Tweet at 9:40pm est from Adrian Dater: "@adater From deep inside players side: "We were ready to play again. But Don came in (Wed.) and told us we could get more and to hold out"
A bunch of players and owners gather in NYC to discuss the NHL lockout. The league sends a group of six: Two hardliners, and four moderates. The players send 18 guys to represent them, and just like the group of owners, there are hardliners and moderates. What everyone doesn't know immediately but finds out quickly is that Sidney Crosby for the players and Penguins owner Ron Burkle have been meeting previous to New York, working quietly on a plan. The two have found enough middle ground to be convinced a CBA deal is there to be made. On Tuesday this week, Crosby and Burkle's collective optimism is taken to the joint meeting, and it spreads. By the end of the day, reps from the league and PA are standing at a podium together for the first time since the lockout began. Fans, writers...everyone who loves the NHL...starts to feel relief.
Wednesday starts off okay. Both sides are positive even though there's much to be negotiated. As a show of good will, the "moderate" owners find a way to increase "make whole" money by $100mil, with $50mil of it directed at player pensions. The players leave to bring the information to their Darth Lord of the Sith, Donald Fehr, and all hell breaks loose.
If I was Sidney Crosby, I'd be fuming right now. I know I've said in the past I don't like him much, but I quickly became a fan this week when it looked like he'd be the reason the season is saved. I don't blame him at all for what has happened over the last 24 hours, because I think he's been sold out by his own union.
Apparently when things went sour on Wednesday, Ron Burkle was perhaps the most irate person in the room. Scary, when you consider he's the most moderate of the moderates. He, like Crosby, so obviously wanted to do what was necessary to save the season. I'm guessing his anger today is in part directed towards the NHLPA for what they've done to the league, but also in part directed towards the NHLPA for how they played Crosby.
What has occurred here is absolutely disgusting. Donald Fehr might be the worst person ever involved with the NHL. If the season is done, it's his fault. Not the owners, not the teams, not Bettman or Daly...I don't even completely blame the players involved with the PA, whose biggest sin is that they're acting like naive children following their leader blindly. Fehr is the Puppetmaster, and quite obviously, he's sick between the ears.
So what exactly happened to make everyone so angry? I'll offer a quick summary: The owners and league officials during CBA negotiations indicated they wanted three specific elements in the new deal:
- Length of term: 10 years ideally, but 8 with an option was what they would have taken.
- 50/50 revenue split: This would be reached immediately, although players with current contracts would have recovered much of the money thru the "make whole" clause.
- Five year max contracts for UFA's signing with new teams; 7 years for those re-signing with current teams. This was something the owners wanted to protect themselves from each other more than anything else. It was a way to keep player contracts under control. No more big stupid deals like the ones given to Kovalchuk or Luongo.
The league wanted to change arbitration, entry-level deals, signing bonuses, age of free agency...A whole stack of things...but backed off completely. As long as the players were okay with the three above listed "must haves", they were bendy on all other matters.
The players wanted a few things the owners weren't interested in. One I found interesting was an "Amnesty" clause. Teams didn't want it, but the players did. Weird. According to Bettman, "make whole" would allow teams the time required to adjust to the new cap levels, making a buyout period at the front of the new CBA unnecessary. Players wanted a buyout period (at full contract values) as a cash grab.
Some of the information is absolutely baffling. Why would the players object to the length of the CBA being eight or ten seasons? Well, do the math...five years from now is close to the NHL's 100th anniversary. How much leverage in CBA negotiations would the players have in the 100th season? Lots. Keep in mind how convinced the players are they "lost" in 2005. We all know they are richer now than ever, but that's not the way they see it.
What is sounds like to me is, Donald Fehr has absolutely no intention of signing any deal. The owners would make a concession, the players would say, "thank you very much," and move on to a different matter. By doing this, they eventually win the CBA battle because they'll systematically whittle down the league in all areas of the deal. Obviously, the PA believes the NHL hasn't made their "final offer" and are prepared to drag this out a few more weeks to get a better deal. I think they're in for a disappointment.
I've had a number of jobs in my lifetime, and during many I've ended up in positions where I need to negotiate. There's a skill to it: You need to be firm, and at times insistent and uncompromising. But while being strong, you also need to constantly remind yourself of who your allies are, and what will happen to your case if you piss off the wrong person. Today, the NHL players pissed off the wrong people. They're going to pay a huge price for it.
We're not talking about Bettman or Daly. We're not even talking about a hardline owner like Jeremy Jacobs either. I'm talking about Burkle, Mark Chipman, Larry Tannenbaum and Jeff Vinik: The moderates. I heard an interview with Tampa Bay owner Vinik a few days ago where he said he was going to be involved so he could, "talk some sense into the other owners." Can you imagine how he feels now, leaving the meeting feeling complete disgust towards the players; not the owners? From everything I've heard, Jacobs was actually one of the cooler heads when things blew up Wednesday evening. It was the moderates who lost it.
This is going to get very ugly. The solution? If you want a season, the players need to take control of their own association. They need to fire Donald Fehr, or at the very least, completely remove him from the process. Fehr clearly has an agenda and has no interest in playing hockey. If fans want someone to blame and be mad at, he's your guy.
As for NHL ownership and league management, I suggest they do nothing. No negotiations, no offers...nothing. The only way to kill the snake is to strike at the head. It's the players who need to kill the snake, and until it's dead, there will be no hockey. Gary Bettman during his press conference said that he needs to protect the league and the teams. Only way to do that now is to allow the union to completely self-destruct. After Fehr is gone we can get back to playing hockey.
My guess is the players will start turning on themselves within a week. Or at least, one can only hope. I can't believe 700+ guys who earns millions annually can be so stupid and short-sighted about the quality of their employment.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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