So, what did ya’ll think of Donald Fehr’s open letter to NHLPA membership?
After feeling all warm and fuzzy on Tuesday when the NHL’s proposed a 50/50 revenue split and agreed to honor contracts to save a full 82-game season, Fehr’s letter was like getting hit in the face with a rogue wave.
Brought you back to reality, didn’t it?
That’s the way it works in these CBA negotiations.
Nothing comes easy.
And Fehr is not going to back down quite so fast to concede 50/50 right away.
At some point, it’s going to be a 50/50 split. But as Fehr told his captive audience, it ain’t gonna come right away and not with the players handing back $1.6 billion in revenues.
“Simply put, the owners' new proposal, while not quite as Draconian as their previous proposals, still represents enormous reductions in player salaries and individual contracting rights,” Fehr stated in his letter.
“As you will see, at the five per cent industry growth rate the owners predict, the salary reduction over six years exceeds $1.6 billion. What do the owners offer in return?”
I thought the Oct. 25 deadline that NHL deputy commish Bill Daly put on finalizing this deal was a bit optimistic. Doable, but not likely.
After reading Fehr’s comments, after hearing players talks, and after canvassing some opinion from other NHL clubs which can’t talk on the record, I am convinced that a Nov. 2 start date to the season is not possible.
I do, however, feel the two sides now have something to go and they will drag each other to hell and back to get this deal done.
But not soon enough to preserve all 82 games.
Clearly, the owners don’t want to lose an entire season. And while both sides posture saying that want 82 games, the truth is, they’ll take 52 or 62 or 72 so long as they get a deal that saves the season.
Already, fans have switched alliances and are saying the players can’t be greedy but have to accept the owner’s offer because … well, fans want the game back on the ice.
I thought the NHL releasing the proposal to all was brilliant. Puts pressure on the players. Shows transparency. Clears up arguments over what it is really “in” the proposal, and helps the league gain some measure of public support.
How the players respond will say much as to whether this can be resolved in two weeks, a month, etc.
We’ll get our first clue on Thursday when the players make their counter-offer in Toronto.
Keep this in mind. By not submitting an offer last week, the union put itself – again – in position to bargain off someone else’s proposal. A mistake, in my view.
Now it’s more difficult to get the deal they want.
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