Funny, I heard the same thing deep inside my butt.
- Beatle_john

Who mentioned a Hamster noise?

Alan Eagleson? Peter Pocklington?
- Jack-artist

I'll give you Eagleson... Not Pocklington though. Bad for Edmonton, good for growing the sport of hockey.

If you have your head shoved far up the NHL's ass then sure.
- Jack-artist

Come on... It's obvious that Fehr is not interested in actively negotiating. He's only playing games.

God's talking to him.
- bloatedmosquito

Either that or he has gas.

I'll give you Eagleson... Not Pocklington though. Bad for Edmonton, good for growing the sport of hockey.
- laughs2907

You could still go down the list and find guys more detrimental than a union head.

Come on... It's obvious that Fehr is not interested in actively negotiating. He's only playing games.
- laughs2907

I won't disagree completely. But i'll merely suggest that throwing all the blame on him is as dumb as throwing it all on Bettman.

I won't disagree completely. But i'll merely suggest that throwing all the blame on him is as dumb as throwing it all on Bettman.
- Jack-artist

Well I wouldn't throw it all on him... But I do believe there would be hockey right now if he weren't in charge.

Well I wouldn't throw it all on him... But I do believe there would be hockey right now if he weren't in charge.
- laughs2907

I don't know if it would change much. Both sides had their stances that they weren't backing off of. I don't think without Fehr that the players would all go for contract limits all of a sudden.

I don't know if it would change much. Both sides had their stances that they weren't backing off of. I don't think without Fehr that the players would all go for contract limits all of a sudden.
- Jack-artist

I think if the union had a leader who was more interested in actually negotiating there would have been a huge difference. Fehr isn't an active negotiator... He does nothing but wait for the opposing side to eventually negotiate against itself... Anyone on this blog could do that. Cracks will surface within the PA shortly. This whole thing should have been settled 50-60 days ago.

Fehr is JUST WANT THE PLAYERS NEED.


Sorry Mr. Skywalker. Darth is not the bad guy. Unless you think that a 24% rollback last time was not enough or that it is NOT the GM's offering 126 year contracts or ... lets face it.... the last cancelled season was due to a money crisis.... this one is greed on the PART OF THE OWNERS

This is a lock out, not a strike.
- Beatle_john

Yes! They are trying to put in rules so that the league can prosper not just a few teams. That is what is needed. If you don't get it, then you are as dumb as the players.

1st of all about the 100 year thing, players offer on term of deal was 8, with 6 years earliest if they wanted to opt out, not five! so that proves that point wrong. term of contract, honestly what do you think? is players fault that the owners are unable to keep up with the contracts they signed? owners are to be blamed, and yet players have to pay for it, regardless they only asked for 3 more years!! 8 years, that is only thing holding em back.. honestly if NHL is willing to take their offer back because of that, and the fact that players want a shorter term deal, thats crazy, only reason they are doing it is cuz for owners 10 years allows them more time to make that 300 mil payment, but cmon they should be able to do that in 8 too!! is only fair.. this is so stupid!! i blame the NHL completely, at least negotiate it, talk it out

1st of all about the 100 year thing, players offer on term of deal was 8, with 6 years earliest if they wanted to opt out, not five! so that proves that point wrong. term of contract, honestly what do you think? is players fault that the owners are unable to keep up with the contracts they signed? owners are to be blamed, and yet players have to pay for it, regardless they only asked for 3 more years!! 8 years, that is only thing holding em back.. honestly if NHL is willing to take their offer back because of that, and the fact that players want a shorter term deal, thats crazy, only reason they are doing it is cuz for owners 10 years allows them more time to make that 300 mil payment, but cmon they should be able to do that in 8 too!! is only fair.. this is so stupid!! i blame the NHL completely, at least negotiate it, talk it out

New blog idea;

Wait till there is a deal and THEN write about it.

I'm so tired of these optimistic blogs trying to get the scoop right.

Here is the scoop, and always has been the scoop;

This season is lost.

Yes! They are trying to put in rules so that the league can prosper not just a few teams. That is what is needed. If you don't get it, then you are as dumb as the players.
- Champ

He is!

What??

In the 10 years since, baseball demolished damage from its "labour disaster era" of 1981-1995. By 2010, revenues hit $7 billion and MLB just signed three new TV deals worth $12.4 billion through 2021. The playoffs are so incredibly good that you have to wonder when the devil's going to start collecting whoever sold their souls for this.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/...seballs-labour-peace.html
- Feeling_Glucky

some teams have a quarter of the salary as the the top teams!!!

12 million for a 6 and 6 pitcher with an era of 4??
the same big markets have the best shot every single year. along with a rotating group of lesser thans who develop well, have a small window, and then start over when the big markets overpay and outprice them when said players get to free agency.

we did this in the 90's. the league was a mess on and off the ice.
the top 5 spending teams won 9 of 12 cups from 93-04. the top 7 won all 12. CANADIAN teams were relocating and the juggernaut few were dominating everybody else.

we want no part of this type of league.

why is this so hard to understand? it's not just about league revenue. it's about the health of every franchise and the ability to ice/field a competitive team every year with an equal shot at winning a title..the owners absolutely HAVE to make some profit.
this promotes a better game ON the ice as well as off

It would be VERY interesting if the league announced they will proceed with replacement players, or any players willing to leave the union. Tickets at 50% discount for the fans.
- mventres

Be brilliant.

Yes! They are trying to put in rules so that the league can prosper not just a few teams. That is what is needed. If you don't get it, then you are as dumb as the players.
- Champ

This...

some teams have a quarter of the salary as the the top teams!!!

12 million for a 6 and 6 pitcher with an era of 4??
the same big markets have the best shot every single year and a rotating group of lesser thans who develop well, have a small window, and then start over when the big markets overpay and outprice these small markets for their free agents.

we did this in the 90's. the league was a mess on and off the ice.
the top 5 spending teams won 9 of 12 cups from 93-04. the top 7 won all 12. CANADIAN teams were relocating and the juggernaut few were dominating everybody else.

we want no part of this type of league.

why is this so hard to understand? it's not just about league revenue. it's about the health of every franchise and the ability to ice/field a competitive team every year with an equal shot at winning a title..
this promotes a better game ON the ice as well as off
- hugefemale dog77

Not sure why the NHLPA doesn't see this. Why people still side with the PA after Fehr lied to everyone is another issue altogether.

Fehr doesn't care about the NHL or hockey. This is just a well paid gig to stroke his massive ego.

If the NHLPA doesn't come back and fix the mess they have created quickly the season is over. IF that happens then the gloves will come off from the NHL. If they lose this season they will make sure it was worth their while. Watch for things like the end of guaranteed contracts and other very painful 'asks' to enter into the picture.

Good job Fehr. And the players blindly following him....a pack of lemmings are about to be led over the cliff.

Fire Fehr yes but fire Bettman also. Three straight lockouts?? Healthy league?? I don't think so.

Put Gretzky as the commissionner. He knows whats good for hockey. He is hockey.

And for the players?? Fock the union. First, a union for Millionnaires?? For god's sake.

Second,they dont need this. The owners are dumb enough to give the world for a player. Union is tearing the players apart. Dumb system.

Fire Fehr yes but fire Bettman also. Three straight lockouts?? Healthy league?? I don't think so.

Put Gretzky as the commissionner. He knows whats good for hockey. He is hockey.

And for the players?? Fock the union. First, a union for Millionnaires?? For god's sake.

Second,they dont need this. The owners are dumb enough to give the world for a player. Union is tearing the players apart. Dumb system.
- soad_live

Good lord no

some teams have a quarter of the salary as the the top teams!!!

12 million for a 6 and 6 pitcher with an era of 4??
the same big markets have the best shot every single year. along with a rotating group of lesser thans who develop well, have a small window, and then start over when the big markets overpay and outprice them when said players get to free agency.

we did this in the 90's. the league was a mess on and off the ice.
the top 5 spending teams won 9 of 12 cups from 93-04. the top 7 won all 12. CANADIAN teams were relocating and the juggernaut few were dominating everybody else.

we want no part of this type of league.

why is this so hard to understand? it's not just about league revenue. it's about the health of every franchise and the ability to ice/field a competitive team every year with an equal shot at winning a title..the owners absolutely HAVE to make some profit.
this promotes a better game ON the ice as well as off
- hugefemale dog77

Not to mention the fact that it was Fehr who fought against drug testing even though everyone knew there was juicing going on.

Who said the NHL is bluffing???? Who said wiping out the season was bad thing??

I think the NHL needs to humble iyself and lose another season. They do not OWN hockey.
- Beatle_john

Thankyou for saying, "They do not own hockey" - NEITHER DO THE PLAYERS!! And without the owners, the players wouldn't be playing in the NHL. So if the players want a bigger piece of the pie, then retire & become an owner!!

Gee, what does your employer pay your employees?? Well, our average employee makes 2.4 million/per season & our lowest end employee makes 500k. Wow, that's great, you guys never have to worry about money or living again & you can have anything you want in life.

Yeah, it's great but you know what, 500k isn't enough to live in today's world, in fact 2 million isn't enough for us because we spend quite abit.

Wow, i wish our employers would take care of us like they do you, no one at our company makes that kind of money!!

What??

In the 10 years since, baseball demolished damage from its "labour disaster era" of 1981-1995. By 2010, revenues hit $7 billion and MLB just signed three new TV deals worth $12.4 billion through 2021. The playoffs are so incredibly good that you have to wonder when the devil's going to start collecting whoever sold their souls for this.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/...seballs-labour-peace.html
- Feeling_Glucky

it's good now, but after that cancelled WS debacle in 94, the game took a massive hot for quite a long period of time. empty stadiums, decreased revenue, angry fans. it has rebounded in recent years, but that was due to smart moves made by MLB. fehr hurt baseball A TON for a very long time

not to mention the fact that because of fehr, we are forced to see the exact same teams in playoffs ALL THE TIME. it's almost 100% because of him that smaller teams are just completely unable to compete. even if they end up with a good team for a year, the big market teams just come in and buy all their talent, and it's all over. increasing revenues are fine, but because of fehr, about 80% of those new revenues go to like 6 teams.

the guy was AWFUL for baseball, and i think he's even worse for hockey.

Up until last night I was on the players side of this. I think they did what they could and got as far as they could and should have signed a deal. They could have figured out the length of the deal and contracts at this point very easily imo.

Fehr has derailed this process and if they really push this farther than it is truly for the top players only in the league and not for all 700. I think by waiting as long as they did they were finally able to get the owners to really make a fair deal in the middle (which I do not think they even tried to before). At this point I think Fehr is asking for too much and risks hurting the NHL like he did in baseball.


I think at this point the players should ask for an internal majority vote and either push Fehr to get the deal done or move on with another spokesman to finish it out.

You have to give props to the Penguins owners on this, they worked with Sid to make this happen (as one of the faces of the NHL). And there is a rumor they even asked Bettman to schedule the meetings as he did. (I have a friend who works in the NHL). That is not confirmed but just rumblings he heard. They basically scripted the scene to make it happen and push to get a middle deal worked out. I wouldnt be surprised to see Sid not comment like he has in the past but work internally to get the PA to push this thing closed.