Even better?
By GARY SHELTON
Published July 14, 2005
Jay Feaster should have danced across the patio.
John Tortorella should have worn a party hat.
The band should have played, confetti should have fallen and the Stanley Cup should have arrived by parachute.
The lockout is over. And where, for goodness' sake, was the celebration?
Leave it to the NHL to stumble on a glorious return. Lunacy finally dies, and no one has the good graces to act as if something has been accomplished.
Someone should have smiled. Someone should have posed. The silliest lockout in sports history is over, and someone should have gotten the point. Instead, the sensation was something like a realization that yesterday's toothache didn't hurt anymore.
(It is at this point in the column that Gary Bettman and Bob Goodenow, the idiot twins, would rush in to warn everyone that the lockout isn't over until the players and owners ratify the agreement. Which is silly. After a year away from the NHL, do you honestly believe any player would be dumb enough to say, "Why don't we hold out for a better deal?" And after an unconditional surrender from the players, what more could an owner want? Fees for skate rentals from the team?)
Nope, hockey is back. The lockout is over.
Don't look now, but the Lightning won.
This was a terrific deal for the Lightning. Few teams needed a new system more, and as a result, few teams benefited greater.
How did the Lightning do on the key points of the agreement? Let's look:
HEADLINE: A deal is completed.
BOTTOM LINE: Good for the Lightning.
For the NHL, the healing will not come quickly. Fan apathy should have screamed out to both sides the silliness of this lockout. There will be markets that will suffer because of it.
In Tampa Bay, however, a banner still has to be raised. The memories of the Stanley Cup remain fresh. That should carry the Lightning through the early grumbling that other places will have to endure. Around here, hockey is still a big deal.
HEADLINE: There will be a $39-million salary cap.
BOTTOM LINE: Good for the Lightning.
Look around the league, and some teams are hiring executioners. Some teams, such as Detroit, will have to cut their salaries in half.
Here? The Lightning won the Stanley Cup with a payroll of $33-million. That means the Lightning can hand out a few raises and Bill Davidson will still have money left on the Visa card.
More important, however, the Lightning no longer has to compete against teams that can spend five dollars for every two that Tampa Bay can spend. In the past, if a team such as Colorado had a hole in one of its lines, it could simply throw millions at the problem. The Lightning, meanwhile, was hoping to stay healthy.
If the money is much the same, it is going to come down to which team is smart enough, lucky enough and passionate enough to win. Again, the Lightning's chances increased with this deal.
HEADLINE: There is a rollback of 24 percent on salaries.
BOTTOM LINE: Fair for the Lightning.
For any owner, it's great to save a quarter on every dollar. Hey, it's almost like those American dollars you were spending on payroll turned in Canadian dollars. That gives the Lightning more room when it comes to re-signing players.
On the other hand, other teams get the 24 percent rollback, too. That's going to ease the pain of the big spenders of the NHL, who won't have to slash quite as much payroll.
HEADLINE: The missed season will count against player contracts.
BOTTOM LINE: Bad for the Lightning.
Coming off its Stanley Cup victory, the Lightning was in terrific shape with its roster. Goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin had another year on his contract, and Vinny Lecavalier was still a year away from being a restricted free agent. Things looked manageable.
Remember, however, the lockout was the product of owners trying to undo their mistakes. By erasing last season from contracts, it enabled the really, really dumb guys to unload the really, really bad contracts a year sooner.
That makes Khabibulin an unrestricted free agent, and both Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis are restricted.
Will any of them receive big offers in a league where everyone is whittling salary? Maybe. As they say in free agency, it takes only one team to make a silly offer (remember the Atlanta Falcons' offer to Warrick Dunn?), and your roster is changed. Already, there are rumors that Khabibulin will be pursued heavily.
Stay tuned.
HEADLINE: Heads will roll.
BOTTOM LINE: Okay for the Lightning.
One of the more interesting storylines over the next few weeks will be which big players are cut loose. There could be a lot of talent looking for work.
Might the Lightning be interested? Maybe. It would take the right guy, maybe the wrong injury, but at least the pool of potential additions has deepened.
HEADLINE: Free agency will begin at age 31 and gradually move back to 27.
BOTTOM LINE: Good for the Lightning.
If the NHL had moved the free agency age back to 30 this year, rather than next, St. Louis would have been an unrestricted free agent. That's the immediate advantage.
Down the line, there could be others. Remember, the Lightning doesn't draft in the top five anymore. There may come a time the team needs to import firepower from outside. Free agency gives it a chance.
On the other hand, if Lecavalier wants to be an unrestricted free agent, he could get there by age 28.
HEADLINE: The league will share revenues.
BOTTOM LINE: Little impact for the Lightning.
Without full, NFL-style revenue sharing, the top 10 teams in the league in terms of revenue will pay money to the bottom 10. The Lightning shouldn't be either.
HEADLINE: New rules are looming.
BOTTOM LINE: Good for the Lightning.
The league seems intent on tweaking some of the rules, such as reducing the size of goaltenders' pads and improving teams' abilities to skate up and down the ice.
For a young, athletic team that plays fast-break hockey, that can't hurt.
HEADLINE: The draft order will be determined by a lottery.
BOTTOM LINE: Good for the Lightning.
In the old system, there was no way the Lightning had a chance at the No. 1 draft pick. Now, it has one shot in 48. It isn't much, but when a team is coming off a championship, any position other than last is good.
Of course, no one knows where the Lightning would have drafted if last season had been played. Odds are, however, it would have been 25th or higher.