The National Hockey League has accepted an invitation from NHLPA Executive Director Bob Goodenow to attend a meeting in Toronto next week on Thursday, Dec. 9.
"We look forward to meeting with the NHL Players' Association next week," said Bill Daly, NHL Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer. "We are hopeful that the NHLPA's offer will be a meaningful effort to address the League's economic problems. When we receive the proposal, we will evaluate it closely and respond appropriately."
The Players' Association issued a release that said, in part: "The letter also confirms that the NHLPA is working on a new proposal which it believes should provide the basis for a new collective bargaining agreement."
This will be the first meeting between the sides since September 9th. The NHL is holding a meeting with a majority of general managers in New York on Dec. 2.
The Canadian Press contributed to this report
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If you can't play with the big dogs,stay the hell on the porch
This message has been edited by mistoffelleese on Dec 2, 2004 7:50 PM
Re: Is there a Reason to be EncouragedAbout this meeting?
December 3 2004, 7:05 AM
Let's play, "What He Really Said."
What he said . . . "We look forward to meeting with the NHL Players' Association next week."
What he really said . . . "There are tickets we must punch before declaring a labor impasse . . . this is one of them."
What he said . . . "We are hopeful that the NHLPA's offer will be a meaningful effort to address the League's economic problems."
What he really said . . . "We'd better see the word 'cap' in it."
What he said . . . "When we receive the proposal, we will evaluate it closely and respond appropriately."
What he really said . . . "If it doesn't have the word 'cap' in it, we will wrap a fish with it and send it back to Goodenow . . . your proposal sleeps with the fishes."
What the NHLPA said . . . "The letter also confirms that the NHLPA is working on a new proposal which it believes should provide the basis for a new collective bargaining agreement."
What they really said . . . "Take your 'cap' and shove it into a dark bodily orifice."
___________
Play hard, shake hands, drink beer.
"LA needs two hockey teams like Switzerland needs two navies" -- Norman Chad (from "My 10-Point Plan to Save Gary Bettman from Himself")
If you've read this far, you probably could use a hobby
Re: Is there a Reason to be EncouragedAbout this meeting?
December 3 2004, 1:33 PM
Encouraged over this meeting............NO !
Although i still cannot believe that both sides are so stupid that they are willing to kill the whole season(and much of next season).
Call me silly , but i still expect to see NHL hockey this season.
Re: Is there a Reason to be EncouragedAbout this meeting?
December 4 2004, 11:27 AM
Absolutely, positively, NO. It's nice they're talking, but its more grandstanding than anything.
Great if something comes out of it, but if they miraculously come up with some sort of agreement in the next week after three months of a lockout and at least 3 years of the problem being at the forefront, then I would be more irate than if the season were flat out cancelled.
Re: Is there a Reason to be EncouragedAbout this meeting?
December 4 2004, 12:52 PM
if they miraculously come up with some sort of agreement in the next week after three months of a lockout and at least 3 years of the problem being at the forefront, then I would be more irate than if the season were flat out cancelled.
One of the smartest and most succinct comments I've ever seen on the hockey boards, anywhere.
Re: Is there a Reason to be EncouragedAbout this meeting?
December 11 2004, 11:16 PM
Personally, I think the NHLPA proposal was a stroke of genius . . . the number on everyone's lips will be "24." That it applies to current contracts and will set a lower bar for arbitration is a short term sacrifice to preserve the core remnants of the existing system (the tax really doesn't have a whole lot of bite; teams like the Rangers, Wings, and Flyers won't even breathe hard at the thought of paying it).
Giving up perhaps a billion dollars over a six year period is the kind of thing that will get attention. It's backed the league into a corner, since I would think this proposal all but takes a cap off the table as a practical alternative (not that it will stop the league from trying to get one). After signaling a move of such sweep, the league has to give something up.
It isn't the economic panacea the league wants (it wants an iron clad tonic to save it from its stoopider members who still have checks in their checkbooks), which makes me wonder if they're just taking the time until Tuesday to find the right words to say . . . "nice, but not enough." They'll probably couch their response in terms of the long view. It is not a permanent fix to the problems besetting the league. The only permanent solution is to be found in linking costs to revenues.
I'm marginally more optimistic, but I still don't think there will be a season this year.
___________
Play hard, shake hands, drink beer.
"LA needs two hockey teams like Switzerland needs two navies" -- Norman Chad (from "My 10-Point Plan to Save Gary Bettman from Himself")
If you've read this far, you probably could use a hobby
The filtered word from the NHL ownership side - and it's filtered because they don't speak out on the record - is simply that they are decidedly unimpressed by the NHLPA's offer.
They look at it as short-term gain for long-term pain and if they've come this far - losing half a season and potentially all season and maybe more - they want what they came for and that's cost certainty.
From the player's perspective, a lot of them are upset at the potential of losing 24 percent of their salary. A guy like Mats Sundin, who's not over the hill by any stretch, is not going to make that money up.
Younger guys like Dany Heatley and Ilya Kovalchuk may run by that over the course of the time of a contract, but guys like Sundin and some of these older players won't, so that's a legitimate loss.
And there's something else to consider - whether Bob Goodenow of the NHLPA and his executives are prepared to admit it, there was great pressure on Goodenow to get to the table with the NHL and make a deal.
He was feeling that heat and that's what this offer is all about.
But now that he's made this offer, the players truly believe there's something on the table that the NHL can at least negotiate from. If the league doesn't negotiate off that and just comes back with cost certainty, I can assure you that the membership of the PA is now more than ever ready to walk into the valley of death with Goodenow.
The amount of time it might have have taken to break the players will on this will now increase substantially because they truly believe a legitimate offer has been made.
For TSN.ca, I'm Bob McKenzie.
___________
Play hard, shake hands, drink beer.
"LA needs two hockey teams like Switzerland needs two navies" -- Norman Chad (from "My 10-Point Plan to Save Gary Bettman from Himself")
If you've read this far, you probably could use a hobby
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