Brooks: "Really Lowe"

In his Sunday column, New York Post hockey scribe/columnist Larry Brooks takes some shots at Oilers GM Kevin Lowe for his handling of the Vanek and Nylander situations last week.

Lowe had every reason to be upset once Nylander reneged on the deal he and his agent, Mike Gillis, had struck with the Oilers. No doubt Lowe was an injured party, though not nearly as injured as Nylander would have been had he followed through on the original deal once Mrs. 92 essentially informed her husband he would be making a choice between Edmonton and her and the kids.

But instead of taking it - everyone knew the story within 48 hours - Lowe not only took it public, but took it one step further by issuing a formal complaint to the NHL in which he is somehow seeking some redress. Just like that, Lowe went from injured party to irresponsible litigant.

If the collective bargaining agreement isn't clear enough on the definition of what constitutes an NHL contract - a standard SPC registered by the league - then the 1995 Mike Vernon arbitration case most surely is. That was the case in which goaltender Vernon filed a grievance against the Red Wings, charging that he, a) first reached a contract agreement with the team by fax that the organization declined to honor; then, b) accepted a second offer from the team only to have management pull it from the table before they promised to do so.

Arbitrator George Nicolau ruled on Sept. 5, 1995, that [a signed SPC] "is the touchstone of employment," and affirmed the meaning of the CBA in that regard.

Read the whole thing here.

Note: I'll be working the golf tournament again, so this will probably be my only entry today. Have a great Sunday.