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Is the end of these games the end game needed to get games going? |
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You have to laugh or you'd cry your eyes out...
There are a few tidbits about "life on the Internet" which are good ideas to follow when it comes to real life:
* Whatever you say is going to be interpreted in the worst possible way it can be.
* Anything that can be misinterpreted will be misinterpreted.
* The less you say the more you say.
* Those with agendas against you are waiting to turn whatever you say against you.
* The knowledge of the entirety of the whole is far greater than your own knowledge.
* Angry people comment, happy people read.
* Internet never forgets a mistake.
* The best thing to do is just admit when you're wrong and walk away.
* The last person to speak in an Internet battle ....is the loser of the battle.
* and as Mark Cuban once said to me "never feed the troll."
* Oh, and name dropping like I just did in the last sentence...it's never a good idea.
Real-life, on the other hand, can be a little more forgiving...But not much.
And so it is with the latest NHL/NHLPA controversy. HRRgate. Aka: Did anyone check the date and see if there's anything more important to worry about right now?
For the last several months the NHL has put forth proposals that are very detailed. And during that time the NHLPA has put forth proposals that are very sparse. Both sides are doing so for a reason.
NHL proposals are as complete as they can make them because the NHL wants the NHLPA to see everything that's on the table. The NHLPA puts out sparse proposals because they want to keep their options open. The NHLPA realizes that sometimes less is more, and what you don't say can't be used against you. The NHL realizes that unless the entire CBA is agreed to this will drag on forever and ever.
So yesterday when the NHLPA finally noticed that the terms for HRR had changed in the NHL's bigger proposal given a week ago everyone freaked out. Had the NHL not put forth a 300 page document and rather just the issues at hand this never would've been an issue at all. When the changes were realized by the NHLPA, the NHL changed them back to what they were previously.
No harm no foul, right? If both sides had a deep level of trust and understanding this would not have meant anything at all. Of course if that level of trust and understanding existed we would be playing hockey right now. So the NHLPA and the players got their backs up and they got upset that the NHL was trying to pull the wool over their eyes. And I don't blame the PA and the players for reacting that way at all.
Understand where we were yesterday. Donald Fehr, the night before, had decided at midnight not to make the move which could have blown up the union because he felt the negotiations were going pretty well and to make such a move at that point in time would have hindered the process. Some of the players didn't see it that way. Some of the players were actually starting to question their leader and the fact that he didn't hold the NHL's feet to the fire more at the time.
With the owners fear of the union blowing itself up out-of-the-way, yesterday was the perfect time for Fehr and the NHLPA to "realize" the HRR from a week ago had changed. There is not a whole lot more to get out there, but for Donald Fehr to get it done he needs the players to be on one page. I can't imagine that Donald Fehr and the NHLPA lawyers didn't notice this omission a week ago when they got the new proposal..... And I think I just bored myself to stop reading this article.....
The bottom line is this:
It is a week until the deadline!!!! The NHL fixed it. Don't let the goon who plays two minutes a game affect the fact that you need to score a goal and there is less than a minute to go. FOCUS!
Understand, and not saying to the players to focus on the end of the game as I'm telling the owners as well. Some owners honestly are as mad about yesterday's HRR snafu as the players are. Not because they weren't able to pull the wool over the player's eyes, but because this is even being talked about at all right now!!!
As one Eastern Conference owner said to me last night, "If we can't get a deal now with what is left to deal with, then we are all just pathetic."
NHL can indeed be its worst enemy at times. The way they say things, the language they use, and even.....well let's just leave it at "the way they say things," ..it rubs players the wrong way.
Right now the owners and the players are meeting separately with the mediator. I am not sure he said it, but on Twitter today someone said, "They shouldn't be meeting with the mediator, they should be meeting with a psychiatrist."
The Roller coaster will be heading back up shortly...don't you worry. These guys still do want to make money...
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