Okay this may be somewhat intentional. The following may also be considered humorous with a tinge of seriousness tossed on the side. I look back at the nearly four years of this blog and am amazed by how much it continues to evolve. It is time to step forward and make one glaring admission.
Henrik Lundqvist slept with Tiger Woods’ wife.
No that is not it ladies and gentlemen but there is a tinge of believability to that. I do not make it a secret that I, as a diehard hockey fan, do not care for pretty boys. I never did and never will. There is that level where I just sit there and wonder, when a person will just put the “Vogue” crap aside and focus on hockey. It is understandable that these elite players have other outlets but hockey and posing for magazines just rubs me the wrong way.
I will not dignify this whole “modeling” thing or the pictures that have come before or after this latest shoot. Yes I acknowledge what a player does in the offseason is his own business but what if Sean Avery has influenced Lundqvist negatively by this kind of diversification. Here is the problem with all of that.
I realized at the end of the day that the only person that is accountable for the player’s action is the player and then the team he plays for. What does this lead into? This ties into a slightly bigger issue but not all that big. Moral clauses in contracts for players. The NHL unofficially kicked this can when it decided “sloppy seconds” was enough to suspend Sean Avery.
There is a reason for all of this. The NHL has not hammered the NHLPA enough it seems but I still think owners toss this idea around at some point in the next CBA. The midpoint salary cap and rollbacks are not enough. Why not go for the jugular NHL? Think of the possibilities. Patrick Kane could have his contract voided for going 20 cent on a cabbie. Dany Heatley could have oh…well you know! Just imagine all the scenarios owners would have just to void contracts so they could get under the salary cap.
Here is a more legal definition of said clause:
A morals clause is a provision in a contract or official document that prohibits certain behavior in a person’s private life. They deal with behavior such as sexual acts and drug use. They were commonly used in the contract between actors/actresses and film studios to uphold the public image sought to be portrayed by the studio. Morals clauses are included today in certain contracts of public figures, such as athletes, actors/actresses, and others. A morals clause may also be made part of a judgment for divorce or marital dissolution, typically preventing unmarried cohabitation or overnight guests of the opposite sex
Look at that. I really do apologize at who this may offend but the NHL would try to make these contracts ironclad for every player. Then I realized one complete and utter problem with this. Oh god! The NHL cannot discipline itself consistently or players for that matter. At this point it was time to go in another director because the NHL can be more shady in its business dealings at times than players could ever dream of being.
What is the moral of the story here? No one knows for certain. I will say this however. The simplest message is this. The NHLPA is so weak right now that one can just sit and fire off a small post like this for amusement….pure amusement. That should illustrate to the reader what dire straits the NHLPA really is in at this moment. Lastly I wanted to thank a great blogger, Tyler Dellow from mc79hockey.com for the inspiration for this satirical piece. His piece was more serious but it severed as a springboard. You can read it right HERE.
The truth is the NHLPA has to just get it together and even after all of the Kovalchuk fallout, they still do not have any of their ducks in a row. There is little sign of solidarity in either direction, just a laissez-faire waiting to be further exploited by the NHL. Someone may want to tell the NHLPA “911 is not a joke” because they need to call it and get it together QUICK!
By the way, there will be sort of a weekly update on potential issues that could be exploited. Some will be very serious and some will be quite funny.
