Foreign players earn more in Finnish hockey league

Average player earns just under EUR 68,000

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Players in the Finnish National Ice Hockey League (SM-liiga) earn an average salary of just under EUR 68,000 this season.
      Last season’s average was EUR 56,000.
     
The figure appears in the Finnish Hockey Players Association’s annual player survey published on Monday.
      According to the study, foreign players earn clearly more than their Finnish colleagues. Their yearly average wage is just over EUR 123,000. A Finnish player pockets half of that, EUR 61,000 per season.
     
Prior to this season, the average salary has sneaked above the EUR 60,000 mark only once before, namely during the NHL shutout of 2004-2005.
      The player enquiry reveals that nearly one out of three foreign players (28 respondents in all) earn in excess of EUR 150,000 in a season.
      Only ten percent of the Finnish players announced that they would make over EUR 150,000 in the season 2006-2007.
      In the country’s second highest ice hockey league, Mestis, the player salaries are much more modest. The average annual salary for Mestis part-timers is in the region of EUR 6,000.
      The suggestion of a salary cap by Jukka-Pekka Vuorinen, who started as the Finnish National Ice Hockey League’s managing director at the beginning of the year, was completely slated by nearly all the players.
     
A salary cap to teams was opposed by 85 per cent of the players, whereas no fewer than 94 per cent of them objected to the idea of putting a cap to the earnings of an individual player.
     
There are also rumours that an illegal transfer compensation system is in operation within the league.
      A transfer compensation system should be annulled in the SM-liiga, yet the latest poll suggests this is not the case. Around 30 players reported that the transfer compensation system has brought additional complications to their contract signing.
      The Finnish Hockey Players Association’s chairman of the board, former hockey player Keijo Säilynoja reveals he has been contacted by several players regarding the matter.
      "But the players do not want to be named in fear of further complicating their contract negotiations", Säilynoja adds.


Links:
  Finnish National Hockey League

Helsingin Sanomat