Those Who Get Paid, and Those Who Must Wait...

In today's sporting world, money is everything. Players, and owners for that matter, cash in on millions yearly, but there are those who must put forth the extra effort to make it where some athletes automatically fall when it comes to the pay scale.

The NHL's CBA isn't perfect, but works well when it comes to paying out young players. The NBA also does the same, yet salaries for veterans are so high it's absurd, so I won't use them as an example. The NHL's entry level cap for rookies for their first three years in the league is slightly under 1 million, and after that, they may earn no more than 20% of their teams total salary. This has worked well for the NHL, and I always wonder when the NFL will implement this.

Players like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin had to sit and wait for their shot at a high contract. Crosby has his, and although Malkin signed a long term deal at 8.7 per year, he still is at the entry level salary until next year. Just think, the current NHL scoring leader and runner up to the MVP voting last year isn't even making 1 million a year in base salary.

Then you have your players that wait years for their shot at a big payday. Some NHL'ers spend almost their whole career in the ECHL and AHL and other minor league systems just for a few seasons, or games, in the big show. Remember the names who came to the Penguins organization in the Jaromir Jagr, Alexi Kovalev, and Martin Straka trades? If you do, then you truly are a fan of minor league hockey. Kris Beech is probably the success story of any of these players, and his stat sheet doesn't look prolific to me. But through the tragedies and triumph's of those who fight in the mud that is developmental hockey, some of my favorite players come to mind.

My personal favorite is Dany Sabourin. Currently starting for the injured Marc-Andre Fluery, Saborin started from the bottom, and he is almost, almost at the top. I personally had the chance to watch him in his first start in professional hockey with the Johnstown Chiefs in 2000. Sabourin played parts of two seasons with the club, moving back and forth with the Saint Johns Flames and having a brief stint with Calgary due to injuries at the position. Below is a link to his career thus far, and the bumpy road that led him to where he is today.

Dany Sabourin Career Stats

Is he a permanent NHL goaltender? I would say yes. Is he a starting or backup caliber goaltender? In knowing that he currently leads the league in GAA and is right up there in Save %, I would say a resounding yes. Will he get that shot one day? Not in Pittsburgh, but he definity deserves a starting role somewhere in this league. And good for him. Sabourin has been perfecting his position for quite some time now, unfortunately not blessed with an above and beyond world class talent from the day of his birth. He has paid his due, started from the bottom-up, and may one day rise to the very top, where his $525,000 2008-09 salary figure will look like nickels and dimes.

Maxime Talbot spent 122 games over parts of 3 seasons with the AHL Baby Pens before sticking with the club. Tyler Kennedy spend a year and a half in the AHL before his rise. And ex-Pen Colby Armstrong spent his first 3 and a half seasons in the AHL. All three of these are exciting, hard-nosed, grind-it-out players that are not only fan favorites, but are under-represented as players. These types of players are game changers - they may not score goals, but they can change the tide and swing momentum into their teams' favor. Is Coach Therrien a genius for sending Talbot as the sixth man when he ended up tying the game in the dying moments of game 5 of the finals last year, or it just something Talbot brings to the table each and every game. Ever watch Kennedy during a game? If everyone on his team put as much energy and effort into each shift as he does, would they ever lose? Too all of you bandwagon fans - instead of focusing on Malkin and Crosby during a game, switch your attention to these two players. Although they may not put up the points every game, their effort is unmatched compared to anyone else on the team.

And that's the sad part about sports. In most cases, it's all about point production. That's what gets you the money, the endorsements, the publicity, and the fame. The combined salaries of Armstrong, Talbot, Kennedy, and Saborin - $2,975,000, or about 33% of what Crosby makes. Will the role player ever get the respect he deserves?