In
an emotional 26-post
rant on Twitter
Saturday night, written over some drinks in Grand Bend, Ont., NHL
tough guy Krys Barch highlighted the concerns of the blue-collar pro
in a simple way the league big-wigs, union kingpins or the stars
heading to Europe never could express. The New Jersey Devils forward
wrote in 140-character-or-less snippets on his Twitter account. The
32-year-old Barch signed a two-year, $1.5 million contract to play in
New Jersey after spending last season with the Florida Panthers. The
journeyman offered advice for a league determined to force hockey
into non-traditional markets. Barch bared his soul about his concerns
of the road that lies ahead. He has two sons and his wife is pregnant
with a third child. He described himself as an NHLer in a position no
different than a truck driver, farmer or line worker who has worked
for every second of his hockey service. Barch, a Hamilton native, has
12 goals and 31 points with 669 penalty minutes in his NHL career.
"I
wonder if the owners of Boston, New York, Washington, etc., etc.,
have endured any of the injuries that I or any other player in the
NHL have endured,"
"Still
they probably sit (there) smoking the same brand of cigar, sipping
the same cognac and going on vacation to one of five houses they
own...while we sit here knowing the want to take 20 % of our
paychecks. One half to 3/4 of my peers will have to work, for the
next 50 years of their lives.
"Congratulations
to the lucky select few that I have played with who have made
salaries that they can choose to do whatever they want when they are
done. But I have played (with most) who do not!"
"If
the NHL wants to (keep) teams in the South or struggling markets,
then the players, along with the financially well-to-do teams, need
to start working together,"
"Or
they need to start to move teams to the North where they will make
money.
"The
system allows the owners to continually take money from the players'
contract after contract where eventually over 40-some years, the
owners will have 80 % of the revenue."
"I
haven't been a 1st-round pick, bonus baby or a son of a Hall of
Famer,"
"I
have made it through sweating, bleeding, cut Achilles, broken hands,
concussions, broken orbital bones, 8 teeth knocked out, etc. I have a
shot and a beer. Not to deal with the days ahead but to ease the
nerves from what my body has endured the days before."
Barch
received some positive feedback from fellow players, including
Montreal Canadiens forward Brandon Prust, who tweeted simply, "Amen,
brother." Barch's agent, Scott Norton, told ESPN he spoke to
his client Saturday night and again Sunday morning and the player
stands by what he wrote.
"Krys
was saying 'This is what my heart says, I"m going to say it, I
think he was certainly emotional and speaking from the heart. As I
told him, I'm not sure that Twitter was the right forum for him. It
might have been better in a radio interview."
