No matter what you think of unions in the everyday world, they’re absolutely necessary in sports. Without the legal protections they negotiate, players would be treated like property (just ask Curt Flood).
Sports leagues lend themselves to an almost socialist relationship between capital (owners) and labor (players) — after all, the players are the product. They are the industry. It comes down to the players realizing how much power they have. When they’re united, there is nothing the league and team owners can do to stop them.
Which is why I cringe when I see a players’ union get bullied, as it does in the NFL. In the most physically dangerous sport, with the most catastrophic lifelong aftereffects and a churning billion-dollar pipeline in place for the owners, the players’ money isn’t all guaranteed? That’s insanity.
An example of the players’ might comes this week from the OHL, the best junior hockey league in the world. A team was bought last year by an extremely rich Norwegian named Rolf Nilsen. He moved the team within Michigan, from Plymouth to Flint, and renamed them the Firebirds. He got his son, Hakon, a spot as a depth defenseman, then complained to the coaches he wasn’t playing enough. After an overtime win over the reigning Memorial Cup champion Oshawa Generals on Sunday, Nilsen fired head coach John Gruden, plus assistants Dave Karpa and Petr Jonak.
The players, including Nilsen’s son, handed in their jerseys and walked out, saying they wouldn’t play unless the coaches were reinstated.
Nilsen and others met with OHL commissioner David Branch, and soon all the coaches were given their jobs back.
“Last night, after our emotional overtime game against the Oshawa Generals, I made a decision with regards to our coaching staff which was an irresponsible mistake,” Nilsen said in a statement.
These players were all born between 1995 and 1999. They’re kids. Almost all of them live with host families. And look at the power they wielded when they came together.
But players often are not so unified. Even when they retire, with little to do, the NHL Alumni Association remains in shambles.
One of the most contentious parts of the most recent NHL lockout was how to split hockey-related revenue. The players had to fight their way to 50-50. Sure, the owners do a ton of work and spend a ton of money to promote their teams and the league, and they deserve their share of the windfall. There needs to be financial backing to start an enterprise and keep it afloat, and there should be a big reward for that investment, persistence and wherewithal to make it successful.
But this is not an industry in which the product is inanimate. The product is not a result of manufacturing, but a living, breathing entity unto itself (or themselves). The players benefit from their relationship with businessmen who run the league, but they deserve better treatment.
So when this collective bargaining agreement is opted out of in 2019, or runs its course through 2022, hopefully the NHLPA sees the Flint Firebirds as inspiration. Players wisely already have started signing contracts with “lockout protection,” and they should use the 50-50 split as a starting point for their rightful cut of the pie.
Torts’ personal salute
John Tortorella walked into the press box at Barclays Center early this season on a scouting trip for the USA team he’s coaching at the World Cup next September. A leisurely chat led to the topic of his son, Nick, who was serving in the Army Rangers. A few nights before, Nick had called home from somewhere in the Middle East, but couldn’t talk about where he was or what he was doing. John said they BS-ed about the dogs, the family and other trivial things. The emotion he wears on his sleeve is not always rage.
So with Veterans’ Day just passed, Torts opened up a bit about his son to his new team’s website.
By the way, since Tortorella took over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 21, when the team was 0-7, they’ve gone 4-5. He called out his captain, Nick Foligno, and has been forthright about them finding ways to lose. Should be interesting to see if he turns it around or if it explodes in his face (which he knows are the two options).
D’Oh, Canada
Montreal once again stands as the beacon of hope for Canadian hockey fans. The Canadiens are doing their best to run away with what was supposed to be a competitive Atlantic Division, now 13-2-2 and nine points clear of the second-place Senators. Yet Ottawa is overachieving, and it seems only a matter of time before they are leapfrogged by the likes of the Lightning — they won’t stay 24th in the league in goals per game (2.33) for long — and the Red Wings.
Mike Babcock’s Maple Leafs (4-8-4) at least are showing some fight and not folding up the tent after a bad start, beating the Stars and Predators on the road this week. But they’re a long way from contending.
Look west in Canada, and the Canucks (7-5-5) are middling, kicking around near the top of a bad Pacific Division. The Connor McDavid-less Oilers (6-11-0) are fun, but so green, and the Flames (5-11-1) are flaming out.
A Canadian team hasn’t won the Cup since the Habs in 1993. Looks like it’s on them again to try to end the drought, eh?
Daily Fantasy pick
Here in a new one-week segment of this column, I give the only piece of advise needed for your daily fantasy team: If you can get your money out now, do it. Go to the website’s office (if they have one that isn’t moving every 24 hours), knock on the door and demand a check. If they offer 50 cents on the dollar, take it.
The fact is, FanDuel, DraftKings — and even DraftOps, which has only been seen or heard of inside Barclays Center — are short-sighted ventures, at best, based on exposing a loophole in the law. At worst, they’re akin to pyramid schemes, taking as money in while knowing it’s not all going back out. It was only a matter of time until these outfits were recognized as promoting gambling, and though legalized sports betting is coming, it’s still a far ways off. (And only because no politician wants to be the one pushing for legal gambling.)
Just ask the people who had a ton of money in online poker if they got it all back.
Stay tuned…
… to the very early Vezina Trophy race. Although NHL VP Colin Campbell says goalie equipment is going to be smaller next year, Henrik Lundqvist (obviously) doesn’t think that’s a good idea. Either way, he has been a wonder to watch, and is the front-runner.
But of the goalies who have started eight or more games, there are 11 with a goals-against average of 2.15 or lower, and 14 with a save percentage of .920 or higher. Lundqvist leads at 1.76 and .946 — and he can also stop pies.
Parting Shot
Linus Omark played 79 games in the NHL with the Sabres and Oilers, but decided in the middle of the 2013-14 season to depart for Sweden and then the KHL. His stick-handling talent is undeniable. Here he does his best Tomas Hertl impression (sorry, Marty Biron, for bringing that name up).