The Toronto Star from Toronto, Ontario, Canada • 65

Tuesday December 14 2004 waymoresportscom TORONTO STAR Koskie swings into town E2 Making the final cut E3 Bethlehem Beckhams: estive fun or waxwork faux pas? E6 Sports SECTIONS Rl Kayaker Adam van Koeverden Wins Lou Marsh Award NHL Lockout HANS DERYKTORONTO STAR Winning gold and bronze in Athens earned Oakville kayaker Adam van Koeverden the nod as outstanding athlete of 2004 HE EBdr srbw" hbHh HHhKImHHeHH HHHl 'bBBHIH RKMH BBh HRHMHHOhWIRPMilHHKik BHH bbbhvbibhbIw'Jr RHHnHKipwBHMiHH rH iRMM MBBBgMMBMMnt BIBBRKIBRlteMllBIBr8' bmBM JB Si HHI9BbbHnbl rKEjK1! jL BEMMbk HiBlHHBKaUfl HBBHiHRHHBHHHHhML RirBBm Strokes of inspiration Kayaker derives biggest thrill from motivating kids Those are the things going to look back RANDY STARKMAN SPORTS REPORTER the most gratifying thing to happen to Oakville kayaker Ad am van Koeverden since win ning Olympic gold and bronze in Athens not talking about win ning the Lou Marsh Award yes terday as top athlete for 2004 though that was defi nitely a huge thrill It when he got to shake hands re cently with Prime Minister Paul Martin either Olympic mettle ADAM VAN KOEVERDEN What has really turned the 22 year crank is the effect been able to have on kids in cluding the boy who decided this past Halloween to buck the Spiderman trend and dress up as a new kind of superhero van Koeverden The 10 year old from Oakville A5Ay Oil if WiB 4Bo made a little kayak out of card board and painted it just like the one van Koeverden raced in Athens right down to the Ma ple Leaf in the same spot and wore his baseball cap backwards just like his idol The mom sent van Koeverden a picture thought that was so cool to BORN: Jan 29 1982 in Toronto HOME: Lives in Burlington but was raised in Oakville AMILY: Mother Beata Bokrossy father Joe van Koeverden younger brother Luke EDUCATION: Third year kinesiology student at McMaster University in Hamilton ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Olympic gold in 500 and bronze in 1000 in Athens Also finished first in 1000 second and third in 500 and fourth in 1000 in World Cup competitions this year been Canadian champion 27 times in various kayaking and canoeing events 1 have some kid from my own hometown think it was cool to dress up as said van Koe verden Van Koeverden was also feel ing pretty cool yesterday about the company he shared on the ballot for the Lou Marsh Award gymnast Kyle Shewfelt cy clist Lori Ann Muenzer and wheelchair racer Chantal Petit clerc all fellow gold medallists and pros Jason Bay Eric Gagne Martin St Louis and Steve Nash among others as well as the former winners he joined such as Terry ox Wayne Gretz ky and Mario Lemieux The prestigious award is pre sented annually by the Toronto Star and named after former Please see Marsh E10 This award a reality check Dave Perkins writes E10 After today real talks can get underway offer no surprise to union At least month before season cancelled VX Damien Cox irst the good news The pre liminaries are almost over After more than two years of tap dancing the real negotia tions are set to begin Sadly that stop us all having to ingest a little more meaningless high drama today when the NHL Players Associa tion stomps away from a meet ing with the league in all likeli hood claiming to be insulted and stunned by the lat est offer Of course they have been even mildly surprised They be surprised to re ceive an offer that will include that would restrict their collective eamingpower to less than 60 per cent of defined league revenues a slight im provement on the last league of fer or a proposal that would completely abolish the salary arbitration system They might be a wee bit sur prised by the twist the owners will put on last salary rollback proposal tendered by the union In a bid to appeal to the middle and lower class of the union in other words the vast majority the league will sug gest that the wealthiest players in the league share a dispropor tionately larger burden of any NHL wide pay cut The only way the players could have been truly shocked by what they will hear today however is if the league had accepted their headline grabbing rollback of fer which really was a 24 per cent attempt to bribe the own ers into letting the NHL finan cial system continue as it has been for the past decade Hey it was worth a try Like slipping the head waiter a fifty Montreal player rep Craig Riv et in fact said yesterday the players would have been to believe the owners would simply accept the union offer a rare snippet of independent re alism from a member of the rank and file In general ignore all the hyste ria and doomsday scenarios you may hear today The truth is that the entire process is in fact quite on schedule That mean there will be a deal But important to remember the last NHL lockout ended with a deal on Jan 12 1995 which then allowed for a 48 game season to be played our weeks before the final agreement talks were going no where with the owners insist ing on a luxury tax and the play ers vowing never to accept one That means probably a month or more left in the cur rent process before anything gets cancelled be clear The events of the past week have been many things and have generated many headlines but substantive col lective bargaining negotiations they have not been been more like a very very public ex change of position papers After today both sides will have officially established their respective positions on salary Please see Cox E4 Leafs and Lions Club pursue $10 million training facility E4 NHL Response ROM AN EIGHT PAGE MEMO SOURCE: TSNCA On the NHLPA proposed 24 per cent salary rollback the offer in this regard was significant in the same approximate range of magnitude that will be necessary we believe the rollback should be structured among the players in a more equitable manner than the current proposal On proposed changes to the entry level system the proposed changes to the Entry Level System are positive and in certain cases might lead to cost savings history has proven that because there is no absolute limit on the amount an Entry Level Player can earn in a given year the Entry Level Salary Cap can (and will) still easily be On proposed changes to the qualifying offer system We do not believe the proposed changes to the level of required Qualifying Offers are On proposed changes to salary arbitration We intend to reiterate our proposal to eliminate salary On the proposed luxury tax system that would start at 25 per cent on payrolls over $45 million with additional tax rates at thresholds of $50 million and $60 million actual proposal on Thursday demonstrated its continuing objective to avoid at all costs placing meaningful restraints on a ability to spend excessively on player salaries We remain firmly opposed to any new economic system that is premised on salary restraints encouraged by a luxury tax The economic problems are too significant and the future success of this sport too important to accept a system based on projections and TORONTO STAR.