Niedermayer fined...

[duballstar014]

Isnt it a little late to be levying this fine?

The National Hockey League has fined Anaheim Ducks defencemen Scott Niedermayer approximately $500,000 for missing training camp, according to a report in the New York Post.

The league has reportedly invoked an article in the CBA that states: \"For each day a Player does not report to Training Camp without his Club\'s permission, his pay will be reduced by 1/275th of his annual . . . salary . . . .\" Niedermayer will earn $6.75 million this season.

Niedermayer missed the training camp and the beginning of the season, while contemplating retirement. The 15-year veteran would eventually return to the Ducks on December 5th.

\"[Niedermayer] earned the right to take time in making a decision, one that was clearly difficult for him,\" Ducks GM Brian Burke said at the time.

The fine has been levied despite the objections of Burke, who, according to the report, is working behind the scenes to get the fine reversed.

The report states that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is concerned that this case will set a precedent for other players and allow teams to gain the benefit of cap space.

The case is expected to be resolved within the next two weeks.

[FlyersJoe]

Niedermayer and Selanne are setting a bad precedent. Fans don\'t want players taking 3 quarters of a season off, then suddenly decide to play. Add the fact, they can swoop right in on a prorated salary is like using a backdoor to the salary cap. There should be a cap penalty on these types of maneuvers.

[duballstar014]

I agree that Niedermayer should not have been able to do this. He was and still is under contract.

Selanne is another story because he didnt have a contract. He wasnt injured like Forsberg, but Forsberg basically did the same thing (signed a big prorated contract late in the year). Personally I dont think Selanne does this if Nieds makes up his mind earlier.

[goavsgo]

Forsberg was genuinely injured so he basically had to sign a pro-rated contract. Selanne and Nieds though set bad examples.

[repenttokyo]

bad examples for who exactly?

[emurdoch]

From TSN:


The NHL has not fined Scott Niedermayer $500,000 for missing training camp, as has been reported, but the Anaheim Ducks have.

Confused?

That\'s understandable.

As the New York Post reported on Sunday, Niedermayer has indeed been fined $500,000 because he missed training camp, but the fine was levied not by the NHL but the Ducks themselves. And according to the CBA, it is the Ducks who are mandated to fine Niedermayer for his decision to temporarily retire and miss training camp.

When a player misses training camp, according to the rules and regulations of the new CBA, the club has two choices:

One, they can say, no problem, take training camp off if you like, take as much time as you like to decide whether you want to play again and when you\'ve made up your mind, let us know and we\'ll welcome you back with open arms, although in the meantime your salary will count against the team\'s salary cap, even though it\'s not actually being paid to the player. (Most people would be under the impression that\'s what the Ducks did, but most people would be wrong. It may have seemed that way because GM Brian Burke was more than happy to await Niedermayer\'s decision and work to the player\'s timeline.)

Or two, they can say, you take as much time as you need, miss training camp if you like, but understand this: the CBA clearly spells out that if our hockey club is going to get salary cap relief in the amount of your salary and allow us to sign Mathieu Schneider to fill the void created by your soul-searching, we have to suspend you without pay and if we do that and you miss all of training camp, we have no choice but to fine you the $500,000.

[duballstar014]

This makes a lot more sense. Thank you for clearing this up emurdoch! I remember the Ducks suspending Niedermayer at the start of the season, and I think this is just.

There should be no fine for Selanne because Selanne was not under contract at the start of training camp.