Big Bucks In Sports

SALARY CAP JUGGLING
G.M. Brian Burke traded center Andy McDonald to St. Louis for a prospect and a fading Doug Weight, a poor fit for the defending champs. Two quick exits followed: Anaheim from the '08 playoffs and Todd Bertuzzi (two years, $8 million), bought out after a season to save money.

CHEAP BEER, CHEAP SEATS!
At HSBC Arena in Buffalo, $5 will get you a 22ounce beer, best value in the league; the $32.56 average ticket price is soothing too—it's second cheapest to St. Louis's.

Efficient For Now

USING THE SI formula (page 40), Pittsburgh and Nashville came out on top and Philadelphia and Tampa Bay came out on the bottom. But the Stanley Cup finalist Penguins may not stay so efficient for long; the big-money parts of their stars' contracts kick in next season.

BARGAIN BASEMENT
34 WINS

The Blue Jackets' victory total was achieved with just a $36.26 million payroll. Efficient, yes, but they are still the only team never to have made the playoffs. Signing lumbering defenseman Mike Commodore (five years, $18.75 million) last week is no way to rebuild.

AVERAGE SALARY BY POSITION
The three highest-paid players in '07--08 (Daniel Brière, Scott Gomez, Thomas Vanek) were forwards, but, on average, goalies earned the most money ($1.92 million).

[The following descriptive text appears within a diagram. Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.]

$500,000 $1,000,000 $1,500,000 $2,000,000

GOALIE