August 27, 2010, Redskins-Jets game story for Scout.com

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Jets Drop Another 16-11 Story URL: http://nyj.scout.com/2/996464.html
Dennis Gorman GreenAndWhiteReport.com	Aug 27, 2010
Jets' fans must be at least a little bit worried about their team's performance following another lackluster performance by the offense and some bad errors by the defense. East Rutherford, NJ – Contradictory themes emanated from various corners of the Jets’ universe after Friday night’s dreadful 16-11 preseason loss to Washington. With the losing efforts, the Jets drop to 1-2 in preseason games. On one side, you had a coach and a wide receiver express concern about an offense that has displayed all the firepower of a water gun through three preseason games. On the other, a linebacker offered his best What-Us-Worry braggadocio? Yes, the preseason games hold all the relevance of a Depression-era dance marathon in the 21st Century. But there are reasons to be worried about a Jets offense that special teams coach Mike Westhoff called “an All-Star team” on a recent edition of Hard Knocks. The Jets have scored 36 points in the preseason and of the 36 points, the offense has scored 34. That breaks down to an average of 11.3 points per game. A closer examination shows that the Jets offense has only scored two touchdowns in the three pre-season games. With the real season starting in two weeks and a franchise that believes itself a Champion-in-waiting, there is not a whole lot of time to cure the offensive ills. Against a not-exactly high powered Redskins squad, the Jets offense only managed a 45-yard Nick Folk field goal and a 10-yard Mark Sanchez touchdown pass to Dustin Keller (Folk missed the extra point). The other two points were due to a Rex Grossman safety after he fumbled a shotgun snap on the Washington six-yard line in the second quarter. The Jets also committed four turnovers (three fumbles and had a pass picked off). The only aspect of the Jets’ offensive game to comport themselves with any sort of competence was the running game. The Jets pounded Washington for 161 yards on 32 rushes. By comparison, the passing game only totaled 149 yards. “There's no excuses now, this is the third pre-season game. We've had mini-camp, training camp and our time in L.A. with our quarterback and receivers there,” said wide receiver David Clowney “Now training camp and games. No excuses anymore. We had, what, four turnovers? Unacceptable in my book.” As ghastly as the offense was, the Jets defense looked to be in mid-season form even without holdout All-Pro corner Darrelle Revis. The NFL’s best defense in 2009 forced three fumbles (recovered one), sacked Grossman and John Beck twice, and only allowed three Graham Gano field goals (27 yards, 42 yards, 41 yards). Washington’s lone touchdown came with 2:13 left in the fourth quarter and the Jets starters on the sidelines. Third-string quarterback Richard Bartel connected with running back Larry Johnson on a 15-yard dump off-turned-touchdown. It would be very easy for an offense vs. defense rift to form. It has happened in the past, as the Jets’ fellow Meadowlands tenants, the Giants, made feuding units a cottage industry in the late 1990s. Yet it appears that the 2010 Jets are, at least after three preseason games, a tight-knit group. Reserve linebacker Lance Laury did his best to quell the idea of rival factions within the Jets locker room. “There is no real concern. Like Rex [Ryan] said, there are times the offense will carry the defense and the defense will carry the offense,” said Laury. “The important thing is that we just need to keep playing our hardest, that's all." The defense did suffer a blow. Outside linebacker Calvin Pace left the game with an undisclosed foot injury. Rex Ryan said that Pace, who had five tackles and a sack against the Redskins, is expected to “miss a few weeks.” The Jets last preseason game is this Thursday in Philadelphia. You can follow us on Twitter @DenisGorman Copyright © 2010 Scout.com and GreenAndWhiteReport.com http://nyj.scout.com/2/996464.html

Analysis of the voiding of Ilya Kovalchuk's contract for HockeyPrimetime.com

Questions abound after Kovalchuk's contract ruled invalid

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Written by Denis Gorman

Monday, August 09, 2010 20:30

It's official: 44 is not the new 34. Not in the NHL at least. The 17-year contract that would have kept Ilya Kovalchuk in a New Jersey Devils uniform until age 44 was ruled void by Arbitrator Richard Bloch on Monday. The precedent-setting decision not only makes Kovalchuk an unrestricted free agent again, but sets a precedent for future "retirement contracts" and creates a potential sticking point for negotiations when the current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires in 2012. “We want to thank Arbitrator Bloch for his prompt resolution of a complex issue,” NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said in a statement released on NHL.com. “His ruling is consistent with the League's view of the manner in which the Collective Bargaining Agreement should deal with contracts that circumvent the salary cap.” Unsurprisingly, the NHLPA did not accept Bloch’s ruling as welcome news. “The NHLPA is disappointed with the Arbitrator’s ruling to uphold the NHL’s rejection of the contract between the New Jersey Devils and Ilya Kovalchuk. The NHLPA is currently reviewing the decision and will have no further comment at this time.” Sportingnews.com obtained the text Bloch’s ruling and posted excerpts on its website: In this case, the record strongly supports the claim this contract is 'intended to, or has the effect' of defeating or circumventing the Salary Cap provisions of the CBA. The overall structure of this SPC reflects not so much the hope that Mr. Kovalchuk will be playing in those advanced years, but rather the expectation that he will not. This is a long contract –17 years – the longest in NHL history. That, in itself, poses no contractual problem, for the reasons discussed above. But Kovalchuk is 27 years old, and the agreement contemplates his playing until just short of his 44th birthday. That is not impossible, but it is, at the least, markedly rare. Currently, only one player in the League has played past 43 and, over the past 20 years only 6 of some 3400 players have played to 42. ... ... the System Arbitrator here concludes the SPC terms themselves demonstrate this agreement 'has the effect of defeating' the provisions of the CBA, with particular reference to the Team Payroll Range language. For these reasons, the finding is that the League has sustained its burden of demonstrating its actions in rejecting the agreement were in accordance with the bargained authority under Section 11.6(a)(i). Accordingly, the grievance protesting that action will be denied. Devils President and General Manager Lou Lamoriello responded to the belief that both the organization and Kovalchuk conspired to violate the spirit of the CBA structuring a long-term pact that he could not complete. It should be noted that Kovalchuk said he planned on playing the now-voided contract’s 17 years, while Lamoriello defended its legality. During a July press conference in Newark, Lamoriello pointed out that it was the first time the Devils had any opportunity to acquire one of the game's preeminent players at his position. “We have reviewed and respect Arbitrator Bloch’s ruling in the Kovalchuk matter. We also note and appreciate his finding that nothing in his opinion should be read as suggesting that either the club or Ilya Kovalchuk operated in bad faith or on the basis of any assumption other than the standard player contract was fully compliant with the CBA. That has been our consistent position throughout,” Lamoriello said. “While we do not currently have a contract with Ilya Kovalchuk, discussions have resumed and we are hopeful that a contract will be reached that meets with the principles in Arbitrator Bloch’s award and the NHL’s approval.” The Los Angeles Kings had also been in pursuit of Kovalchuk before he signed with the Devils. But chances of the Kings making another run at the left wing seem remote. An unnamed "member of team management" cited by LAKingsInsider.com asked, "are you kidding?" in response to whether Los Angeles would go after Kovalchuk again. PT.com examined the possibility of the NHL and NHL executives’ displeasure with the contract’s terms the day of Kovalchuk’s contract. Now that the grievance has been tossed out, it will be interesting to see how the NHLPA reacts when the CBA expires. The league has been publicly adamant in its lamentations of long-term, big-money contracts, such as those signed by Marian Hossa, Roberto Luongo, Chris Pronger and others. The league did not see fit to nullify any of those contracts, however. Kovalchuk's is the first contract to take a player as far as age 44. It is believed that the NHL will want to close the loophole permitting such contracts, as well as to forbid franchises from banishing underperforming players with expensive contracts to the minor leagues. It is hard to fathom that the NHLPA would not demand concessions from the NHL in turn. Follow us on Twitter @DenisGorman J.P. Hoornstra contributed to this report. http://www.hockeyprimetime.com/news/headlines/questions-abound-after-kovalchuks-contract-ruled-invalid

August 10, 2010, Ilya Kovalchuk voided contract story for Metro NYC Newspaper

US – Tuesday, August 24

Published 22:18, August the 10th, 2010

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Devils will have to try again

Arbitrator rules Kovy's deal violates CBA

PUBLISHED AUG 10, 2010

The Ilya Kovalchuk saga continues.

Arbitrator Richard Bloch ruled yesterday that the 17-year, $102 million contract Ilya Kovalchuk signed with the Devils violated the NHL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.

In a statement posted on NHL.com, NHL VP Bill Daly praised Bloch’s decision. “We want to thank Arbitrator Bloch for his prompt resolution of a complex issue. His ruling is consistent with the League's view of the manner in which the Collective Bargaining Agreement should deal with contracts that circumvent the salary cap,” said Daly.

The National Hockey League’s Players’ Association released a statement Monday night that expressed its frustration with Bloch’s verdict.

“The NHLPA is disappointed with the Arbitrator’s ruling to uphold the NHL’s rejection of the contract between the New Jersey Devils and Ilya Kovalchuk,” the statement read. “The NHLPA is currently reviewing the decision and will have no further comment at this time.”

The 27-year-old Kovalchuk is an unrestricted free agent once again. He and agent Jay Grossman can negotiate a new contract with the Devils. Other options include possibly signing the reported 15-year, $80 million offer he received from Los Angeles, or retest the marketplace. The Devils have $1.232 million while Los Angeles has $3.2 million in available cap room according to the website capgeek.com.

The league and NHLPA presented arguments to Bloch last week. The NHL argued that the Devils and Kovalchuk knew that he would not play the full 17 years of the contract while NHLPA’s stance was that similar contracts had been allowed in the past. Had the pact been accepted and Kovalchuk played out the 17 years, he would be 44 when it expired. Devils President and GM Lou Lamoriello attacked that belief in a statement.

“We have reviewed and respect Arbitrator Bloch’s ruling in the Kovalchuk matter. We also note and appreciate his finding that nothing in his opinion should be read as suggesting that either the club or Ilya Kovalchuk operated in bad faith or on the basis of any assumption other than the standard player contract was fully compliant with the CBA. That has been our consistent position throughout,” Lamoriello said.

“While we do not currently have a contract with Ilya Kovalchuk, discussions have resumed and we are hopeful that a contract will be reached that meets with the principles in Arbitrator Bloch’s award and the NHL’s approval.”

When the Devils announced the pact in mid-July, Lamoriello recognized that the contract could receive criticism from his peers but pointed out that the franchise has never had the opportunity to acquire a player of Kovalchuk’s caliber and that the organization followed the CBA to the letter-of-the-law.

“There is nothing that we have done wrong. This is within the rules. This is the CBA. There are precedents that have been sent,” Lamoriello told reporters. “Because it’s legal, this is something that ownership felt comfortable doing.”

Last week’s hearing could be the first salvo in a protracted battle between the NHL and the NHLPA when the CBA expires after the 2012 season. Both sides had worked in conjunction following the lockout but it is believed that the league is going to want the so-called retirement contract and the non-penalized dumping of onerous contracts to minor league affiliates loopholes closed. If that is the case, the NHLPA is going to demand concessions on other aspects of the CBA.

Denis Gorman

http://www.metro.us/us/article/2010/08/11/04/1818-82/index.xml