A couple of weeks ago, when news of Jim Benning's new contract extension first leaked, I talked about the Friday afternoon news dump — a P.R. strategy that helps a news story fly a little further under the radar than it would if it came out when everybody's alert at their desks or computers.
Long weekend Fridays are best of all — when people are out of the office early, sitting in border or ferry lineups or shopping for their BBQs or weekend get-togethers.
Is that why the NHL issued its announcement that the league will not exercise its option to re-open the Collective Bargaining Agreement at 4:07 p.m. ET on Friday?
In truth, it could have been buried even deeper. The league's deadline to announce whether it would exercise its re-opener clause is September 1, so they could have put out the release on Sunday or even Labour Day Monday, once the deadline had passed. I wasn't expecting we'd have this much certainty, this soon — although Gary Bettman has been very consistent over the last several months in saying that he feels that, on the whole, the league is functioning well.
"It is our hope that a continued, sustained period of labor peace will enable us to further grow the game and benefit all constituent groups: NHL Players, Clubs, our business partners and, most important, our fans," said Bettman in the
league's press release.
"In any CBA, the parties can always identify issues they are unhappy with and would like to see changed. This is certainly true from the League's standpoint. However, our analysis makes clear that the benefits of continuing to operate under the terms of the current CBA -- while working with the Players' Association to address our respective concerns -- far outweigh the disruptive consequences of terminating it following the upcoming season."
So — no lockout next season! Now, the spotlight shifts to the players, who have until September 15 to decide whether they want to re-open the agreement. If they don't, we'll have labour peace until after the 2021-22 season — after the league signs its next U.S. TV deal, which is expected to bring in some serious money.
If the players do exercise the re-opener, and the two sides can't hash out a deal over the next 12 months, then it would be the players who would trigger the work stoppage, in the form of a strike.
Rare, but not unprecedented. The players went on strike once before — for 10 days, starting on April 1, 1992. That was when everything was starting to change for the players, as their union chief Alan Eagleson was exposed for his corruption and wrongdoing and was eventually replaced by Bob Goodenow as NHLPA head on January 1, 1992.
As an aside, Eagleson's world started to unravel due to the investigative reporting of a small-town writer named Russ Conway, who passed away earlier this month at age 70. If you don't know his story, it's incredible:
I'd also recommend checking out Conway's book on the Eagleson situation, "Game Misconduct."
The players started the 1991-92 season without a contract, while Eagleson was still in charge. After Goodenow took over, and after collecting their wages throughout the regular season, the players voted to strike with just 30 games left before the playoffs, when revenues would start filtering primarily to the owners. The new deal was signed, sealed and delivered by April 10.
Per Wikipedia:
"The settlement saw the players earn a large increase in their playoff bonuses, increased control over the licensing of their likenesses and changes to the free agency system. In addition, the season was expanded to 84 games and included provisions for each team to play two games per season in non-NHL cities. As a result of the strike, the owners removed John Ziegler as President, replacing him with Gil Stein. The strike fundamentally altered the relationship between the league and its players."
Will the players assert themselves again next month, with training camps underway and preseason about to begin?
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Sean Gordon from The Athletic posted an exhaustive article last week that outlined the issues impacting both sides.
That included quotes from Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who was involved in the 2012 labour talks, saying that "Now’s the time to put on the big-boy pants," if players are serious about eliminating the much-hated escrow mechanism that pulls as much as 15 percent out of their paycheques in order to achieve the 50/50 revenue split between players and owners that was agreed upon for the current CBA.
But Vlasic goes on to acknowledge that it's hard to reach consensus in a group of 700 players in a wide range of situations—from young to old and on big long-term contracts or scraping along year-by-year at the league minimum. Perhaps the most aggrieved now are the middle class, who are seeing their opportunities squeezed as owners don't have much cap space left after doling out big bucks to their top veterans and their most promising young stars.
Officially, the NHLPA continues to keep its cards close to the vest.
It'll be interesting to see if more players start speaking out once they get in front of the media as training camps open.
Also from The Athletic, Minnesota Wild beat writer caught up with Brock Boeser this week:
Russo covers the harrowing journey that Boeser's family has gone through over the last month, as Brock's father Duke continues to take small positive steps in his recovery after suffering heart failure — while already dealing with cancer and Parkinson's disease.
The update is about as positive as it can be, under the circumstances, but Russo also reports that the experience has, of course, been very tough for Brock—who said he was strengthened by the support and well wishes he received after he shared his dad's condition on his Instagram.
“People, you know, there’s some that believe in God and stuff like that. And I reached out on social media because I’ve read stories where prayer works and miracles can happen in situations. Obviously, you never know what could happen. It’s sad, but … you can just feel the energy.
“So that’s why I reached out. I just felt I needed to.”
Russo also reports that Boeser has benefited from the support of the friends that he has had staying with him at his summer home on Prior Lake. And his mom is a rock.
I've been following the
journal updates that Laurie has been posting. She has been grounded, informative and so strong. And she has no time for self pity.
She says that one of the reasons she provides the journal updates is to spare Brock from having to constantly answer questions about his dad's condition. "I just want him to clear his head and get after it."
As Brock has struggled, “I’ve tried to make him realize that there’s so much good, and then there’s some that’s bad,” Laurie told Russo. “And that there’s several people in this world who could sit and tell you stories, just like we’ve experienced. So, it’s just, this is what our lives are like. This is what we have on our plate, and we’re not the only ones.”
Earlier this week, Duke was finally transferred out of ICU.He has now moved into a rehabilitation centre and is able to speak a bit. After everything he and his family have been through, I wish them all the best for continued, speedy recovery.
Russo also provides an update on Boeser's contract situation, reporting that "Boeser’s agent Ben Hankinson and Canucks GM Jim Benning last spoke Wednesday and the two sides are not close to a new deal."
While he acknowledges how hard it will be to leave his dad when the time comes, Boeser says "I’m a kid. I don’t want to miss camp at all.
"That’s just not the type of person I am. But you have to do what you have to do. I feel that we just want to get a fair contract done. I feel like we’re not asking for too much. But there’s everything that goes into signing a guy. Cap stuff and all that stuff.
“I’m just staying patient and hopefully I can be there for the first day of camp. I’m just taking everything a day at a time and making sure I continue to train hard. And get in good shape so whenever I do sign, I’ll be ready to go.”
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