Oilers v. Devils - 1 Chronicles 21:1-14

It was in 2003 that Lou rose up against the Oilers and incited Lowe to trade him his draft pick. So Lowe said to Prendergast the leader of his scouts, "Go and tell the scouts that I've traded picks with Lou and get them to tell me who we should pick now that we have two draft picks instead of one." But Prendergast replied, "Are you sure you wouldn't rather keep the one higher pick? Why are you doing this? If it doesn't work out you will cast blame on us as well as yourself."

Lou Lamoriello Saves the Oilers?

So apparently Lou Lamoriello may have just helped the Oilers find a loop-hole in case Nikolai Khabibulin is more Maginot Line (origin: Quain and Benjamin Massey) than Bulin Wall in two or three years time. The contract of Brendan Shanahan has now been terminated. When asked for his opinion, this is what old Lou had to say:

"It's within the rules. That's all I'll say."

Transparent as usual! I'm going to guess that Shanahan's 1 million dollar salary is not going to count against the cap although the article does not explicitly state this. So what does it mean to terminate a player? Here are the relevant sections of the CBA:

Article 13.21a: "When a Club desires to terminate a Player's SPC for any reason, such action may not be taken until Unconditional Waivers have been requested and cleared in conformity with this Article."

Article 1 - Definitions: "'Unconditional Waivers' means the process by which the rights to a Player are offered to all other Clubs, without a right of recall at a Waiver price of onehundred and twenty-five dollars ($125) prior to a Club exercising its right to terminate a Player's SPC pursuant to Article 13 of this Agreement and Paragraph 13(a) of the SPC."

Now, normally the CBA talks about a player being terminated and bought out but this isn't the case here. Right now capgeek.com is listing Shanahan as a non-roster player and not as a player who was bought out which means his salary does not count against the cap. It's as though he were on long-term injured reserve. This is what the CBA has to say about non-roster players:

Article 16.12: "Upon approval of the Commissioner, a Player who is unavailable to play due to reasons other than injury, illness or disability (e.g., birth of a child, attending a funeral) will be designated a Non-Roster Player, and during such period of his designation as such he will not count against the Club's Active Roster limit and his Club may replace such Player, provided, however, that the Non-Roster Player's Player Salary and Bonuses and his replacement's Player Salary and Bonuses are each included in calculating a Club's Actual Club Salary and Averaged Club Salary, and the Players' Share, for purposes of Article 50"

So why on earth would Shanahan be considered a non-roster player? I have no idea. My guess is that he was terminated under section 14 of Exhibit 1 and that this somehow qualifies him as non-roster. I'll quote that section of the CBA here:

"The Club may also terminate this SPC upon written notice to the Player (but only after obtaining Waivers from all other Clubs) if the Player shall at anytime:
(a) fail, refuse, or neglect to obey the Club's rules governing training and conduct of Players, if such failure, refusal or neglect should constitute a material breach of this SPC.
(b) fail, refuse or neglect to render his services hereunder or in any other manner materially breach this SPC.
In the event of termination under subsection (a) or (b) the Player shall only be entitled to compensation due to him to the earlier of the date such notice is delivered to him or the date of the mailing of such notice to his address as set out below his signature hereto."

I'm not sure if this is the real reason or not but I do think it is going to be very necessary for teams like the Oilers who have significant money tied into players who are over 35 to find out. How has Lamoriello made this deal?

Oilers v. Devils - Mark 3:20-30

One time Horcoff entered a house, and the crowds began to gather again. Soon he and the Mandelbaums couldn’t even find time to eat they were training so hard. When his family heard what was happening, they tried to take him away: “He’s out of his mind,” they said.

Now the Teachers of the Trap who had arrived from New Jersey said, “He’s possessed by Lamoreillo, the prince of demons. That’s where he gets the power to train like a demon. You must make him stop this training!"

Horcoff called them over and responded with an illustration. “Why would the prince of demons help the kingdom of Oil?” he asked. “A kingdom divided by civil war will collapse. Similarly, a family splintered by feuding will fall apart. And if Evil Lou is divided and helps his enemies, how can he stand? He would never survive! Let me illustrate this further. Who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man like Evil Lou and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger - someone who trains on an exercise bike in a sauna - could tie him up and then plunder his house.

“I tell you the truth, all sin and blasphemy can be forgiven even sending Alex Mogilny to Sheol in order to circumvent the Cap. But anyone who blasphemes the Holy Mandelbaum Training Program will never be forgiven. This is a sin with eternal consequences.” He said this to the Teachers of the Trap because they were lying about him saying, “He’s possessed by Lamoreillo” so that his family would take him away and the kingdom of Oil would be held back.