"He's very clever. He's not putting as much of himself at risk. This guy gets other people to leverage their money. From a business perspective, you should respect the guy. But it leaves a bad taste in your mouth when things go bad."
"After getting financial experts to review it, I told him, 'Roger, you're going to lose $20 million a year the rest of your life.' I told him he had to get out of it, and persuade his good friend Mario Lemieux into buying it. And that's what happened. At the time, I can tell you only four teams in the league made money. Then there was another group that broke even. Then there was another group, sizable, that was completely under water. It was a bad investment, and the prospect of dying a long death. In the end, Roger got out of Dodge, and got out with the least amount of pain."
"Bob Goodenow will kill me but if we're going to be realistic about things probably 75 per cent of the league is overpaid. But we're not paying ourselves. There are people giving it to us and no one is putting a gun to their heads. Something has to be done if we're going to fix this. I don't think there can be a stoppage. I don't think the game can afford it, especially in Canada where it's vital we at least have this many teams up here."
"I can't wait to find out if some of these guys can operate in a system where you can't just go out and spend what you want to spend. I can't wait for that day when it comes down to who can do their job."
"That was economic suicide, and the stupidest thing I've ever seen. They're spending $80 million, and we're a better team than they are. I think we're in a position long term where this team has an opportunity to dominate long term. If (fans) are waiting for us to spend $80 million they should move to New York and buy season tickets for the Rangers. They have a lot of overpaid, egotistical athletes and don't make the playoffs. Two things make me happy: the Kings winning and the Rangers losing."
"I don't want to talk about today's market anymore because nobody can make sense of what the market is. It's all over the map. There's a bunch of lunatics out there throwing money away. I'm sick and tired of it. It's lunacy. Punch me in the head and tell me I'm stupid, but that's the way I feel. There's no sense to it anymore."
"There will never be a salary cap. I've told the players to be prepared for a long lockout by the owners. It may last a year, it may last two or three years, but we will never accept a salary cap. This isn't the NFL. I'm confident the players are prepared for whatever happens."
"We have to get families back in the game, get back where Saturday night, everything stops. A case of beer comes out and a bottle of rye and anyone who comes to the house, they better want to watch hockey."
More 2003 Hockey Quotes:
Ducks Soar, Cujo Sits
Kariya vs. Chelios, Snow vs. Roenick
