All along, I felt we would have a shortened season.
I thought 60 games. Fifty at the worst.
But unless things change quickly, both those scenarios are going to disappear.
Today, an agent said to me - and this guy is truly plugged in - that "for the first time," he has doubt as to whether there will be a season.
Whatever Jeremy Jacobs did or said in the talks on Friday, things have gone completely the other way. Instead of getting closer to a deal, there is more animosity on both sides and we seem to be going the other way, retreating from past ground we had already made up.
There appears to be no negotiating room on any of the NHL's contractual demands past the "make whole" provision which increasingly seems to be "make almost whole but not quite whole."
The entire series of ancillary issues, such as free agency, entry level contracts, length of contracts, arbitration, etc., now appears to have turned into something where the players either accept it in full or "forget it."
Right now, Dec. 1 is the earliest we could play but the angst between both sides is such that neither can agree when the next negotiating session will take place and where.
It's a mess and we saw this coming on Thursday.
Now Jacobs rules the Board of Governors but if I were The Commish, Gary Bettman, I would remove him immediately and get someone else in there.
How about Ed Snider? He knows how to get deals done. He's done it his entire life with Comcast-Spectacor.
Seriously, at this point, I think the negotiating committee has to change on the owner's side or there will not be a season.
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