Can hockey be saved?

On the NHL | Replacement crisis could be next step

By Tim Panaccio, Inquirer Columnist

The Teamsters had formed a truck convoy, circling Veterans
Stadium and honking their horns.


The Philadelphia police, wearing riot gear and on horseback,
marched down Pattison Avenue.



The crowds outside the stadium were rowdy and nearly rioting
when police began making arrests.


The crowds were protesting the scab players at Veterans Stadium
when the Eagles hosted Chicago on that chilly Oct. 4 afternoon in 1987.


In the middle of an angry mob outside the stadium Eagles player
John Spagnola tried to explain why the players were on strike.


Scenes similar to 1987 could arrive in October 2005 - at the
Wachovia Center.


There is evidence that if the NHL doesn't negotiate a new
collective-bargaining agreement with the players, the league will
unilaterally implement a deal with a salary cap next fall and open camps
with replacement - scab - players.


While the NHL has never publicly admitted this, it's been long
rumored, and earlier this month, an owner was fined for acknowledging that
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has such a strategy if no agreement is reached
this season.


Atlanta Thrashers owner Steve Belkin told the Boston Herald that
the league would use scab players to break the union. He was fined $250,000
by Bettman for violating the commsioner's "no comment" policy for owners
during the lockout.


"If we reach an impasse and it goes on for a year, we will
attempt to bring in other players," Belkin told the paper. "That's not good
for anyone. That's a last resort. But if that's the only alternative, say, a
year from now, we'll probably proceed with doing that. And then, hopefully,
start building up the caliber of the players over a period of time."


OK, Belkin - whose ownership group just bought the team last
season - has about as many minutes as an NHL owner as any kid born yesterday
at Penn.


Yet make no mistake about Belkin's candor as a voice in
management. He admitted there could be scab players on the ice next season.


Can you imagine Flyers chairman Ed Snider opening the doors at
the Wachovia Center with scab players?


Snider is one of the league's most respected owners and a member
of the Hockey Hall of Fame, who some think should have been named NHL
commissioner back in 1994.


Few owners in the league carry as much clout as Snider. Fewer
are held in as high esteem.


Which is why it's unthinkable that Snider, who worked his way up
from his father's grocery chain in Germantown, would ever join ranks to
break a union with scab players.


Would Ed Snider really go along with such a plan?


We asked him twice this week. Twice Snider declined to say,
under penalty of being fined by Bettman.


Sorry, Ed, but that would be $250,000 that team owner Comcast
should be proud to pay.


There are plenty of owners, general managers, vice presidents
and chief executives out there who dread the prospect of being forced to use
scab players. Maybe it's time some of them said it publicly.


That Snider is reluctant to take a stand is disappointing. He's
always been his own man.


Belkin may have been foolish to admit it, but he's given the NHL
Players Association ammunition for a court case in the event the league
tries to implement such a plan. The union can file an unfair labor practice
grievance, and argue that this was Bettman's plan all along.


Union lead negotiator Ted Saskintold the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution: "Now we have an owner who acknowledges those
discussions" about the league implementing a unilateral contract.


Can you picture the scab scenario in some cities? Mario
Lemieuxopening his doors in Pittsburgh? What about Wayne Gretzkyin Phoenix?


For all their accomplishments, if either of those hockey icons
used scab players, the damage to their image - among colleagues and fans -
would be irreparable.


It's unimaginable what the fallout would be in American cities
if the NHL went with scab players. There are U.S. markets where hockey is on
thin ice already with real NHL players, let alone replacements.


It's not, however, hard to imagine the ugliness that could occur
outside the Wachovia Center. We saw it firsthand in 1987 at the Vet.


Which is why Ed Snider should take a stand and assure his fan
base that whatever may happen during this lockout, scab players are
something he will never allow on the ice in Philadelphia.


Which vote counts more?


Incredibly, the NHLPA has called a meeting of all 30 player reps
in Toronto on Election Day, which means some of them probably are flying in
from the United States. Why would the union schedule a meeting on such an
important day in the United States? Can you imagine the outcry from Canadian
journalists had something like this been done on a key election day in
Canada? It's possible some reps won't get back in time to vote. "The NHLPA
has scheduled a meeting with all player representatives on Nov. 2 in Toronto
as part of our ongoing information updates during the owners' lockout.
American players who choose to attend the meetings will vote after the
meeting, or before via absentee ballot," Saskin said when asked about why he
chose Election Day.


Switching sticks


Not that he has committed to doing it, but Toronto forward Gary
Roberts was selected Tuesday by the defending champion Calgary Roughnecks of
the National Lacrosse League. Calgary used its last-round pick - 65th - to
pluck Roberts, who played hockey and lacrosse in Whitby, Ontario, before
turning pro as a Calgary Flame in the NHL.


Back to school


Phantoms defenseman Dennis Seidenberg was back in high school
last week. Seidenberg, whose native tongue is German, assisted at an
after-school German club at Father Judge in the Northeast. Born in
Villingen, Germany, Seidenberg represented his home country in the 2004
World Cup of Hockey as well as the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.


Contact staff writer Tim Panaccio at 215-854-2847 or
tpanaccio.RemoveThis@phillynews.com.

>For all their accomplishments, if either of those hockey icons
>used scab players, the damage to their image - among colleagues and fans -
>would be irreparable.

> It's unimaginable what the fallout would be in American cities
>if the NHL went with scab players. There are U.S. markets where hockey is on
>thin ice already with real NHL players, let alone replacements.


Maybe Tim thinks a few guys in poorly made picket signs accounts for a riot.

People care about football. Hockey? Ha.

If hockey came back with replacement players, the majority of sports fans in
the NHL wouldn't even realize they were using scabs.

"Oh, the NHL is back? When that'd happen? Oh, well, thats sports all confusing
anyway and I don't know anybody who plays it."

Joe Q. can't really tell the difference between Mats Sundin and the guy who
picks up their trash. They won't care. This isn't Donovan McNabb being
replaced with Terry from Public Relations.

This is a nameless hockey player being replaced with a nameless scab.

Whatever works. I just hope Lamoriello can find better replacements than the
Rags or Flyers. Conte better get a head start and begin scouting the beer
leagues as soon as possible. I'm available, David! Give me a buzz!

Hopefully, some of the NHL teams won't be as delusional as a few of their
players and lower ticket prices to entice us real fans to pay money to see
plumbers and gas-station attendants barely skate around.

Signed,
D.J.