Temple Law students Max Rauchut (3L), Jake Rosenn (2L), and Mark Faverzani (1L) exceeded expectations this November when they made it to the final round of the inaugural Villanova Law Hockey Negotiation Competition. The trio lost to Pace University in the final negotiation, capping off an impressive performance considering it was a team of first timers assembled a few days before the tournament took place.
The first round featured Max and Mark up against the Pace team that they would go on to face again in the finals. The negotiation centered around an arena naming rights extension between Monumental Sports & Entertainment (“MSE”), the owners of the Washington Capitals sports complex, and Capital One, the arena’s current namesake. Max and Mark represented MSE. Both sides were interested extending their extremely synergistic partnership, so the negotiation came down to the specifics of the deal. Thankfully, the duo was able to come away with an extension that hit all of their pre-negotiation goals.
In the second round, Max and Jake negotiated a contract extension with the Florida Panthers for superstar goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. The Owls represented Bobrovsky and were able to leverage the team’s recent success, as well as Bobrovsky’s impressive individual performance, to get their client a favorable multi-year deal to spend the rest of his career in the Sunshine State. The one-two punch of Max firmly rejecting their opponent’s proposed contract structure similar to the aging back-up Jonathan Quick, and Jake introducing an offer Bobrovsky received from the Edmonton Oilers when the Panther’s representation suggested that they didn’t need Bobrovsky to three-peat, left the opponent with no choice but to accept their terms.
The third and final round of the first day involved negotiating an extension for the Sharks to remain in the city of San Jose long term instead of possibly relocating to Quebec City, Houston, or Atlanta. Max and Mark represented the city and were prepared with arguments questioning the prudence of moving to a new city and stressing the importance of remaining in San Jose as the Sharks reach their 30 year anniversary, given that they have just started to build a strong fanbase. Surprisingly, the teams reached a favorable agreement with almost half of the 50-minute negotiation block to spare.
Temple scored enough points on day one to advance to the semi-finals on the following day, in which Jake and Max engaged in a simulated draft-day trade negotiation between the Boston Bruins and New York Islanders. The Owls represented the Bruins, who held the 7th pick in the draft, which they intended to use to draft James Hagens. As Hagens had ties to both Boston and New York, the Islanders naturally tried to trade up for the phenom. Jake and Max were content to leave the negotiation without making a deal given how well they believed Hagens fits on the Bruins, which gave them all the leverage they needed. Their strategy then was to only make a deal if it blew them away, while ensuring they preserved a good relationship with the Islanders for future trades. The negotiation ended with an agreement that the Bruins would draft Hagens and the teams would revisit a trade when the Islanders were on the clock at picks 16 and 17, with the possibility of making a deal contingent on which players were available then. The judges were impressed with Temple’s arguments and awarded them a place in the final round.
The final round involved a jersey patch sponsorship for the Utah Mammoth. Max and Mark took this one on in a rematch against Pace University. They knew how important it was that they left the table with a deal, and likely would have if the negations had gone on another 30 seconds. Unfortunately, Temple was not able to come away with the title, but much like Rocky against Apollo, they were still able to go the distance. Also, much like the Italian Stallion, they will be back again next year to take on the champs in a rematch.
