from Tony Gallagher of the Vancouver Province,

Once again the commissioner has his hand in their pockets, claiming poverty despite a massive growth in NHL revenues over the course of this past agreement. But this time the players have been a little more vocal.

For instance, Alex Ovechkin and Jonathan Toews have both sent shots across the bow of the commissioner, and you have to wonder whether the NHL isn’t going to the well of the players’ infinite forgiveness once too often.

The question is, are they ruining the goodwill the players have traditionally afforded NHL teams? Why, for instance, would they go through hoops for their owners’ charities and make public appearances for their teams when those very owners are trying to rewrite their contracts down? Why, when this is happening to them, would they do anything beyond the minimum? Have the owners gone goodwill killing?

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