Mediation Never Had a Chance
Was anybody surprised that federal mediation of the NHL lockout quickly proved to be a failure? Both the NHL and NHLPA are so firmly dug in to their respective short-sighted positions that mediation had zero chance of success. Accepting the mediation offer in the first place was an obligatory PR gesture; no more and no less.
The two sides, especially the NHL, couldn't realistically turn down the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and then claim "every possible avenue" is being explored to bring the (unnecessary in the first place) lockout to an end. As for the NHLPA, the union leadership could not have refused mediation participation and then turned around and told the constituency, "we're acting in total good faith to end this, the NHL still isn't."
The two sides went through the charade of talking to the mediators. The fact that the process lasted less than two days shows than neither side was willing to move an inch or show any receptiveness to suggestions for compromise.
As for Gary Bettman's offer of an owners-and-players-only meeting without the leadership of either side present, I see no benefit to the process. At best, it's another red herring.
Let's see... put a group of experienced businessmen in a room with a group of professional athletes (presumably without their agents or any lawyers present). That sounds about as even and realistic as Donald Fehr proposing that the lockout be settled with a winner-takes-all players vs. owner's hockey game.
Hey, the owners CAN use Mario Lemieux (at age 47, six years removed from his retirement), Carolina GM and minority owner Jim Rutherford (at age 63) in goal. Fehr can announce the union will even allow the owner's team to have general managers Steve Yzerman (at age 47, six years retired), Joe Nieuwendyk (age 46, five years retired) and Paul Holmgren (still very fit at age 56) play in proxy of Jeffrey Vinik, Tom Gaglardi and Ed Snider.
Oh, that's not how a multi-billion dollar deal gets done? I agree. Neither is having a group of players represent themselves in a negotiating session with the owners.
The union will insist that the players in attendance have their agents or union-selected legal representation at the sessions. The players will be carefully coached to say as little as possible and to let the lawyers do the talking (presumably remaining steadfast with the last union proposal).
And what about the owners' side of the table at this proposed meeting? Which ones will be selected, or will they all be there? Who will do the talking; a hardliner such as Jeremy Jacobs or will different voices get a chance to speak?
Will there be any actual new proposals presented by either side, either formally or informally? Or will it just be the two sides talking at each other?
I hope I'm wrong. I hope that temporarily taking Bettman (whom many of the players despise) and Fehr (whom many of the owners detest) out of the equation yields progress toward a deal that salvages the season. But I doubt this will be what gets it done.
By the way, some on the owners' side have said that Fehr's only method of "negotiation" is to refuse to negotiate; letting the other side come to him by concession. There is some validity to that belief, based on Fehr's dealings with the Major League Baseball.
But the same can be said of Bettman. This is the third lockout under his leadership of the NHL. In 1994-95, the season was salvaged in January because the owners' side (the Board of Governors final position went against Bettman's recommendation to stay the course) caved in on the salary cap issue out of fear of a lost season. In 2004-05, the union collapsed and the splintered remnants conceded on the salary cap and other issues.
In every case, there has been very little negotiation. One side or the other essentially surrenders. It's how Gary Bettman operates, and how Don Fehr operates. Each one has a core of influential hardliners supporting them; ready, willing and able to bully any dissenters into staying quiet.
Of course federal mediation failed. There was never even a remote chance of success.
There are scores of logical reasons why it would be disastrous to cancel another NHL season. There's a litany of financial and emotional motives to get a deal done, get back on the ice, and start moving forward again.
Then again, there were an equal number of logical reasons and motivations for why there never should have been a lockout in the first place, and why it should never have reached its current point. But here we are.
It's Day 76 of the lockout, there's no end in sight. The NHL and NHLPA are still more worried about who is "winning" the PR battle and whether seeds of dissent can be sewn on the other side than they are in getting a deal done and starting to generate some of that revenue they are fighting so vehemently over how to divide.
Hey, NHL. Listen, NHLPA. Do you want this thing to end and have a season? Are you truly 100 percent convinced you've made your best possible proposal and your side is defensible? Then agree to submit to binding arbitration rather than stonewalling mediators who had no power to make either side do something it doesn't want to do.
Ah, but power and control are what this been about from day one.
************
Big Game for Bryzgalov
In the wee hours of this morning U.S./Canada time,
Ilya Bryzgalov got the start in goal for CSKA Moscow in a road game against Amur Khabarovsk. Located a mere 20 miles from the Russia-Chinese border, Khaborovsk is nearly 5,300 miles away from Moscow.
Playing in front of a crowd of 7,100 fans, CSKA nipped the home team by a 2-1 score. Bryzgalov was the star of the game for his team, which understandably did not have its skating legs for much of the match.
Bryzgalov turned back 33 of 34 shots to earn the win. He was especially good in the second period, stopping 14 of 15 shots and helping CSKA survive three penalty kills. CSKA then controlled most of the third period and earned the one goal win.
Igor Grigorenko scored his second goal of the game to break the 1-1 deadlock with 4:39 remaining in regulation. Alexander Osipov scored the lone goal for Amur.
************
FRIDAY HOCKEY FIX
The top section of today's blog ran long, so I'll forgo the usual "Friday Hockey Fix" collection of Flyers-related game previews and broadcast links.
Tomorrow morning, I will have a full rundown of today's games (apart from the already completed CSKA game). Most notably, the Phantoms are at home against the Binghamton Senators,
Jakub Voracek is in KHL action,
Danny Briere has a DEL game,
Matt Read has an Allsvenskan match and most of the Flyers prospects in major junior and collegiate prospects are in action.
***************
Kindle users: Please sign up for Flyers Buzz. For more information
click here.
Click below to follow me on Twitter:
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
Join the Discussion:
»