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The LA Kings, NHL, and Selective Enforcement


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The NHLPA has grieved the Kings terminating Richards' contract. Good. I don't see why they wouldn't win. I believe the CBA addresses how players with drug problems are to be dealt with. And, since I don't believe he's even been convicted of a drug offense AND they haven't terminated the contracts of players who have been convicted of crimes, including violent crimes, they have no leg to stand on. Put on your adult skates and own your mistake, LA!

EDIT: TSN story link for anyone who wants it: http://www.tsn.ca/nhlpa-grieves-richards-termination-1.343552

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I think the wildcard here is that there could have potentially been some closed door meetings and conditions put on him earlier in the season that isn't know to the public.

Ie. The Kings and NHL could have been discussing a drug problem with him earlier in the season and having it monitored by team doctors ect. and we wouldn't know about it at all then. If he was breaking some conditions they imposed then they could be trying to terminate based on that rather than the arrest.

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I think the wildcard here is that there could have potentially been some closed door meetings and conditions put on him earlier in the season that isn't know to the public.

Ie. The Kings and NHL could have been discussing a drug problem with him earlier in the season and having it monitored by team doctors ect. and we wouldn't know about it at all then. If he was breaking some conditions they imposed then they could be trying to terminate based on that rather than the arrest.

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I might be a minority opinion here?

But I cant understand, for example, why say Toronto could not terminate a $50 million dollar contract. If a player showed up as fat as a pig?

Drugs or obsessive drinking? Whole new level of reasonable expectation IMO.

Bringing the team into disrepute??

Teams hand out guaranteed contracts without enough clauses guaranteeing fair expectations of players.

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I might be a minority opinion here?

But I cant understand, for example, why say Toronto could not terminate a $50 million dollar contract. If a player showed up as fat as a pig?

Drugs or obsessive drinking? Whole new level of reasonable expectation IMO.

Bringing the team into disrepute??

Teams hand out guaranteed contracts without enough clauses guaranteeing fair expectations of players.

They took the proactive position and traded him to Pittsburgh...

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^I'm no Kessel fan but 'fat as a pig' is a bit of an exaggeration.

Also it's never really been clear how much his cancer treatment affected his body shape/weight.

I was joking anyway. The guy still produces at a pretty decent rate considering his fitness level...

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yeah that was more directed at C'Surfer, I was just lazy and pointed up over quoting

all of this just makes the point though, it's a huge can of worms opened when teams are given the option of terminating contracts for _____ reason

I agree. As far as I'm concerned, the Kings were dumb enough to sign him to that deal and they should be stuck with the Cap hit.

The NHL seems more than content to stick us with some of Lou's Cap, long after he's been traded, just because they're pissed off that we used a loophole that was legal at the time.

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Disparate treatment is one argument that could be made, from a contractual point of view. While the CBA is the guiding document, the problem is that SPCs are individual contracts between the team and player, and thus clauses in the SPC may be very specific.

That being said, the US labor laws treat suspected drug use as a means for legal termination, even with a labor contract in place. It goes further: Employees with contracts can be fired for suspected illegal drug use. However, if he had come to the team beforehand and disclosed that he has a drug problem and wanted treatment, they would not be able terminate because it would fall under protections of the Americans with Disability Act. That is not what happened in this case.

The alleged facts indicate that he was detained for bringing an illegal prescription into Canada. That is enough legal grounds for his employer to invoke their rights to terminate a contract. They did. Under the US labor laws, he does not have to be charged for that to happen.

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Dean and his crew are smart. A good GM always does whats best for the franchise within the rules. Seems the termination might be within the rules. In the end It's not a popularity contest.

Gillis did that and a number of people are slagging him for it now. I could understand if the NHL had decided not to approve those types of contracts and Gillis went back to the drawing board to put a different deal in place, but looking at him negatively because the NHL retroactively punished teams?

Here's a question, would the NHL have approved the Luongo deal in it's investigation if Detroit and Chicago hadn't already signed similar contracts beforehand (and if Chicago hadn't won a cup with Hossa on the roster under one of those contracts)?

I'm of the opinion that the NHL is both in the drivers seat on what to do in one-off or new situations, and also at fault when things like this blow up in their faces. All they need to do is make a proper and reasonable ruling (which they have the power to do in the CBA) on situations not covered adequately in the current language and then stick with it. Instead they find reasons for what seem to be their favourite teams to get past the cap in different ways that really aren't logically applied and further the perception of corruption.

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