Loonie's Rise Helps Canadian Teams, Pushes Up NHL Salary Cap
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Canadian NHL Teams Cashing In
On Increasing Value Of Loonie |
The increasing value of the loonie "means that Canadian NHL teams, which once petitioned their governments for bailouts to stay afloat, suddenly find themselves on equal economic footing," according to John Wawrow of the AP. Canada's six NHL franchises are "using their newfound resources to flex their competitive muscles by offering lucrative contracts that previously would've been considered financially crippling." Ducks Exec VP & GM Brian Burke: "I don't think the six Canadian teams have ever been in a better condition financially than they are now." The NHL for the '08-09 season has set a salary cap of $56.7M, "in part because of the loonie." NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said that league revenues "grew by about 12[%] this past season, with the loonie's rise contributing to about 25[%] of the growth." However, the cap's rise has "left some teams concerned." Sabres Managing Partner Larry Quinn said that the Sabres were "among many that failed to project how the Canadian dollar would influence the dramatic rise in the cap," and the team now is "attempting to lock up core players well before they're eligible to become free agents." Quinn: "I don't think we would have ever thought we'd be sitting here looking at a $56[M] cap in three years [after the lockout season]." Meanwhile, the Raptors and Blue Jays also are "reaping the benefits" of the loonie's rise, though "they're less affected because they receive most of their TV and marketing revenue in American dollars" (AP, 6/27).
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Checketts Says NHL's Salary Cap
Could Eventually Be A Problem |
CAP TALK: NHL GMs in a meeting during the Stanley Cup Finals "unloaded on commissioner Gary Bettman because the cap has forced some of them to spend to the floor, irritating their stingy owners." One league exec said, "We're going to spend like crazy because we have to do that to compete. We're still going to have empty seats and we're going to have to do battle to make the playoffs. (Bettman) sits there and everything rolls off him. He's got Teflon skin, this guy" (TORONTO SUN, 6/29). Blues Owner Dave Checketts said of the new cap, "It's certainly a lot more than what we had planned. ... The players are doing well in this league, but the league is doing well, too." Checketts added the cap is "going to be a problem, but it's not going to be baseball. Baseball is out of control that way. The disparity between payrolls in baseball ... there are teams that know right from the beginning that they just don't have a chance. I don't feel that way about hockey." More Checketts: "If you own a team like the Blues, or own a team in a market that doesn't have the same kind of revenues as another market, you've got to be a little bit stronger about how to be competitive" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 6/29). The NHL's free-agent signing period begins tomorrow, and in Boston, Kevin Paul Dupont wrote, "There's a big bucket of cash out there, and that alone will lead to some acute overspending this week" (BOSTON GLOBE, 6/29).
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