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In a release, the organization said that Poraszka, who launched the site in May 2015, four months after the popular CapGeek.com shut down, was hired as a Hockey Operations Analyst.
This is the message visitors get when visiting General Fanager now:
General Fanager is shutting down.
It is with sadness that we close the doors to this incredibly fun passion project. We launched General Fanager in May of 2015. Along the way, we have come to serve and get to know an incredible base of users that we will greatly miss.
For anyone that ever helped with the site, from those that pitched in on busy days, to those that reported site errors, or helped track down details, or those that promoted our work, or just simply those that routinely typed generalfanager.com into their address bar: Thank you.
– Tom Poraszka Founder, General Fanager
The site also had a number of interactive tools that allowed fans to play with the salary cap situations of teams as well as one that allowed you to create your own expansion draft by protecting players and picking a roster for the soon-to-be 31st NHL team.
In its absence, don’t expect the NHL to get on board with their own salary website. Commissioner Gary Bettman has continually said that that won’t be happening any time soon.
Last year, Bettman’s*response to a query was, “I don’t think it’s a resource we need to provide because I’m not sure fans are as focused on what players make as they are about their performance on the ice.” During September’s World Cup of Hockey he said, via Post Media,*“There may be (avid fan interest),” he said. “But we don’t think that we (the league) should be the authoritative source on what our clubs are doing with their player contracts. That’s a club decision. There are obviously sites that speculate, but none of them have confirmed information. We think it’s fine the way it is.”
Now that Cap Geek and General Fanager are gone, we can collectively add Cap Friendly and NHL Numbers to our bookmarks, until, of course, the people running those sites get hired by NHL teams.
Here’s Poraszka on the*Marek vs. Wyshynski podcast in July:
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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy