30 replies to this topic

[ajs510]

Not exactly the first guy on my wishlist to see a contract extension (Miller should be the center of attention, then Campbell, then maybe Hecht before dealing with the mass exodus that's slated to happen at the end of next season (Afinogenov, Connolly, Kotalik, Spacek, and Miller if he's not extended before then, not to mention Pominville and Stafford who will be RFA's). Regardless of the order of things though, I'm glad to see Buffalo finally seeing reason and realizing that they lost out on their chance to keep Drury and/or Briere by refusing to talk contracts during the season. It speaks well for the future of this team when management is willing to change policies that just don't work.

[7s7c]

Germans are soooooooooo last week.

[digitalmonkey]

They should change the way they treat some of their players. Not paying Teppo Numminen is as classless as it gets IMO.

[WestcoastCanuck]

digitalmonkey, on Tuesday, October 16th, 2007, 10:39 AM, said:

They should change the way they treat some of their players. Not paying Teppo Numminen is as classless as it gets IMO.

Yeah, that was brutal. Good luck luring anyone to play in Buffalo after that. They are in danger of putting themselves in the Oilers situation where they will have to overpay to get anyone to come/stay.

[Zach6668]

Can someone explain the Teppo situation?

[Piddle Duck]

Zach6668, on Tuesday, October 16th, 2007, 5:07 PM, said:

Can someone explain the Teppo situation?

He needed heart surgery or something and because of it the Sabres suspended him without pay.

[pauld22]

(From the wgr550.com archive)The Sabres have suspended Numminen without pay for reporting to training camp physically unable to perform, something he is not thinking about.Apparently team policy? Either way it sucks.Yes, glad to see them speaking with players in season now after the last off season. If I remember correctly they can't talk contract with Miller (and maybe others) until January (someone please correct me if that is wrong).

[strategy]

digitalmonkey, on Tuesday, October 16th, 2007, 9:39 AM, said:

They should change the way they treat some of their players. Not paying Teppo Numminen is as classless as it gets IMO.

from wiki:"Numminen was suspended by the Buffalo Sabres when it was discovered he needed heart surgery. [1].Buffalo Sabres GM Darcy Regier stated the suspension was due to the fact that his $2.6 Million dollar contract was not insured, and there's a clause explicitly in the contract that states the player must pass the physical and be fit to play.[2]"The bottom line is that Numminen signed the contract. I understand compassion and all the rest, but honestly I don't see how the franchise is morally obligated to do anything but abide by the agreement. The blurb isn't specific on how much of the $2.6 was allocated for this year and whether this is an all-or-nothing type of clause, so feel free to correct me if I'm missing something. I could side either way depending on the specifics.

[ajs510]

My feelings as well Jeff. Besides, it's not like Teppo isn't getting a paycheck while he's out. Hockey players (and all athletes) carry personal insurance for occurances just like this one, where they're not able to play and earn a living. In addition to that, he owns 90% of Montreal Sports Ltd which produces and sells hockey equipment. Sabres' team policy is to not insure the majority of their contracts, because insurance on all personnel would add at least a third to the total payroll. It would be nice if they could just wash their hands of Teppo's $2.6 million dollar contract and just give him his check even though he's of no benefit to the team right now, but hockey is a business, plan and simple. I question the logic behind signing him (a 38yo hockey player with a known heart condition) in the first place, but that's neither here nor there. The team isn't obligated to pay him, so they're not paying him. I'm actually kind of surprised that the contract isn't voided completely by the fact that he isn't ready or physically able to play hockey.Here's a quote from the standard players contract paragraph that pertains to Numminen's situation:paragraph 5b in the Standard Player Contract.b: If the Player, in the judgment of the Club's physician, is disabled or is not in good physical condition at the commencement of the season or at any subseqnet time during the season (unless such condition is the direct result of any injury sustained during the course of his employment as a hockey Player with the Club, including travel with his team or on business requested by the Club) so as to render him unfit to play skilled hockey, then it is mutually agreed that the Club shall have the right to suspend the Player for such period of disability or unfitness, and no compensation shall be payable for that period under this SPC. Honestly, in my view this whole thing is semantics and principles. Numminen is a multi-millionaire and missing out on 3 months salary isn't going to financially cripple him any more than Danny Markov not getting paid for however long it takes him to sign with an NHL club will cripple him. Teppo (or at least his agent) read his contract and signed off on the fact that one of the terms was that he show up when he's told, fit, healthy and ready to play. He didn't (through no fault of his own, but through no fault of the team's either...this isn't a hockey injury), and he's not getting paid. I don't really get why people have such a huge problem with it.

[digitalmonkey]

Yeah, Buffalo isn't obligated to pay Numminen but Montreal wasn't obligated to pay Koivu when he was out and they did. Edmonton isn't obligated to pay Pisani and they are. Like I said, it's about how you treat your players, not what you're obligated to do. If Buffalo needed the cap space I would understand. It just seems a little bush league to me.BTW, Fernando Pisani has lost 30 pounds since September because of his illness.

[ajs510]

digitalmonkey, on Wednesday, October 17th, 2007, 7:42 AM, said:

BTW, Fernando Pisani has lost 30 pounds since September because of his illness.

Do you think he'd loan the illness to me for a month? I've got 30 pounds I don't need anymore...I get what you're saying, and it's entirely possible that I'm just being a homer about this whole thing. I just don't see why there should be a double standard for pro athletes as opposed to other kinds of employees. If someone working at the ticket counter at HSBC Arena had a heart condition and couldn't work for three months, they might get some form of disability but the Sabres' organization wouldn't be paying them their salary while they recover. Someone is going to say "yeah, but the ticket counter guy doesn't have a guaranteed contract" to which I reply "yeah, but the contract has a clause in it referring to issues like this."Montreal paid Koivu's salary and that's nice. Edmonton is paying Pisani his salary and that's nice. Colorado paid Steve Konowalchuk and that's nice. Montreal also has the second highest average ticket price leaguewide, Edmonton has the 8th highest and Colorado is only slightly below the league average. Buffalo is second to last in the league for average ticket prices (only Phoenix charges less), which means they have less wiggle room in their operating budget. Hockey's a business. It's nothing personal.

[gruven]

Puts me in mind of that great humanitarian, Bobby Clarke, commenting on firing Roger Neilson:"It's not my fault he got cancer" btw, as an interesting sidenote, I happened to be sitting with Roger Neilson when he was fired. His phone rang, he answered, listened to one sentence, said 'okay' and hung up. He put his phone in his pocket, and said, "That was Clarkie. He said they're going with Rammer". Further reinforcing my theory that Bobby Clarke is a dick....

[Whiter Sr]

ajs510, on Tuesday, October 16th, 2007, 8:51 AM, said:

Not exactly the first guy on my wishlist to see a contract extension (Miller should be the center of attention, then Campbell, then maybe Hecht before dealing with the mass exodus that's slated to happen at the end of next season (Afinogenov, Connolly, Kotalik, Spacek, and Miller if he's not extended before then, not to mention Pominville and Stafford who will be RFA's). Regardless of the order of things though, I'm glad to see Buffalo finally seeing reason and realizing that they lost out on their chance to keep Drury and/or Briere by refusing to talk contracts during the season. It speaks well for the future of this team when management is willing to change policies that just don't work.

My thoughts exactly. Miller and Campbell should be at the top of their lists.$3.5 Mil/season for Hecht is a good deal for the Sabres in my opinion.Nice to see the boys are back on track after a sloppy start.So AJ as the only 2 sabre fans here maybe we should have a "Back to the Eastern Finals for the Buffalo Sabres" thread.

[Fenxis]

ajs510, on Wednesday, October 17th, 2007, 7:54 AM, said:

Do you think he'd loan the illness to me for a month? I've got 30 pounds I don't need anymore...

A fairly good friend of mine has colitis -- so far she's had ~4 major surgeries, is in the hospital a ton and on the positive side most pain meds she's either allergic to or no longer have an effect on her. Some people are lucky with remission / meds but it's pretty debilitating condition to have.

[ajs510]

Whiter Sr, on Wednesday, October 17th, 2007, 11:43 AM, said:

So AJ as the only 2 sabre fans here maybe we should have a "Back to the Eastern Finals for the Buffalo Sabres" thread.

I don't doubt their ability to get there, if I did I wouldn't have bet Serge that they'd finish the season 10 points ahead of 9th place. I think Buffalo still has a great team, I really do. How close they are to the Eastern Conference title will depend on the first few games against Ottawa, the road to the cup runs through Canada's capital this season.

[Whiter Sr]

ajs510, on Wednesday, October 17th, 2007, 8:20 AM, said:

I don't doubt their ability to get there, if I did I wouldn't have bet Serge that they'd finish the season 10 points ahead of 9th place. I think Buffalo still has a great team, I really do. How close they are to the Eastern Conference title will depend on the first few games against Ottawa, the road to the cup runs through Canada's capital this season.

I can't argue with you there.Losing Drury and Briere is huge but instead of having 4 good lines like in 2007 we will have to drop down to 3 when it comes to crunch time. Also we won't be able to sustain a couple of key injuries because we aren't quite as deep as we were in 2006. I still like our chances of getting back to the conference finals against the Leafs (sw).Whiter

[7s7c]

gruven, on Wednesday, October 17th, 2007, 4:42 AM, said:

Further reinforcing my theory that Bobby Clarke is a dick....

Agreed. And one of the worst GM's in NHL history....and a top 25 all-time hockey player.

[WestcoastCanuck]

7s7c, on Wednesday, October 17th, 2007, 11:35 AM, said:

Agreed. And one of the worst GM's in NHL history....and a top 25 all-time hockey player.

He may be a dick but there is no way that is true. You can't judge him on the post lockout NHL alone.

[7s7c]

Rmunro, on Wednesday, October 17th, 2007, 10:39 AM, said:

He may be a dick but there is no way that is true. You can't judge him on the post lockout NHL alone.

Ok a bit of an exaggeration of course. But his stubborn-ness was a trait that hindered him from clearly defining a blueprint for the Flyers squadrons.

[digitalmonkey]

ajs510, on Wednesday, October 17th, 2007, 7:54 AM, said:

Do you think he'd loan the illness to me for a month? I've got 30 pounds I don't need anymore...I get what you're saying, and it's entirely possible that I'm just being a homer about this whole thing. I just don't see why there should be a double standard for pro athletes as opposed to other kinds of employees. If someone working at the ticket counter at HSBC Arena had a heart condition and couldn't work for three months, they might get some form of disability but the Sabres' organization wouldn't be paying them their salary while they recover. Someone is going to say "yeah, but the ticket counter guy doesn't have a guaranteed contract" to which I reply "yeah, but the contract has a clause in it referring to issues like this."Montreal paid Koivu's salary and that's nice. Edmonton is paying Pisani his salary and that's nice. Colorado paid Steve Konowalchuk and that's nice. Montreal also has the second highest average ticket price leaguewide, Edmonton has the 8th highest and Colorado is only slightly below the league average. Buffalo is second to last in the league for average ticket prices (only Phoenix charges less), which means they have less wiggle room in their operating budget. Hockey's a business. It's nothing personal.

Yes, those things were nice. Refusing to pay Numminen is NOT nice. He could have been placed on IR when the season began which wouldn't affect the salary cap at all. I realize that hockey is a business. Keeping your employees happy is a big part of running a successful business especially one where you rely somewhat on recruiting potential employees.