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GROWING PAYROLLS: The GLOBE & MAIL's Tim Wharnsby writes since the lockout that canceled the '04-05 season, "more than a few folks in the hockey world asked why a lockout was necessary, given the number of big-money deals that have been done since NHL free agency kicked in on July 1." However, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said, "The amount of money spent this week itself does not cause concern and it should not send a mixed message. What it says is that the NHL's business is a lot bigger today than it was five years ago, roughly to the tune of almost $600[M] bigger. The lockout was never about lowering player salaries per se, it was about making sure that what our clubs pay our players bears a reasonable relationship to the revenues the sport generates" (GLOBE & MAIL, 7/10).

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