Quote:
Originally Posted by Leondros
You must be a lawyer. This take absolutely lacks pragmatism and business rationality. Why would the NHL follow through on levying punishment when the optics of it will look so poor. There is no benefit to them.
1) Alienates a fan base
2) Looks awful given the tragedy that lead to this issue
3) They were very much onside before the tragedy hit, and have given no indication that they are not going to remedy the situation
4) Just optically looking at this it would be a PR nightmare for the NHL. "NHL fines CBJ as a result of their young star player, father of 3 getting hit by drunk driver"
And for what - taking $5 million off of the ownership group? OR penalizing through draft pick forfeit and hurting the club?
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Yes I'm a lawyer. A lawyer who deals in business contracts all the time. The NHL would follow trhough on it because it's obliged to. Because a good excuse gives rise to an OK excuse, which gives rise to a mediocre excuse, etc.
You can't re-write collective bargaining agreements because of extreme examples. And the NHL wouldn't be fining CBJ because of the death. It'd be fining them because they didn't field the required team after the player died, with time to replace him and plenty of players. The NHLPA would have a good complaint to make - they were the ones asking for the floor. And there are UFAs available to fill the gap. And the NHL has an obligation fans and other teams to ensure its teams field decent teams.
The NHL likely does have discretion over the penalty, so presumably they'd do something that addresses the issue.
As far as any reporting goes, CBJ has not requested any kind of extension or other dispensation to address the issue, so presumably they intend to handle it.
