Stanley Cup-winning grinders earn bigger paydays
WINDSOR, Ont. — It pays to fight in hockey and it especially pays to hoist the Stanley Cup if you’re a grinder.
In a study that seems more inspired by a Don Cherry rant than a master’s thesis, former Windsor Spitfire Derek Lanoue calculated the payoff for being an enforcer and, in a first, the payoff for winning the Stanley Cup other than fulfilling a boyhood dream.
Players who signed a contract in the year after winning the Stanley Cup got an average salary boost of 19 per cent, he found in a study that helped earn his master’s degree in economics at the University of Windsor recently.
It’s the third- or fourth-liners who have the most to gain, said the former right-winger who had that role with the 2010 Memorial Cupwinning Spitfires.
“Winning the Stanley Cup kind of separates yourself from the pack of the grunt players,” he said. “It doesn’t seem to do as much for the all-stars and guys that have already separated themselves.”
The prime example in his study of 217 players who signed contracts in 2013-15 was another former Windsor Spitfire: Bryan Bickell of the Chicago Blackhawks was earning an average of $541,667 a year before the team won the Stanley Cup in 2013. Afterward, his paycheque jumped to $4 million a year in a four-year deal. A player with similar stats but no championship received a $1-million contract.
The study looked at players who signed new contracts after the 2012-13 season and 2013-14 season. Although the sample was limited — seven players won the cup and renegotiated contracts — Lanoue feels the findings are intriguing.
They include:
■ Lose the Stanley Cup final and you’ll get about 2.5 per cent more. Win the cup and get 21.5 per cent.
■ Retired NHL players with a Stanley Cup ring played 60 per cent more games than those who were not on a winning team.
■ Those who fought about once every 12 games got paid 14 per cent more in new contracts.