Ilya Kovalchuk signs with the New Jersey Devils for 17 years, paying out a mere 6 million for the first 2 years (less than Mikko will be getting in another year). The next 5 years of Kovy's contract pays out 11.5 million (a shitload more than what the end of Mikko's extension contract). In years 8 - 11 Kovy's income drops by a couple of million consecutively until you get to the grand total of $102,000,000.00
After successfully locking the players out five years ago, NHL owners brokered a CBA which was supposed to keep the field even for both small market and large market teams. It's referred to as the salary cap. However, with all things lawyerly, there's a loophole for the owners. Kovy's contract is a perfect example, and not the only one by any means, of the cheat code that allows megalomaniac owners get out from under the cap restrictions. It's referred as Front Loading. You overpay the player in the beginning of the contract. Then you wind out the pay for a span of time that is so obviously a joke, only a child wouldn't be able to figure it out.
Russo calls out GM Lou Lamirellio as an architect for this loophole, but let's be honest here - GM's can't "spend" that kind of money without the owner's consent. After all, we're talking about someone's business, their livelihood, and there's no way you let your manager spend you out of business. And, there's always a possibility that a player with a gargantuan contract will play for the length of the contract. Cuz, you know - there's Chelios, Messier, Yzerman...and that's how the GM's/Owners look at these kind of contracts. It's an investment in the next Great One or Crosby. Okay - stop laughing now...seriously, stop...you'll have coffee or soda coming out of your nose if you don't stop chortling.
Odds are that Kovy's not going to play in the NHL, for the Devils, until he's 44 years old. There's a better chance he'll get injured or fall out of favor (ie: not scoring for crap) with the coach/gm/owner before the five year mark. No other team in the league will want to trade for him due to the ridiculous contract terms. Ilya will 'retire' from the NHL which lets the team off the hook for his salary. He will then move on to the KHL where he'll literally make an even more obscene amount of money. Vicious cycle, huh?
Fun Fact: Devil's ticket price for upper level (cheapest) seats = $30.00 for season ticket holders. I wonder what they'll be paying next season.
Movie Review
Despicable Me – 4 out of 5 stars
I know some of you adults don’t care for the animated movies but I freely admit to loving them, when they live up to my standards. That means it has to be “Pixar Good” in my book. The animation has got to knock my socks off and there has to be complete follow through on the storyline. Universal’s first 3D animation attempt was pretty good. There’s a roller coaster scene that REAALLLLY works in 3D and is not too shabby in regular old 2D either. The plot gets off track several times which irritated me but since I was laughing out loud at the one-liners I was in a forgiving mood. The Minions were a huge success with the young crowd, as expected. It’s the grown-up humor that I love about these movies. Oh sure, there are the obligatory fart jokes and groin injuries that send 9 year olds into gales of giggles. For me it’s the grown up references, which the kiddies never catch on to, that gets me snorting with laughter. In this movie you’ll pick up on: Lehman Brothers, Q from the Bond movies, Monty Python, Taxi Driver, Apollo 13, Star Wars, Disco and the use of Spanish without subtitles. I loved the Animaniacs cartoon series for the same ‘adult’ reason and never understood why it was aimed at kids. The soundtrack for the movie is great and I'm not usually a fan of Pharrell. By the way, I did laugh at the fart jokes.Inception - 5 out of 5 stars
Far and away my favorite movie of the year. In the words of Will Smith as Agent J in the movie Men In Black: "This definitley rates about a 9.0 on my Weird-Shit-O-Meter." I've seen it twice, not that that's out of the norm for me. You really should see this one twice to catch everything. The special effects are amazing and there were times during the first showing that I was so mesmerized by the graphics I missed one line of dialogue and I struggled to keep up. The concept is fairly new: being able to supplant an idea into someone's subconcious via their dreams. But where do the dreams end and reality begin? That's what will leave you thinking and talking about this movie long after you've left the theatre. I won't share my thoughts on this here since I'd be giving the movie away. Feel free to chat with me if you've seen the movie. I'd be very interested in hearing other people's take on it. Leonardo DeCaprio is phenominal in his role. The supporting cast, a combination of old friends and newcomers, really clicked with the exception of Ellen Page. I just don't think she can act all that well. It's too bad, considering she's got such a large role in this movie. She didn't make the movie suck, but she wasn't a standout, performance-wise, in my opinion. A little too dewy-eyed for the character she plays...just seems out of place somehow. Hans Zimmer is a musical genius and scores this movie perfectly. Here's how much of a freak I am for movie soundtracks - songs and orchestions from Pirates of the Caribbean, Sahara, Italian Job, Wall-E, Burn After Reading can all be found on my iPod. 
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