Gary Bettman is slowly putting his cards on the table.
Although Don Fehr seemed open to the possibility of beginning the 2012-13 season without a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, Gary Bettman made it clear that was not an option for the league.
"We reiterated to the union that the owners will not play another year under the current agreement" he said.
Translation: if there is no new deal, the owners will lock out the players.
Not exactly what fans want to hear.
So, do you think there will be yet another lockout?
Habs and Hockey News
- The Hockey News unveiled their No. 12 and 13 spots in their annual predictions. The Montreal Canadiens unfortunately occupy the 13 slot, behind the 12th ranked Toronto Maple Leafs. In fact, five of the seven Canadian teams are predicted to be in the bottom four. One can only hope reality is much different.
- The HabsWorld podcast returns.
- Los Angeles King and Vezina Trophy winner Jonathan Quick underwent minor surgery.
- Hockey Inside/Out offers their analysis on the latest CBA developments.
- Jay Bouwmeester is again in the rumor mill.
- Kevin Allen of USA Today gives us ten bold predictions for the upcoming season. A lot of said bold predictions are actually reasonable enough. Except the one about Rick DiPietro staying healthy.
(Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images North America)
(Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images North America)
5 comments:
Maybe I am having a memory lapse but didn't the owners push hard for the current system and pretty much the entire Hockey media agree that the owners won.
While I agree the percentage of 57% is now out of proportion with reality it really seems like the owners are asking the players to save them from themselves.
Do they expect the players to say "oh no that's too much money" Even the so called "have not" teams are offering big money on long term.
I hope there is no stoppage and I think this time there is a good chance the owners are bluffing as I believe there are many teams that are making loads of money. That group will likely have no appetite for a halt to their cash flow just to help their poor cousins.
If Fehr is as smart as I think he is he will find a way to divide the owners.
Threaten to start their own league, sign a few conditional deals with non NHL arenas and then throw all their sticks in the middle and pick teams.....now that would warrant 3 hrs on TSN....
I know Bettman gets trashed a lot and deservedly but this time I think he’s being very smart. On the one hand he knows some owners have created this mess by offering ridiculously long and huge contracts which basically circumvents the current CBA and by creating a CBA that is disproportionally slanted towards players on a revenue sharing basis. On the other hand he represents management and so has to in public show solidarity.
@Hockeyhype is absolutely correct and I paraphrase by saying greed is (mostly) always the motivation. Players don't want to lose out on salaries and revenues regardless of 57 or 46 or whatever percentage. Owners definitely don't want zero revenue. I think Bettman knows this and is pushing hard to make them come to an agreement. He as probably most of us don't see this as insurmountable and wants it done by the 15th. If he exercises clause that allows play with the current CBA for 2012-13 he knows all he will here is complaining from the owners for another year.
This time I'm with Bettman. He's corralling the babies who created this and forcing them to do something. This is better for hockey in the long run and that's why I am for it.
Really hoping they come to an agreement. Could turn into a very long winter with no puck to watch.
@Sanman_11,
I think you on the mark with greed being the driver, for both sides. The possibility that Bettman is doing this to corral the owners is an interesting thought.
I hope you're right.
You just have to hope that Bettman isn't viewing this as him vs Fehr and he thinks he's the dragon slayer.
If that is the case it could get stupid.
I would think with the new NBC deal in place the league must feel some pressure to get a deal done.
Why would the league ruin all it's hard work in growing the game's popularity over the last 6-7 years...If there is a lockout, say bye-bye to half (or more) of the fans in the US you've attracted. Cause they'll just lose interest and go watch football or basketball (yikes) I for one would love to say if there is a lockout, I won't watch hockey again or care about hockey, but I'm a Canadian, so who am I kidding, I'll still be here when they come back to play....but really, this is so ridiculous, just work it out for god's sake !!!!!
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