UHL adopts hard cap

$300K (Exactly as I had predicted)

Now: Do away with the vet rule, expand the rosters to 20 and dress everyone each night. That should increase the fighting.

New coach coming. New players. My interest is at the highest level in 6 years.

The $300,000 is what I figured it would be....my question is....what happened to the finances being confidential? Or is it the breakdown per player that is going to remain private?

Probably the break down per player...they will NEVER disclose that to the public

I thought I read the Franke's saying that the cap amount would be private and shouldn't be shared? I know I read that.

No big deal.

I am really excited about next season.

Hit, I thought that I saw that also....anyway, the math is easy to figure...300,000 divided by 20 players is 15,000 a season....then divide that by 26 weeks is about 576.92 a week (before taxes) Of course, that is IF you max out and ONLY use 20 guys for an entire season. If my math is off, I apologize....I have had a VERY CRAPPY day and I have crunched too many other numbers today.

I knew I read it.....

The largest point of discussion will be how much to spend on a hard salary cap instead of the current soft cap which fines teams $2 for every $1 spent over $275,000 for the season. Currently that works out to about $10,500 per week. Raising the overall limit to $300,000 would give teams slightly more than $11,500 per week. The final total may not be available to the public.

I am with Skate, dump the vet rule etc... My only question would be how many of these vets are gonna want to take a presumed decrease in salary to remain in the UHL. It seems like the perfect scenario for the fans; but how many of these guys will retire or jump to a different league or country to play next year... We all invision a league that can be stacked for next year with all these great minor league players taking pay cuts to play next year. I know the raised the cap limit; but some of these guys are used to being payed well(for this level) and adding another player plus giving the owners no room to cheat makes me believe these guys are gonna have to take cuts... What do you guys think...

Bob Chase reported this morning that it might be a clean sweep for the Komets veterans this summer stating that their houses on the market and that they are looking to Europe.

Also in the JG, Kevin Hansen has been sent to the Komets in the Puhalski deal. Finally, another defenseman.

We're all I think making assumptions that just because the vet rule is going away that teams are going to stack up with veterans. I don't think owners can do that. I think you have to run a balanced team and not stack with veterans who will probably demand a high price. Sure some teams can do it and pay the weak fine the UHL levies, but do the think a buch of Danburys are going to solve the UHL. I don't.

The vets are also going to have to learn that it is supply/demand. There are less teams to play for the same number of players. A lot of these guys can't go to the ECHL so the only options they have are to play for less money in the UHL/CHL or go overseas. Retirement would be the other option. This hard cap has severly effected the earnings potential of quite a few vets in this league.

Why would some of our palyers not be able to play in the ECHL?? The guys that are making $$ here in the UHL can play there but the salary in the ECHL is the issue

ECHL also has a limit of four veterans.

I didn't mean that our vets couldn't play in the ECHL because of the talent level. My comments were related to salaries, vet limits, and a saturated market for veteran players.

What is it that the players want, fair market value for their services? Does Blake or anyone else have info on the players side?

Is the UHL a stepping stone to another league?

Is it an opportunity to make a living playing hockey and its associated business potential (i.e. Robin Bouchard one of the top car salespeople in the Muskegon area).

Is it building their resume as a pro to help in getting a coaching job at any level of Hockey?

I guess each player would be different, if it were me i would use the minor's for a short period of time 2-3 years to see if i could get a crack at the NHL, if i didn't get my shot i would move on. financially i would want to make sure i had my expenses covered and a little change left over for some "diet pepsi's".

Burgee- how do you explain the Kevin Kerr and the like that have put in over 10 years in the minors?

alot of these guys at this level play for the love of the game..especially in the UHL...with of course some execptions..most are just playing because they love the game of hockey..and hey, they get paid a little bit of change to play...

Is it possible that they are playing hockey because the love the game and there is someone who is willing to pay them to play it? Unless you are 18 - 22 the odds of you moving up and making it to the NHL from the UHL is slim, the guys in their 30's are playing because they love playing hockey.

Thats about right Shawn...

It seems to me that the ones who still play for the love and enjoyment of the game stay in the minor leagues here in North America and the ones who are looking for the big paycheck (especially tax free dollars) head over to Europe. Of course, that is only my perspective from the player moves that I've seen.

It also beats getting a real job, which is a far bigger factor than you may think.

very true blake, very true...

The UHL is very rarely a step to another upper league. Most guys that land here are written off as being too slow or having some other flaw that prevents them from playing up. Of course there are exceptions but in the last 10 years, how many players have gone from the UHL to the AHL on a regular basis? I would guess 50 or less. How many to the NHL? Has their even been 5?
To put it bluntly,(IN MOST CASES) the UHL is a place for below average hockey players to play out their careers while they try to figure out what to do with the rest of their lives. There is nothing wrong with that. It provides entertainment for hockey fans, a boost to the local economies (when the organizations are run correctly) and it allows guys who love the game to continue to "chase the dream"

Lots of the players like to play becuase they paly with the same teammates and like to play the same coach. Look at how many guys stay with Coach Puhalski each year. Now that he has left there might be noone left.

I see a theme emerging and tend to agree with it, the players are playing for the love of the game----and if you play in fort wayne even better for the player.

so that takes us to the cap issue, it is nothing more than a published budget figure that the teams are trying to stay at so they can stay in business---i would think the league would want to keep that to themselves and not publish the figure. i don't think any of us want our pay published by itself or within a group.

i think you'll always have the hotshots "bad business people" who break the salary cap rules big, BIG time, but as proven they are not around long.

Maybe it's really naive, but I'm betting there won't be that many breaking the cap, Burgee. I think the feds getting them for wire fraud across state lines ought to scare the crap out of everyone. It would me. We can hope against hope that they've finally noticed what it has done to other teams and they wise up. We'll see. I'm betting no one breaks it this year, though.

Hopefully the owners will see the big picture and realize that risking the stability and credibility of the league by cheating will only hurt their own long term futures.

If they play for the love of the game, there wouldn't be so much talk about going overseas. The only thing they can get there that they can't here is $$$$$... Ask Mark Smith. I love my job, I do it because I like it, but if my boss came to me and asked me to take a pay cut and I could go to another company and make more money, I'd be cleaning out my desk. The love for the game only goes so far. These guys want to make what they think they are worth. This cap and the lack of teams in the league just decreased their value. I hope they see that before they decide to split for greener pastures.

Galbraith is gone. Signed in Idaho of the ECHL.

Since Puhalski is so popular with his players, let's see how many of last year's Komets follow him to Chicago? If memory serves, when he came here, it was one.

Getting Hansen as compensation for Puhalski is like having a $20 bill fall out of the National Serv-All guy's pocket after he makes his pickup at your house.