The Salary Cap and ...

The NHL in October will be in it's third season under a salary cap system. In 2005-06, the first after the year long lock-out, the cap had been set at 39million. In year two, it went up to 44 million. This season as we know it will be at 50.3 million.It's risen 11.3 million dollars in two years, and if estimates are true it could go up to 62 million.That is scary.As the upper limit goes up, so does the minimum.The difference between the two cannot be larger than 16 million.

The players are fine with this cap system, as their salaries are linked to league revenues, so the more those revenues go up, so does the cap and their salaries. The money forked out in the last three UFA seasons are a good indication of that. The danger is that if the cap keeps going up at this rate, it will bleed the smaller markets, espacially non traditional ones in the United States. Oh did I mention there was revenue sharing ? Big deal, all it does, is help those markets i mentionned assured they can reach the minimum limit, it does not permit them to compete. So as you can see, the lock-out was all for nothing. Remember the season after the lock-out, when every team in the league had painted the words '' Thank you fans'' on the ice? The league should have them paint '' Thank you suckers'' for this coming season. I'm sure i'm not the only one with that thought in mind.

For cap numbers and Q & A's on the CBA, you can go to NHLSCAP.COM.