Eklund: NHL Putting the Ball in Fehr's Hands for Two Weeks Will Be Key to End.

Eklund: NHL Putting the Ball in Fehr's Hands for Two Weeks Will Be Key to End.
- Eklund

first

fist

EDIT: to answer your question, yes.

Only Ek's confidence meter goes up hours after word breaks the sides probably won't talk for two weeks

Only Ek's confidence meter goes up hours after word breaks the sides probably won't talk for two weeks
- NYrangerfan521

it's a classic fake-out.

"we won't meet for two weeks"

and five days later, BAM!!!

roast chicken

Only Ek's confidence meter goes up hours after word breaks the sides probably won't talk for two weeks
- NYrangerfan521

Talki g right now would destroy the season.

firsting

Talki g right now would destroy the season.
- Eklund

season is dead.

Talki g right now would destroy the season.
- Eklund

common sense would disagree

common sense would disagree
- NYrangerfan521

Talk about what? Until the Pa gets in the game...

common sense would disagree
- NYrangerfan521

this.

that ridiculous meter should be at 'no progress'.

not speaking for 2 weeks is AT LEAST that..certainly not more. probably much less

Those bastards can continue to negotiate as long as they want...NHL is no longer important in my life..We have junior hockey and I play 3 games a week in a beer league...Wayyyy better than sitting on the couch and watch those losers!

So for all of you players and owners... Go F**K yourselves!!!

Thank you

Talk about what? Until the Pa gets in the game...
- Eklund

Despite the fact that we may may not be any farther from a deal than we have been in the last couple months this two week moratorium also means we arent any closer either. Every time something new happens in this lockout you try to spin it to make it sound like this event will directly or indirectly lead to the lockout ending when.

I fear that when the NHL officially cancels the entire season you will say its just a negotiating tactic that will end the lockout in the coming days

I fully expect the season to be over, within 3 weeks. This is a very hollow attempt to put a smiley face on it. It pisses me off, that we can't seem to get away from the mind games and settle into a negotiation to end this. Here I sit with my 5 satellite dishes and no hockey to watch. It's a sham!!

It's not Ek's fault that there is no hockey right now.

My Optimism Meter has been in the red all month and it continues to tick down a bit more day after day. Somethings gotta give eventually.

Ek, you said it. Fehr has never negotiated a deal. The courts had to do it in baseball and now you expect him to go against grain and work something out? You're dreaming. Fehr doesn't care about hockey, nor did he care about baseball. All he cares about is winning his deal no matter the cost.

I stopped reading right there.

"I have had owners tell me they wouldn't miss a period of hockey over those contractual issues..."

You've NEVER spoke to an NHL owner in your life. Don't take us all for fools, c'mon!

It's not Ek's fault that there is no hockey right now.

My Optimism Meter has been in the red all month and it continues to tick down a bit more day after day. Somethings gotta give eventually.
- Datsyuks_Dangle

I agree that it's not his fault, but these lockout blogs have been atrocious. He sounds like a 10 year old, desperate fanboy who's trying to grab on to any shred of optimism there may be left and is completely ignoring the bigger picture and indisputable facts. Read what he just wrote there. It's nothing but a bunch of hoshposh thats strung together by his own personal beliefs. That is not journalism, that is amateur hour.

It's almost as if everyone here agrees that he is embarrassing himself at this point. Don't worry ek, no one comes here to read your positive spin. Report the facts and the issues at hand, drop the meter and that finger-crossing mentality, and you'll be taken more seriously by everyone that continues to visit the site.

i like you EK but i dont see it maybe a deal can get done in the very last minute but even guys on tsn believe this season could be shot. doesnt look good and of course my kings cant defend the cup possibly im angry

Good blog, Ek... Agreed. This was actually a good move by the NHL... It's pretty much a basic negotiating tactic.

It's still not close to the real deadline so I doubt Fehr cares. Unless there's less player resolve (due to loss of money, which I feel is being overrated right now) than I suspect. If the season is going to be saved I think it'll happen like it did in 1995 with the last second deal - and reports seem to indicate that the drop dead date for the season will be in January, like it was that year.

About the only reasons to be optimistic right now: I still think Fehr is ultimately a more rational negotiator than Goodenow was. Tough, yes, but a guy who will in the end take the best deal possible over torching a year of paycheques to try and get his way. The very fact he hasn't completely antagonized Bettman and co to the same degree that Goodenow did speaks to this I think. (They may think he's trying to hijack the process but they respect him enough to seriously negotiate, whereas last time the goal from day 1 was to crush Goodenow and the union).

Secondly, Fehr runs a much looser operation than Goodenow did, so I really do believe the players are in control of this: if they decide they want the best possible deal NOW, it'll get done. Every report on Fehr has said the reason he's so successful is because he never forgets who he works for, and the culture of paranoia and distrust has such a legacy in the NHLPA that I would bet he'd get overruled if there was ever a hint to them he was acting stupidly. As it stands, they're united, and I don't blame them because I don't think Fehr's strategy has been bad so far. I think Lebrun quoted an anonymous owner today who said he's done a masterful job.

gOod move on the part f the league ....get this done

I really think that the NHL is the one waiting out the players. There has been no legitimate make whole solution provided, even if we dis include the games lost this season, NHL offer was 200 mil which won't make up for the contracts for sure. And NHL all along has the edge no matter what, because players lose money that sustains their lives, NHL owners lose money and some actually end up saving a loss, but they don't need this money to survive. NHL is going to hold out till players give in to a poopty deal. Honestly if Bettman wants to get this done, Fehrs third proposal out of the 3 proposals proposed 3 months ago, is the most basic one to get this done. It just said that the NHL pays out the contracts first, and then keeps the rest of the money, plain and simple!!! This season's been just stupid because there is no plain field here, Owners always will have the edge and will never give in. players have to cuz season played or not they are not going to get that year back of their contract... so they are better excepting a deal that even pays them 30% first year and then 50% for the rest cuz in all honesty 30% is more than 0%, as the contracts lose a year regardless if seasons played or not!! NHL just needs to stop screwing over the players, offer 50/50, with contracts guaranteed in every season after this one. AND stop asking for other limitations on contracts, UFA increase by 1 year is fine, and same with salary arbitration, rest forget it!!!

this sucker's as good as done

i like you EK but i dont see it maybe a deal can get done in the very last minute but even guys on tsn believe this season could be shot. doesnt look good and of course my kings cant defend the cup possibly im angry
- Kopitar1

There is too many reasons for the lockout to end, i think even with Fehr and Bettman being idiots, or at least spending too much time on getting the upper hand, this lockout has to end, at the end of the day players will accept whatever is the last offer on the table no matter, because its a money game, and if they don't play this season they lose out on all that money, and regardless of what they negotiate in CBA it won't add up for the losses created in a lost season. Only 1 reason that players won't give in is pride, they don't want NHL to pull all this bs on them, cuz they are getting screwed over in every offer and they got too much pride to get run over by the NHL, other than that there is no reason for them to not accept even the worst deal, cuz the main issue is money, and the players lose way too much if they lose the season.