Do not be an NHL fan if you don't like roller coasters, yo-yos, being manic depressive or just yanked around in general.  Talks are going well. Up!  Talks have halted again.  Down.   Progress and proposals.  Up!  Rejections and "still far apart."  Down.  

Better take your dramamine if you are going to follow this one any further.    Helps with the motion sickness AND the nausea that is certain to accompany this nonsense.

It seemed like things were going so well.  After a suggestion by Gary Bettman that players and owners meet directly without Bettman or Donald Fehr involved, progress was being made, finally, in coming to terms with a new collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and NHLPA.

The owners and players who met on Tuesday and Wednesday appeared to make positive progress.  Then the NHLPA put a new proposal on the table.  Cue the sound of screeching brakes and everything coming to a crashing halt.

It is amazing how fast it can go from "we're close" to "it looks like this is not going to be resolved in the immediate future."

The owners felt they got a "lukewarm" response from the players after offering to increase the "make-whole" payment to players by $100 million.   The NHL also wants a 10-year agreement, with a mutual option after eight years, and a five year cap on player contracts.

"Term limits on player contracts is the hill we will die on," said deputy NHL commissioner, Bill Daly. 

Daniel Winnik, who was signed by the Ducks as a free agent this past summer, was one of the players in on the second day of talks. 

"They asked us to address their three main issues," said Winnik, who has been part of the NHLPA's negotiating committee from the beginning. "And that's what we thought we were doing today. We didn't know (that) by us not completely agreeing to what they want ... that's it."

If you believe what Bettman and Daly are saying, then that's it.

Bettman told media that most elements of the owners' offer were now off the table.

The NHLPA had countered Thursday with an eight-year agreement and contracts to last no longer than eight years. But the NHL had wanted a deal struck Wednesday night.  Right now, it is the NHL way or the highway.

"It looks like this is not going to be resolved in the immediate future," Fehr said.

No kidding, Donald.  Tell us something we do not already know. 

Next up - more game cancellations and it will only be a matter of time before the whole season is put aside.  Daly, Bettman and the NHL are choosing to die on a hill without realizing what the actual body count or consequences are going to be.

In the NHL season that hasn't been, getting news that there might be a glimmer of hope in the lockout is a good thing.  Then again, hopes have been dashed before.

Mediators had been brought in.  They concluded it was an impossible task.  Perhaps not their words exactly, but when professional mediators cannot help two sides find a middle ground, it speaks volumes. 

So after that failed, there was a suggestion for the owners and players to meet face to face.  What a radical concept!

Yesterday the owners were represented by Ron Burkle (Pittsburgh Penguins), Mrak Chipman (Winnipeg Jets), Murray Edwards (Calgary Flames), Jeremy Jacobs (Boston Bruins), Larry Tanenbaum (Toronto Maple Leafs) and Jeff vINIK (Tampa Bay Lightning).

There was a long list of players that the owners met with.  In alphabetical order - Craig Adams, David Backes, Michael Cammalleri, Sidney Crosby, B.J. Crombeen, Mathieu Darche, Shane Doan, Ron Hainsey, Shawn Horcoff, Jamal Mayers, Manny Malhotra, Andy McDonald, Ryan Miller, George Parros, Brad Richards, Martin St. Louis, Jonathan Toews and Kevin Westgarth.

Both sides met for nearly 8 1/2 hours and according to many sources, Burkle was very helpful in bringing both sides closer together. 

"I think everybody wants to get a deal done, so I think that's encouraging," said NHL Deputy Commissioner, Bill Daly.  "We look forward to making more progress."

More progress comes on Wednesday before and after the Board of Governor's meeting.

Steve Fehr, attorney for the NHLPA, commented that Tuesday "may have been the best day we've had so far.  I don't want to paid too rosy of a picture, however.  A lot of work remains to be done."

That they are working on it is progress itself.  At this point, with games canceled through next week, any progress is a good sign.

Dear NHL fans, in order to give you less to be thankful for, Gary Bettman has axed more of your favorites.  Games are now cancelled through December 14 and the annual All Star Game that was to be held in Columbus was kiboshed as well.

It is getting a little tiresome at this point.

Bobby Ryan, who swore he was not going to take someone else's job overseas, realized the lockout was going to be a wee bit longer than he planned.  He's now heading to Sweden to play with Mora IK of the Allsvenskan league.

Teemu Selanne just might say screw it to hockey if the lockout continues. 

The Ottawa Sun is right. 

"Stop already.

Enough of all the bull.

This lockout is never going to end.

Can we not just jump to that conclusion and move on with life?

I mean, it would be fantastic to have the game back, of course, but it’s not going to happen, not anytime soon.

So just stop playing with our emotions Gary, Donald, Bill, Steve and every other guilty Tom, Dick and Harry.

Go away.

All us regular folk — us hundred-aires and thousand-aires — have now even grown tired of laughing at you.

Right now is about pleading with the current cast of clowns to move on and leave us alone.

Their greed, and the nerve they have to keep holding fans hostage as they fight with each other over the billions the fans give them ... it’s well beyond frustrating and sickening.

Come out Monday morning and do the right thing, Gary Bettman.

Cancel one more chunk of the season. A big one. The rest of the schedule.

Then go away."

http://www.ottawasun.com/2012/11/23/lockouts-not-ending-anytime-soon-so-send-in-replacement-players. You can read the rest of the article there. 

It would be lovely to have something new and different to report.  Until then, this lockout is lather, rinse, repeat.  Time to wash the NHL out of our hair....

 

It is the middle of November.  Thanksgiving is next week.  Stores have been looking at Christmas since about September. 

Hockey fans?  Nothing to look forward to.  Still.

All the November games were canceled.  The Winter Classic?  Canceled.  Further talks and negotiations between the NHL and the NHLPA?  Canceled. 

The only thing these guys seem capable of doing is saying "no."  They are getting really, really good at it.

The cancellation of the Winter Classic, which is far better than watching the Rose Parade on New Year's Day, prompted both sides to get talking again.  Things were going relatively well.  Talking was certainly a good start.  There were discussions about revenue sharing and the "make whole" provision of player contracts but when it comes to other player contractual items, like free agency, nothing has changed. 

The NHL and the NHLPA continue to shoot themselves in their feet.  And other body parts, as well.  Now both sides feel that they need to take a two week break from negotiations.   Really?  Nothing like a sense of non-urgency to get things done.

Apparently it does not matter that hockey fans are the ones getting royally screwed in this whole matter.  And the folks who work for the hockey arenas and organizations who are not getting paid. 

Pierre LeBrun of ESPN had a great article addressing the permanent damage that will be done from this lockout.  http://espn.go.com/blog/nhl/post/_/id/20265/the-damage-this-time-will-be-permanent.  Perhaps someone can forward this article to both Gary Bettman and Donald Fehr?  Or just plain put it on their desks and force them to read it. 

"Know this: It’s too late to declare anybody a winner no matter how this plays out. The buzzer has sounded. Both sides will be declared losers. The long-term damage incurred by this league and industry can’t be undone at this point. There are corporate partners who might never want to reinvest in a sport that doesn’t play every time a CBA is up. There are fans who promise that they were fooled once, but it won’t happen twice. And there are markets that won’t rebound easily, not for a while, even with a shortened season."

LeBrun is dead on, but do either the NHL or NHLPA care?

In the 2004-2005 season, everything wasn't canceled until February, so theoretically, there is still time to come up with something.  On the other hand, based on what has gone on so far, don't hold your breath.  Just wait for the inevitable "we had no choice but to cancel the season because (fill in your lame excuse here)."

Happy holidays to you, too, NHL.

This is starting to get old. 

NHL makes offer that the NHLPA is not supposed to refuse.  NHLPA refuses.  Counteroffers by NHLPA also refused.  No talking.  No negotiating.  Self-imposed deadline passes.  Cancel games.

Like the shampoo instructions, rinse and repeat.  Eventually all the games for the 2012-2013 season will be washed away clean.

The NHL had a deadline of October 24 for their most recent offer to the players.  In their minds, that was the drop dead date for an agreement to be in place that would ensure they could still finagle a full season.  After talks between both sides rapidly disintegrated and disappeared altogether, there was no surprise that the deadline came and went. 

So the NHL did what it had to do.  Cancel all the November games. 

"The NHL deeply regrets having to take this action," was the sentiment expressed by Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly.   "By presenting a proposal to the NHLPA that contemplated a fair division of revenues and was responsive to Player concerns regarding the value of their contracts, we had hoped to be able to forge a long-term Collective Bargaining Agreement that would have preserved an 82-game Regular Season for our fans. Unfortunately, that did not occur."

"We acknowledge and accept that there is joint responsibility in collective bargaining and, though we are profoundly disappointed that a new agreement has not been attained to this point, we remain committed to achieving an agreement that is fair for the Players and the Clubs -- one that will be good for the game and our fans."

Next up will be canceling the Winter Classic on January 1.  Sounds like a long way off, but major steps have to be taken and commitments made by the middle of November.  No agreement, no commitment.  No commitment, no game.

And if you think either side is close to coming to an agreement, you just have to look at NHLPA Executive Director, Donald Fehr's statement.

 

"The league officially informed us today that they have withdrawn their latest proposal and have cancelled another slate of regular season games. This is deeply disappointing for all hockey fans and everyone who makes their living from hockey, including the players. But it comes as no surprise.

Last week the owners gave us what amounts to a "take-it-or-leave-it" proposal. We responded with the framework for three proposals on the players' share, each of which moved significantly, towards their stated desire for a 50-50 split of HRR, with the only condition being that they honour contracts they have already signed. Honouring contracts signed between owners and players is a reasonable request. Unfortunately, after considering them for only 10 minutes they rejected all of our proposals.

Since then, we have repeatedly advised the owners that the players are prepared to sit down and negotiate on any day, with no pre-conditions. The owners refused. They apparently are only interested in meeting if we first agree to everything in their last offer, except for perhaps a few minor tweaks and discussion of their "make whole" provision.

The message from the owners seems to be: if you don't give us exactly what we want, there is no point in talking. They have shown they are very good at delivering deadlines and demands, but we need a willing partner to negotiate. We hope they return to the table in order to get the players back on the ice soon."

A few days ago, it was announced that the New York Islanders would be leaving Nassau Coliseum when their lease is up in 2015.  They will be moving to Brooklyn for the 2015-2016 season. 

Maybe by then both the NHL and the NHLPA will have their heads out of their nether regions and will actually have a CBA in place by then.  Until then, don't be shocked when there are more cancellations and further expressions of dismay by both stubborn sides in this battle. 

Well it looked promising. 

But almost as soon as they began again, CBA talks between the NHL and NHLPA ended just as abruptly.  

New talks, new offers, new disagreements, same old same old.

On Tuesday Gary Bettman announced its latest proposal to the NHLPA.  The proposal offered a 50/50 split of league revenues while honoring existing contracts.  Free agency would be moved to age 28 or eight years of service from age 27 or seven years of service.  Player contracts would be a maximum of five years.  The new CBA would be good for six years with an option for a seventh year. 

The hook was that it would have to be agreed upon within ten days so that a week-long training camp could begin on October 26 and a full season could be played beginning November 2.  The original schedule would kick in on November 2 and lost games to be made up in April. 

One has to wonder, does that mean the Los Angeles Kings would have to wait until April to raise their Stanley Cup banner, or would they just rejigger their plans?  At this point, they can wait until next October, which seems far more likely.

“We believe that this was a fair offer for a long-term deal,” said Bettman.

Certainly it was a new starting point for discussion, and any discussion is better than none. 

The NHLPA took a couple of days to analyze the offer and come up with not one, not two, but three counteroffers.

Cue the pointing finger.

"The Players' Association came back and basically made three alternate proposals on the players' share, all variations, to some degree, of the one proposal that they made over the summer and really haven't deviated from since," Bettman commented after new talks halted after just one hour.   "And none of the three variations of players' share that they gave us even began to approach 50-50 (revenue split) either at all or for some long period of time and it's clear that we're not speaking the same language in terms of what they came back to us with."

One step forward.  Two steps back.

"This is the best offer that we have to make," said Bettman, taking a hard line on his latest proposal.  "The fact is, we're nowhere close to what we proposed."

Donald Fehr, executive director of the NHLPA, said the latest proposal was still unfair to the players.  Finger point in the other direction.

"The players offered to make real concessions in terms of reducing their share of hockey related revenues, with some small degree of protection," said Fehr. "The players don't see any reason to take less in terms of dollars."

Part of that bone of contention was the "make whole" caluse in which the NHL proposed to eventually pay players the full value of signed contracts even though they must take a bit initial escrow bite.  The repayments would come out of the players' share in future years.

"It is players paying players, not owners paying players," said Fehr.  "The players' share is reuced to 50% from 57% immediately this season.  This is a reduction in the share of 12.3%.  That would mean that players' salaries would be cut by about $231 million."

And so it continues.  He said.  She said.  No one agrees.  And it continues to boil down to greed. 

If you think both sides will agree by next week so that the season can begin on November 2, I want to have whatever it is that you are smoking.  It certainly sounds a lot happier than the reality that we are really facing. 

October 11, 2012.  Opening night for the NHL.  Not.

That got canceled a week ago, as well as the first two weeks of games.  Are the owners and players any closer to coming to a new collective bargaining agreement to end this nonsense?  Nope.

Neither side refuses to budge on the biggest issue there is - money.  Ironically, in a pursuit to have the biggest share of the record $3.3 billion in revenue earned last year, the NHL and it's players have already lost an estimated $230 million due to a canceled preseason and unplayed games.    Any percentage share of zero revenue is....zero.  Even the overly concussed players can do that kind of math.

Bill Daly, the NHL's deputy commissioner under Gary Bettman, insists that there has always been an urgency on the part of the NHL to get a new CBA in place. 

“It’s been a fairly urgent situation for us all summer,” said Daly. ”We certainly viewed Sept. 15 to be the most relevant date. We certainly didn’t want to be in a lockout situation. I think it’s been an urgent negotiation for us all along. I can’t really speak for the players’ association.  Hopefully that’s an urgent matter for them. And hopefully that urgency can lead to some results in the near term.”

Meanwhile Donald Fehr, the NHLPA executive director, would spout equal malfeasance on the part of the NHL.

“Look, the owners started out by running as fast as they could and as hard as they could away from the players, saying ‘Catch me if you can, even though every move you make is against your own interests.’” said Fehr earlier this month. "This isn’t Ping-Pong. You have to distinguish between offers which are really made for the purpose of trying to reach an agreement and those which aren’t.”

Quite entertaining if they both were not so serious about it. 

Instead of watching hockey, fans get to watch this spectacle instead.   Not really a substitute in the least. 

More and more players are meandering to Europe.  Those who qualify have gone down to the AHL.  Others are finding interesting things to do at home to keep them busy. 

Ryan Getzlaf is chasing after his toddler son while waiting for baby number two to be born in a couple of months.

Teemu Selanne, who should be adding more points to his already impressive career totals, is at home with his family.  With four children that is busy enough for him.  Despite his agelessness, he still has a limited amount of time to be playing hockey and the lockout is severely cutting into that time.

Bobby Ryan is getting in practices where he can and claims he has no desire to take someone's job away from them in the European leagues. 

And the fans?  Wondering when all this nonsense will be resolved so that they can contribute to those revenues that both sides want to gobble up hungrily. 

If the lockout continues, look for fewer revenues from disgruntled folks who have already had enough of this moronic nonsense.

And so it begins.  Hacking away at the regular season.  The NHL announced it was eliminating the first two weeks of the regular season.

They already dismantled the pre-season because both the NHL and NHLPA cannot come to an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement.  That has caused a loss of over $100 million, according to NHL deputy commissioner, Bill Daly.

Daly issued a statement in which he claims that

"We were extremely disappointed to have to make today's announcement. The game deserves better, the fans deserve better and the people who derive income from their connection to the NHL deserve better.  We remain committed to doing everything in our power to forge an agreement that is fair to the players, fair to the teams and good for our fans.  This is not about 'winning' or 'losing' a negotiation. This is about finding a solution that preserves the long-term health and stability of the League and the game. We are committed to getting this done."

Are they really committed?

There were several days of negotiating between both parties earlier this week, talks that went nowhere and really did not address key financial issues that are at the heart of this dispute.

Naturally, no further meetings are scheduled at this time.

On Tuesday after the most recent meetings stalled, NHLPA director Donald Fehr was right when he commented "from our standpoint you ought to be continually talking, even if you are disagreeing and not making progress, because you never know when somebody is going to say something that's going to spark an idea that will allow you to make progress.  If you're not doing well on subject A and subjects B, C, D and E need to be talked about, sooner or later we ought to be talking about those things. Even if you don't reach resolution on those things, hopefully we push them along."

As long as both sides are not talking, nothing is going to be accomplished any time soon. 

"They understand what our position is," said Daly. "To this point we certainly understand what their position is. We just wish it was different."

Apparently Daly believes that all the compromise needs to be on the players side and not on the NHL side.  How is that compromise?

Compromise is a settlement of differences in which each side makes concessions.  Not one side.  Each side.

Owners cannot complain too much about salaries and the need to reduce them when they are the ones handing them out in the first place.  Players have to be reasonable, too, and concede that things need to be more equitable in revenues on both sides. 

If both sides really enter into negotiations with the best interest of the game of hockey in mind, this should be a done deal. 

There is no good and justifiable reason why hockey should not be played right now.  I should be covering training camp and roster pare downs and game recaps.   Lots of folks should be working in hockey buildings.    Instead you have stubbornness, stupidity, and senselessness. 

The more likely scenario is more of the same, and not two sides being reasonable and willing to move on issues so there is a new CBA.  I expect more cancellations within the next week.

If the NFL can come to a quick resolution with the referees' union, why can't the NHL and the NHLPA figure things out?  Then again, having replacement refs did a lot to motivate a new agreement. 

Perhaps the suggestion by the Toronto Sun that there be replacement players in the NHL is not such a wacky idea after all.  Joe Warmington's article (http://www.torontosun.com/2012/09/17/replacement-players-could-solve-nhl-owners-problems-end-lockout) mentions that there are enough unsigned free agents and other players around to fill all 30 teams. 

It is an interesting premise.  Would unsigned players agree to play without a collective bargaining agreement in place?  Would they refuse on principle or say, what the heck?

But if they did play, it might be motivation enough for both sides to come to an agreement on a new CBA.  As it stands, the NHL canceled the remainder of the pre-season games yesterday. 

They still are claiming an October 11 start date to the season.  Would that be 2012 or 2013 Mr. Bettman?

Fans do not want to see replacement players any more than they want to see replacement refs.  While the guys in stripes are a little more homogenous, can you really replace someone like Teemu Selanne?  Of course not.

And no one wants to pay NHL money to see guys who otherwise would not be in the NHL.  Although as the poll connected to the Toronto Sun points out, most folks in Toronto feel that replacement players would not be any worse than the current Leafs roster. 

Although both sides are meeting today in New York to discuss "non-economic"  parts of the CBA, there is still not a whole lot of hope that an agreement on all parts of the CBA will be agreed upon soon. 

Folks who remain convinced the season will start by the time the Winter Classic is supposed to be played on January 1 are 1)  naive, 2) delusional and 3) clearly believe it is unimportant for the first three months of the season to be played. 

Sorry Michigan, but keep those plans for the Winter Classic on the table for another year.  I'm not a betting person.  I just don't ever gamble.  But in this case, I am willing to bet the whole season is going to be a wipe out.  I wish it wasn't, but there is nothing that indicates a different result.  

What a bunch of dumbasses!

Training camp begins tomorrow!  Right?  

Oh fudge, I guess that means I did not wake up from a bad dream and there really is a lockout in the NHL. Again.  Nuts.

To top off my banana split of disappointment (I've got my fudge and nuts, now let's add the cherry on top), the NHL just announced the pre-season has been canceled through September 30 in light of no new collective bargaining agreement.

What I want to hear announced is that both sides are meeting and are furiously working on putting together a new agreement.  One where both sides work on compromise, eliminate greed, and actually put the fans first. 

Oh yeah.   We already covered the fact that I've been dreaming.

The only thing that is happening is that players are leaving the US and Canada like lemmings to flee to Russia and other European countries to have a chance to play hockey this season. 

And the fans?  Out in the cold unless they have an AHL, or other minor league team nearby.  College hockey is also an option.  Even high school hockey. 

It is going to be a looooonnnnnnngggggggg off-season.