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Rumors swirl that NHL season might not be dead yet
By IRA PODELL, AP Sports Writer
February 18, 2005
NEW YORK (AP) -- It's still hard for the hockey faithful to accept that the NHL season was really canceled.
And on Thursday, there was still some reason not to believe it.
Day 155 of the NHL lockout was, stunningly, Day 1 of the offseason. But that didn't stop the rumor mill from generating talk that the season might not be dead after all.
Sure, everyone heard commissioner Gary Bettman make the unequivocal announcement Wednesday that the gap between the league and the players' association over a salary cap would keep the NHL off the ice.
Yet, throughout Thursday, word spread that pockets of people on both sides were trying to get the principal players negotiating again.
Bettman said it was too late for talks. But maybe there was still time.
``I hear some rumblings ... that owners and players are trying to make an attempt to get back to the bargaining table, but it's got to occur today, tomorrow, or the next day,'' agent Pat Brisson said.
By nightfall, that faint hope again seemed false -- a familiar outcome of late.
Both sides said there have been no talks since Bettman and players' association executive director Bob Goodenow traded proposals Tuesday.
``We have heard a lot of the rumors that are out there,'' NHL chief legal officer Bill Daly told The Associated Press. ``Unless or until we hear from the union, the rumors are meaningless.''
The Hockey News cited sources that said Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux were trying to work together to get a deal done. Gretzky said he talked to Lemieux, but downplayed the significance of their discussion.
``To say Mario and I had a conversation to stir up the conversations and talks again, that's just not true,'' Gretzky said on the Fan 590 in Toronto.
And it appears that no other scenarios could un-cancel the season, either.
``The players we've spoken to understand the basis upon which Gary canceled the season, and as a result there's no expectation among our membership that there would be any further negotiations,'' NHLPA senior director Ted Saskin told the AP.
In becoming the first major sports league in North America to lose an entire season to a labor dispute, the NHL finally got the national attention it's always craved.
But for all the wrong reasons.
Now the fear is the fight over a new deal between owners and players will just start over from scratch. Everything offered has been pulled back, any softening of the positions has been lost.
One canceled season could easily become two.
``I hope the people in these negotiations realize they're not that far apart,'' Rangers forward Bobby Holik said. ``Let's not blame one or the other. The blame is collective, and let's get working on a new day.''
There was no progress made during the first five months of the lockout, but breakthroughs were achieved just days before the season was lost. Hope was raised and then quickly dashed.
The dispute has always been about a salary cap, but even after owners and players made concessions in an effort to save the season, it all fell apart over dollar figures.
``We didn't make good history, but we made history another way,'' Dallas forward Bill Guerin, a member of the players' association executive committee, said while making the radio rounds Thursday. ``We have to be the first union to offer a salary cap and get shot down.''
All along, the union swore it would never accept a cap -- but that was before the NHL dropped its insistence on having a link between league revenues and player costs.
Once the sides started trading numbers, it became clear they weren't close enough to a deal. Even though the league's cap offer of $42.5 million per team was only $6.5 million less than the players' proposal, conditions and fine print put them further apart than it seemed -- a gap that just couldn't be bridged.
``It's crazy,'' said Islanders general manager Mike Milbury, a union representative during his career. ``Twenty years ago when I played, we didn't have in the dressing room catalogs of `Christie's Great Estates of the World.' I mean, these are wealthy people, millionaires, and they are losing valuable time.''
Instead of starting a deal to be on NBC and receiving promos during the network's ``Must See TV'' lineup, the NHL now has people saying, ``Did you see what they did to the hockey season?''
The NHL's partnership with NBC will still be there when play resumes. The revenue-sharing deal in which the network is not even paying rights fees won't start until hockey is played.
``We were prepared for any eventuality,'' NBC Sports spokesman Mike McCarley said. ``We have profitable replacement programming in place.''
Many will now look ahead to this spring's world championship tournament in Austria. Usually, only players on teams eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs had the opportunity to take part -- but many stars might be craving a competitive game.
Over 300 of the 700-plus players have spent at least part of the season in European leagues, and that would be an option again in the fall.
Bettman didn't rule out the use of replacement players for next season if a deal with the union can't be worked out. He said the NHL plans to have hockey next season, and all options will be explored by the board of governors when it convenes soon.
Milbury called some of his players Wednesday night and urged them to push the union leadership to make a deal.
``This is not about a bluff,'' Milbury said. ``The best deal has already been offered. The sooner they come to the conclusion that they need to make a deal to move this business forward, the better off we all are.''
By IRA PODELL, AP Sports Writer
February 18, 2005
NEW YORK (AP) -- It's still hard for the hockey faithful to accept that the NHL season was really canceled.
And on Thursday, there was still some reason not to believe it.
Day 155 of the NHL lockout was, stunningly, Day 1 of the offseason. But that didn't stop the rumor mill from generating talk that the season might not be dead after all.
Sure, everyone heard commissioner Gary Bettman make the unequivocal announcement Wednesday that the gap between the league and the players' association over a salary cap would keep the NHL off the ice.
Yet, throughout Thursday, word spread that pockets of people on both sides were trying to get the principal players negotiating again.
Bettman said it was too late for talks. But maybe there was still time.
``I hear some rumblings ... that owners and players are trying to make an attempt to get back to the bargaining table, but it's got to occur today, tomorrow, or the next day,'' agent Pat Brisson said.
By nightfall, that faint hope again seemed false -- a familiar outcome of late.
Both sides said there have been no talks since Bettman and players' association executive director Bob Goodenow traded proposals Tuesday.
``We have heard a lot of the rumors that are out there,'' NHL chief legal officer Bill Daly told The Associated Press. ``Unless or until we hear from the union, the rumors are meaningless.''
The Hockey News cited sources that said Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux were trying to work together to get a deal done. Gretzky said he talked to Lemieux, but downplayed the significance of their discussion.
``To say Mario and I had a conversation to stir up the conversations and talks again, that's just not true,'' Gretzky said on the Fan 590 in Toronto.
And it appears that no other scenarios could un-cancel the season, either.
``The players we've spoken to understand the basis upon which Gary canceled the season, and as a result there's no expectation among our membership that there would be any further negotiations,'' NHLPA senior director Ted Saskin told the AP.
In becoming the first major sports league in North America to lose an entire season to a labor dispute, the NHL finally got the national attention it's always craved.
But for all the wrong reasons.
Now the fear is the fight over a new deal between owners and players will just start over from scratch. Everything offered has been pulled back, any softening of the positions has been lost.
One canceled season could easily become two.
``I hope the people in these negotiations realize they're not that far apart,'' Rangers forward Bobby Holik said. ``Let's not blame one or the other. The blame is collective, and let's get working on a new day.''
There was no progress made during the first five months of the lockout, but breakthroughs were achieved just days before the season was lost. Hope was raised and then quickly dashed.
The dispute has always been about a salary cap, but even after owners and players made concessions in an effort to save the season, it all fell apart over dollar figures.
``We didn't make good history, but we made history another way,'' Dallas forward Bill Guerin, a member of the players' association executive committee, said while making the radio rounds Thursday. ``We have to be the first union to offer a salary cap and get shot down.''
All along, the union swore it would never accept a cap -- but that was before the NHL dropped its insistence on having a link between league revenues and player costs.
Once the sides started trading numbers, it became clear they weren't close enough to a deal. Even though the league's cap offer of $42.5 million per team was only $6.5 million less than the players' proposal, conditions and fine print put them further apart than it seemed -- a gap that just couldn't be bridged.
``It's crazy,'' said Islanders general manager Mike Milbury, a union representative during his career. ``Twenty years ago when I played, we didn't have in the dressing room catalogs of `Christie's Great Estates of the World.' I mean, these are wealthy people, millionaires, and they are losing valuable time.''
Instead of starting a deal to be on NBC and receiving promos during the network's ``Must See TV'' lineup, the NHL now has people saying, ``Did you see what they did to the hockey season?''
The NHL's partnership with NBC will still be there when play resumes. The revenue-sharing deal in which the network is not even paying rights fees won't start until hockey is played.
``We were prepared for any eventuality,'' NBC Sports spokesman Mike McCarley said. ``We have profitable replacement programming in place.''
Many will now look ahead to this spring's world championship tournament in Austria. Usually, only players on teams eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs had the opportunity to take part -- but many stars might be craving a competitive game.
Over 300 of the 700-plus players have spent at least part of the season in European leagues, and that would be an option again in the fall.
Bettman didn't rule out the use of replacement players for next season if a deal with the union can't be worked out. He said the NHL plans to have hockey next season, and all options will be explored by the board of governors when it convenes soon.
Milbury called some of his players Wednesday night and urged them to push the union leadership to make a deal.
``This is not about a bluff,'' Milbury said. ``The best deal has already been offered. The sooner they come to the conclusion that they need to make a deal to move this business forward, the better off we all are.''
) to get this shit over with....
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