You don't have to like Gary Bettman.
But you have to admit, the guy wins a lot more battles than he loses.
He won another one today, when an arbitrator upheld the NHL's annulment of Ilya Kovalchuk's contract with the Devils.
It didn't look like Bettman and the league had much of a case.
As noted in previous posts, the league had already allowed similar mammoth deals signed by other stars, deals designed to exploit a loophole in the salary cap.
That loophole hasn't closed. But we now have a better idea of how big it is.
In the meantime, Gary Bettman scores another TKO and Ilya Kovalchuk is back on the job market.
Postscript: From reading the arbitrator's decision, James Mirtle at GlobeSports.com notes that several other long-term contracts are under investigation, including those signed by Chris Pronger, Marian Hossa, Roberto Luongo, and Marc Savard.
Postscript: As uploaded by Offside: A Sports Law Blog, here's the complete, 20-page text of the arbitrator's decision (thanks to Puck Daddy for the link), plus a plain-English legal analysis of the ruling.
(Photo: Elsa/Getty Images)
Comments
What may be even more significant is that the league is now looking back at earlier contracts they considered questionable but never challenged (including Marian Hossa’s contract whose terms he already played under last season)