NHL Fans: Would You Like to See Gary Bettman Fired?

If the answer is yes, then maybe you should be cheering him on to try and void the contracts of Hossa, Pronger, Savard and Loungo.

On Monday August 9th, the arbitrator ruled in favor of the NHL, and voided the Kovalchuk contract with the Devils. Apparently it went too far in exploiting a loophole in the CBA. (Multi-year deals with minimal salary at the end, designed to lower the cap hit.)

As part of the ruling, it was noted by the arbitrator that the NHL is also investigating other such contracts, specifically calling out Hossa (Blackhawks), Pronger (Flyers), Savard (Bruins) & Loungo (Canucks).

Will the NHL try to have these contracts, which were all approved and registered last summer, voided?

Well, probably not. Even if they try to take action, these contracts were all approved, and all have kicked in at this point. Hossa actually played last year under the now contested contract, and the other three signed extensions that kicked in July 1st 2010, even if they haven’t played any games under the new contract yet.

If the NHL rules those contracts illegal, that opens up a whole can of worms. If Hossa’s contract was illegal (remember, unlike the others, he actually played under that contract last season), does that mean the Hawks won the cup illegally? 

Technically, you forfeit any points earned in the regular season if you have an illegal contract, so does that mean the Hawks didn’t earn any points after Hossa came off LITR last season? 

So do we replay the Playoffs and redo the draft?

No, but the NHL could theoretically void the remaining years of those contracts, and also impose fines (monetary or forfeited draft picks) against those teams for circumventing the salary cap.

As a Canucks fan, I would hate to lose draft picks (I couldn’t care less about the owner’s money, as long as the fine doesn’t count against the cap) because a year later Bettman decided that Loungo’s extension was illegal.

But as a Hockey fan, I would love to see it happen.

Bettman would be angering four owners with this sort of retroactive action against contracts already approved and deemed legal.

Three of those owners (Boston, Philly & Chicago) are amongst the most influential owners on the Board of Governors.

Two of those owners (Boston & Philly) are also currently some of Bettman’s most loyal supporters.

Toss in the pissed off owners of the Canucks and Devils, and thats five owners who aren’t happy with Bettman.

Take into account the ongoing fiasco in Phoenix, the upcoming battle over a new CBA, the fact that Bettman “won” the lockout but left such a ludicrous loophole in the existing CBA, and all the other financial problems around the League... and maybe there is enough opposition in the Board of Governors that Bettman is finally fired.

Best case scenario: Bettman tries to impose penalties and void the remaining years of those contracts, but fails and is ousted as NHL Commissioner. And maybe we get some new blood in there as Commissioner rather than Daly.

Maybe I’m just being optimistic, but now that I’ve thought about the ramifications, I actually hope Bettman does try and take action against the Loungo, Hossa, Pronger and Savard contracts.

What do you think?