If you spend any time nerding it up on the hockey message boards all day long looking for some juicy off season gossip then you will probably have came across this little catch.
It leaked on the Devils forum at first then spread across the interweb quicker than some chain mail that promises true love within six weeks if you forward it to more than ten people.
At first the rumors were tame - player signings, who would be playing in the league next year (same as last year), and what the future was for a team potentially playing out of Dundalk one day. Then came this bombshell:
"Neil Black has told the other clubs that he will break the cap regardless so he can give his punters a better class of hockey."
Now take a moment to digest this and if your not quite sure who this is we're talking about - it's the Nottingham Panthers. If you’re not quite sure about the irony in this then let me inform you that the Panthers are the first to cry foul upon every signing any other team makes.
"Wage cap, wage cap" can be heard echoing across the East Midlands throughout the off-season and only a few days ago a new British record was smashed when after just a matter of days into the new off-season. The Belfast Giants signed Colin Shields to - in what Nottingham terms must have been - a £500K per year contract. The Giants in that one signing flew across the leagues wage cap quicker than Rod Stevens will fly across the Odyssey ice next season.
So back to this quote from Mr. Black. Did he actually say this? Surely not? Well if he did then he has either (a) exposed the wage cap for exactly what it is - a waste of time, or (b) shown a complete disregard for the rules. Where will it end? Will the Giants and Steelers match his spending spree? Ladies and Gentlemen - Welcome to the British Super League part deux.
Still, it's neither 'a' nor 'b' that I give a toss about - It's the shear irony of it all.
~Raoul
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