NHL talking about replacement players

DALLAS – Fort Worth Brahmas coach Al Sims said the CHL could provide a host of great replacement players if the NHL decides to go down that path.

Stars goalie Marty Turco said a union-less future awaits any player who chooses to cross whatever hypothetical picket line might stand next fall.

And so the pros and cons of replacement players began a day after the league announced its plans to start the 2005-06 season with players in one form or the other. Although commissioner Gary Bettman said he didn’t want to talk about the possibility of replacement players because “it would be seriously misconstrued and be potentially inflammatory,” he also added, “we plan to open rinks, hopefully with our players.”

NHL Players’ Association executive director Bob Goodenow, meanwhile, told TSN in Canada, that replacement players “would be a major mistake on their part, a disgrace to the game.”

And yet, they are an option. NHL lawyers have studied the legal ramifications of “impasse” and “implementation,” and a key part of that legal plan is to have replacement players who would start in October with the hope of driving NHL players back to work. So these questions have to be asked: Who would serve in that role?

How would the players deal with it?

Whereas American Hockey League players would be perfect, they probably wouldn’t want to risk losing their high-paying jobs. They also wouldn’t want to risk the potential backlash of union players who would probably be seeking revenge once they started playing again.

So that means the NHL would probably be scouting the Central Hockey League, the East Coast Hockey League and the United Hockey League. Sims said the CHL is fertile ground.

“I think guys at this level would jump at the opportunity,” Sims said. “I know if I was playing in the CHL and the NHL asked me to come to their camp, I’d be thrilled and jumping all over it. It might be the only opportunity I would get to show the NHL what I could do.”

The union won’t take kindly to those who do play. Turco said the NHLPA would take a page from baseball and rescind union membership. There are 14 major league players who were replacement players in 1995 and are still not allowed to join the union.

“I don’t want to begrudge anybody anything, so if a player wants to play, he should be entitled to that,” Turco said. “But if he does, there is a price. If you turn your back on the union, you should not be allowed in, period.”