11/05/24
November 01, 2004
Hirsch unhappy: because Martin Gerber (former water fowl, now a 'Cane) took his spot on the Langnau Tigers of the Swiss A League. "....every time an NHL player signs in Europe, another life is affected. One of these lives affected is my own," he continued. "I came to Europe two years ago to get away from the NHL. Once again, though, the NHL has me in its grasp. It's like a chokehold I can't get out of....." Hirsch will be performing on a milk crate in front of Port Authority if his benching continues past January.
I think the guy makes a fair point. He left the NHL deliberately, and now is benched because some big shot has come over and stolen his job for who knows how long. Surely signing for another league would be in violation of any contracts the NHL players have? Regardless, I can feel for the guy. I mean really, think about the same thing happening with NFL Europe. I think a QB would entitled to be pissed off if Brett Favre appeared out of nowhere and took his starting position.
posted by Drood at 12:52 PM on November 01, 2004
He wouldn't be entitled to be pissed off if Favre left the NFL permanently, in the same fashion Hirsch did. However, this is just idle screwing around for a lot of these guys. Here's a link to a discussion of this same topic on a gameworn jersey board I frequent.
posted by wfrazerjr at 01:14 PM on November 01, 2004
garfield, that comment made me laugh. Thanks. By the way, you do not want to piss off those guys in front of Port Authority. It's best to not even look at them.
posted by 86 at 01:24 PM on November 01, 2004
Isn't it ironic that he (Hirsch) left the NHL and took the spot of a swiss player 2 years ago?
posted by dfleming at 03:08 PM on November 01, 2004
Spot on, dfleming. It's like a black fly in your chardonnay. Or something. Bummer for Hirsch, but I hardly think he can blame Gerber for what's going on with the NHL right now.
posted by Samsonov14 at 03:36 PM on November 01, 2004
a word on the internets i found suggests that only four foreign players can dress per team, per game. so they have a built-in allowance for foreign players. so hirsch getting bumped by gerber is a foreigner getting bumped by a foreigner. which might make hirsch rightfully unamused given that he went overseas to commit to a career with a team and intentionally claim one of their foreign spots. so if they have a 4 foreigner cap (and presumably - is it safe to presume this? - teams carry 4 foreigners) then was hirsch really taking the spot of a swiss player? in a specialized position like goaltender, maybe.... but...
posted by gspm at 04:57 PM on November 01, 2004
ok, from a message board on one of the internets: "in the highest League (NLA) 4 foreign players are allowed but one of them has to be from europe".
posted by gspm at 04:59 PM on November 01, 2004
Martin Gerber isn't really a "big-shot", and he's Swiss, so he's not taking up one of the foreign player spots. If someone better than you comes along, you lose your job. That's sport. Get used to it.
posted by Steve-o at 03:02 AM on November 02, 2004
If someone better than you comes along, you lose your job. That's sport. Get used to it. That is not even close to being the issue here. The point isn't what nationality they are or how good they are. None of that matters in this situation and none of that is what Hrsch was complaining about. These guys are, in the same breath, "fighting for players rights" while screwing over fellow players in another league. These NHL players have already had a hand in screwing over the 90% of their own who make less than league average salary, not to mention the thousands of people who's livliehood depnds on NHL games. Now they just jet over to Europe, take some poor stiffs spot and call it OK. They also have no regard for what this does to their own Union's position. What message does it send when they will go play in Europe for 100's of thousands of dollars but $1M plus is not enough here. Even better will be when they get hurt, voiding their NHL contracts altogether, and have nothing. Maybe they can join the Aaron Boone Hockey League then. The fans over there should boo the shit out of these NHL'ers nonstop for entire games, calling for the return of the original player.
posted by pivo at 12:09 PM on November 02, 2004
These NHL players have already had a hand in screwing over the 90% of their own who make less than league average salary Hunh? Hirsch came to Europe to take a Swiss player's job. Now someone takes his and it's a tragedy. Whether or not this is good for the NHLPA's bargaining position is an interesting question. I think it strenghtens it. The players don't sit at home missing the game and they make a little money. European fans are happy to see the world's best, many of them their countrymen taking the oppurtunity to play at home.
posted by Steve-o at 12:49 PM on November 02, 2004
Hirsch came to Europe with the intent of playing in Europe, not to kill time until he could go back to the NHL. I have no problem with that and it is a very different situation.
posted by pivo at 01:50 PM on November 02, 2004
Hirsch came to play for money. Period. Just like every professional athlete. And complaining about losing your roster spot to a better player is begging for ridicule. ...and to further highlight the depressing state of the NHL, or lack thereof, Theo Fleury discusses his drug diet :"It was all of them, it was every single one of them that you could put your finger on."
posted by garfield at 05:07 PM on November 02, 2004
scott gomez is playing for $500 a week in alaska. last week he said on michael kay's radio show that he wasn't going to play if he was going to put another guy out of a job. but the team had a veteren roster spot open so he signed.
posted by goddam at 06:45 PM on November 02, 2004
This is the part I find some kind of wonderful -- these NHLers who are stealing jobs and cutting their union's throat by playing for a mere fraction of their normal salaries could find themselves replaced by guys like Corey Hirsch next season. As a fan of the lower levels of hockey, where it's not all clutching and grabbing and bitching, I say dissolve the NHL and start over, boys.
posted by wfrazerjr at 08:25 PM on November 02, 2004
I'm think "the lack of compassion and understanding" of what Hirsch is doing to the paranoid sidewalk preachers of the Big Apple "is extremely unnerving."