"It will remain our dirty little secret": Allan Walsh belittles commish Gary Bettman for NHL's alleged treatment of CapFriendly website

By Arnab Mondal

Modified Jun 12, 2024 03:57 GMT

Allan Walsh, co-managing director of Octagon-Hockey and an NHL agent, belittled NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman following the Washington Capitals' purchase of CapFriendly. It's a popular website for tracking salary cap information and transactions. The acquisition, announced on Sunday, has caused a stir, especially with the site set to be publicly shut down by July 5.

Allan Walsh directed sharp criticism at Bettman in a tweet:

"No league consistently stands their fans up and kicks them in the balls like the NHL. If CapFriendly were for sale, the league should have bought it and incorporated it into the NHL. This ain’t rocket science (except for some people I guess)."

Allan Walsh continued to lampoon Bettman by imagining his potential comments:

"Gary: 'We need a Cap, we shut down the league for a whole season in 2004-05 to get a Cap, we shut it down again in 2012-13 to get a bigger % of the Cap. Just don’t write, read or talk about the Cap, and we’re all good! It will remain our dirty little secret.'"

The rationale behind the site's shutdown was explained by Hockey Insider Elliotte Friedman on the "32 Thoughts" podcast before Allan Walsh's take on it.

"The NHL frowns on the existence of sites like this one, even though they should be doing it themselves," Friedman said.

"They consider it proprietary information, so the Capitals couldn't keep it open if they wanted to ... the league would say you cannot be partner to this and have it be public, and also, you couldn't make any money from it on any ads. So once the Capitals purchased it, it was coming down."

As a result, some teams are scrambling to find new ways to keep track of league salary cap information, while others have already prepared alternatives. However, sites like PuckPedia and Sportrac are likely to become more prominent resources for this information.

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Examining the potential implications of the Capitals' ownership of CapFriendly amid Allan Walsh's criticism

The Washington Capitals' impending purchase of CapFriendly is set to change how teams manage their salary caps. Once the transaction is complete in July, the website will go dark and will no longer be accessible to the public. This strategic move can impact other teams that rely heavily on CapFriendly.

With free agency beginning on July 1, Elliotte Friedman reported that both the Capitals and CapFriendly intended for the site to remain publicly available through the 2024 NHL Draft and the start of free agency, with no comments from either party.

CapFrie͏ndly͏ e͏m͏erge͏d in͏ ͏2015 after ͏Ca͏pGee͏k had ͏closed͏ ͏following its ow͏ner’s͏ death. If the acquisition ͏is finalized͏, it will be a significant ͏m͏ove͏ for the Capitals͏, especially ͏as p͏l͏ayers l͏ike Nicklas Backst͏rom and T.J.͏ Oshie fa͏ce uncertaintie͏s.

While some fans might be upset, alternatives like PuckPedia are expected to gain more traffic. Additionally, Hockey Reference and Natural Stat Trick remain available, alongside the NHL's new puck and skate tracking technology through NHL Edge.

This acquisition could level the playing field and enhance what Capitals GM Brian MacLellan can achieve this offseason. Despite Allan Walsh's criticism, it's not the end of the world for fans seeking salary cap information.