from Elliotte Friedman of CBC,

Much of the debate centred on Devellano calling the players "cattle," although he also referred to himself as livestock. But the real money quote came seconds earlier to Island Sports News reporter Scott Harrigan.

Here is the exchange:

SH: "What's with all the money flying around before the lockout, when all the fans see is huge contracts to, for example, Sutter, Weber, Myers, Lucic? Let's take for example the offer sheet Philly proposed to Weber in the face of Nashville owner. What message are they trying to send?"

JD: "Listen Scott, there is a hard cap in place, as we all know. You can't go over that. Period. If [Shea] Weber gets this much, then another player gets less. Now does that mean it's right for another team to do that? My answer is this: They [Philadelphia Flyers] operated within the CBA [collective bargaining agreement] and it's totally legit to do. Having said that, I will tell you there is an unwritten rule that you don't do that. But they did and, just like everything else in life, some people are great to deal with, some aren't. If you are asking me if it's right, I would say there is, again, an unwritten rule ... we all know it in the NHL. But not everyone follows it."

I almost fell of the couch reading that paragraph and can only imagine the reactions of Bettman, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly, NHL Players' Association executive director Donald Fehr and their legal posses.

I'm not a lawyer (thank goodness). But the consequences of that quote are potentially enormous.

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