After years of irrelevance, the Chicago Blackhawks suddenly became a threat again for the first time in years during the 2008-09 season. The addition of two young superstars coupled with high profile free agent signings made the Hawks not only competitive, but briefly in control of the Central Division. During this time, the Red Wings continued to care of business in their usual manner; scouting Europe heavily, preaching balanced, finesse hockey, and being efficient with special teams.
In 2008-09 the Blackhawks finished a close second within the division and lost to the Red Wings, four games to one, in the conference finals before the Wings would ultimately lose a Stanley Cup finals rematch of the year before to Pittsburgh. 2009-10 brought the Cup back to Chicago for the first time since 1961 while Detroit was knocked out in disappointing fashion in the second round. However, this is where the story becomes telling of how these rival franchises really function.
As anyone reading this blog knows, professional sports in general is a game of numbers, more specifically, dollars. The NHL put in a new salary cap system for 2010-11 and it had its effect on all of the league's franchises. Here is Wikipedia’s summary:
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Revenues for the six Canadian teams have all increased significantly since the lockout, and due to the fact the US dollar fell to relative parity with its Canadian counterpart, league-wide revenues measured in U.S. dollars have been inflated accordingly.
As a result of these factors, the cap has been raised each year to its current figure of $59.4 million for the 2010–11 season, with a cap of $11.88 million for a player. The CBA also contains a salary floor which is formally titled the "Lower Limit of the Payroll Range", the minimum that each team must pay in player salaries. The lower limit was originally set at 55% of the cap, but is now defined to be $16 million below the cap, therefore the 2010–11 minimum is $43.4 million. The difference between the salary cap and a team's actual payroll is referred to as the team's "payroll room" or "cap room".
Each year of an NHL player contract, the salary earned contributes to the team's "cap hit". The basic cap hit of a contract for each year it is effective is the total money a player will earn in regular salary over the life of the contract divided by the number of years it is effective. This, in theory, prevents a team from paying a player different amounts each year in order to load his cap hit in years in which the team has more cap room. Teams still use this practice, however, for other reasons. Performance bonuses also count towards the cap, but there is a percentage a team is allowed to go over the cap in order to pay bonuses. A team must still factor in possible bonus payments, however, which could go over that percentage.
Salary for players sent to the minors, under most circumstances, do not count towards the cap while they are there. If a player has a legitimate long-term injury, his cap hit is still counted; however, the team is permitted to replace him with one or more players whose combined salary is equal to (or less than) that of the injured player, even if the additional players would put the team over the salary cap. If the team's cap room is larger than the injured player's cap hit, they may take on as much as their cap room; however, the injured player may not return to play until the team is again compliant with the original cap.
The NHL has become the first of the major North American leagues to implement a hard cap while retaining guaranteed player contracts. Guaranteed player contracts in the NHL differ from other sports, notably the NFL, where teams may opt out of a contract by waiving or cutting a player. NHL teams may buy-out player's contracts, but must still pay a portion of the money still owed which is spread out over twice the remaining duration of the contract. This does not apply for players over 35 at the time of signing; in this case a team cannot buy out the player's contract to reduce salary. Any other player can be bought out for ⅓ of the remaining salary if the player is younger than 28 at the time of termination, or ⅔ of the remaining salary if the player is 28 or older. Trading cash for players or paying a player's remaining salary after trading him have been banned outright in order to prevent wealthier teams from evading the restrictions of the cap.
Players, agents or employees found to have violated the cap face fines of $250,000 - $1 million and/or suspension. Teams found to have violated the cap face fines of up to $5 million, cancellation of contracts, forfeiture of draft picks, deduction of points and/or forfeiture of game(s) determined to have been affected by the violation of the cap.
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Dolla dolla bills, y’all.
Fast forward to today. It is April 6th, 2011. The Red Wings play Carolina tonight then a two-game series with Chicago to end the regular season. Detroit is in its usual position; their ninth division title in the past ten years is clinched and the Winged Wheelers are battling for the second seed atop the Western Conference. Where is the upstart and momentous Chicago? Sitting at eighth in the West and only two points ahead of Dallas at ninth; barely in the post-season.
Chicago and Detroit are considered rivals as a natural consequence of geography. The two cities will always see each other as bitter foes, regardless of how competitive the athletic clashes between the two really are. Trust me, both fan bases are quick to let you know the animosity they have towards each other. For instance, last off-season Detroit became the butt of jokes in the Blackhawks blogosphere now that Chicago had hockey’s ultimate crown back. However, this new sense of arrogance was short lived. This season's lackluster performance can be accredited to the Blackhawks being absolutely decimated by the new cap. Maybe opposed to being a true, up and coming franchise, it is possible that Chicago was built for one magic run; which to their credit, they achieved. Yet a look at the Red Wings shows that this season’s roster is very similar to the rosters of the past three (which brought a Stanley Cup, a Western Conference title, and two division titles) while Chicago has been a revolving door for players as a result of financial obligations. Good bye: Kris Versteeg, Dustin Byfuglien (spelled that correctly with my first attempt), Cristobal Huet, Ben Eager, etc.
Detroit has struggled through much of this season; battling injuries and goaltending issues the entire year and still eclipsing the 100-point mark once again. Meanwhile, Chicago is in the midst of a major push to make the post-season.
While Chicago fans will remember the magical campaign that brought a Stanley Cup and a division title, Detroiters will look back on 2009-10 as a minor speed bump in the midst of a dynasty. In the words of Mark Dantonio, “pride comes before the fall.”
T Kaminski
M ‘15
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