder if any players will have anything to say to the PA's leadership :wicked:

[KB in Kelowna]

These players were tricked into thinking that Goodenow could outlast the owners, which he could not.

I beg to differ on the tricked part. Goodenow told them to be prepared to loose a season, possibly half or all of another as well. Frankly the players blinked first and gave in.These players are sounding off because they lost.

Goodenow had the support of his association because in the past 15 years or so years he improved their lot in life and "slice of the pie" they recieved. He miscalculated the resolve of the owners this time, but none of these players currently speaking out did anything in the lead up to the Owners Imposed Lockout, to disuade Goodenow from his course of action. None of them spoke up in the months prior to the recent events on the lack of talks, in fact I seem to mostly recall either silence or talk of solidarity. You always hear snipping from the loosing lockeroom.

These guys were not tricked, they have been better informed on this process than they ever were during the Eagleson era. To me these comments reek of trying to kiss up to alienated fans. Most of these guys are educated to say they were tricked is to paint them as unsophisticated rubes, fresh of the farm, ready to be swindled by the first slick talking shysterto come along . They have agents and business managers as well as team/player reps they should have been communicating with.This lockout had been looming despite the fact that the League twice extended the old CBA for thier own selfish reasons. The players had pleanty of time to prepare for this lockout, and to give input into the process. Goodenow had won big before for them, they choose his tactics and they lost.They should shut up and move forward.

[Mel]

I think the players are pissed not so much because of the deal.... but because if they knew Goodenow was going to give up this much - they would have preferred he did it last summer and didn't cost them a year's pay.

Unfortunately the nature of negotiations doesn't work that way.

Bottom line? The players are going to go back to playing hockey for a nice 6 or 7 figure salary. For the majority of them... their salaries won't be all that much different than they were previously. To them, in retrospect, this year-long staring contest was completely useless.

[Newfie John]

I think the players are pissed not so much because of the deal.... but because if they knew Goodenow was going to give up this much - they would have preferred he did it last summer and didn't cost them a year's pay.

Unfortunately the nature of negotiations doesn't work that way.

Bottom line? The players are going to go back to playing hockey for a nice 6 or 7 figure salary. For the majority of them... their salaries won't be all that much different than they were previously. To them, in retrospect, this year-long staring contest was completely useless.

I agree with most of what you said except for the sentence in bold. It seems there will be a 24% rollback and I would venture to say that 24% is a pretty big cut.

[Mel]

I agree with most of what you said except for the sentence in bold. It seems there will be a 24% rollback and I would venture to say that 24% is a pretty big cut.

Yes but consider this John that only about 1/3 of the league is still under contract. Yes some guys will feel the cut, sure... those who don't get bought out. But most of the rank and file, who never commanded mega-millions in the first place... will be shopping themselves as free agents apparently. The market for them, I believe will be similar to what it was before. It's the high end payrolls that will become a thing of the past. Teams simply won't be able to shell out 8 or 10 million for a single guy.

Point taken though, 24% is no joke. If I was making 4 million, I'm now being cut to 3 million. That's a million lost. One the other hand am I now lining up for welfare? Hardly, it's all relative.

I really wish they would incorporate Bettman's version of the rollback, which was staggered to protect the low paid guys and gradually force the payback higher for guys that made more money. That sounded fair to me.