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Nail. Head. The NHLPA brought in their own Bettman, and are *shocked* that it's come to this. They are like a couple of 3 year olds at a daycare, and a deal is never going to get done.

I agree 100% with your assessment. What Bettman and Daly are doing now is petty. Not that we haven't seen this from Fehr in these negotiations though. Before the NHL's big 50/50 proposal hype, they were waiting on Fehr to table a proposal, and Fehr never did. His response was that this wasn't "ping-pong" and the NHLPA proposal was what they wanted to work from. So, while you are against Bettman, just realize that Fehr pulls the same crap when it benefits him. In the end, the fans lose. Which is why I say the NHL and NHLPA can go jump off a cliff.

The thing is too, Bettman and Daly refuse to negotiate unless the Fehr brothers are nogotiating on their terms, off their proposal they tabled Tuesday and willing to make only minor changes. That is not negotiating, not at all. At least the Fehr brothers have tried to get in a room and hash it out, but the evil twins refuse to listen unless fehr says we want to accept your proposal but negotiate the "make whole" issue. That is why I am against Bettman, he consistently refuses to negotiate, while Daly says there is nothing to discuss. There is plenty to discuss.

http://www.wingingitinmotown.com/2012/10/21/3534592/weekly-red-wings-roundup-october-21st This site is pretty good for weekly updates on how our beloved wings are doing out there. Hmm, you have a point, although as I have mentioned time and time again, Zetterberg came out in the news after pre-season practice withj Brunner at the Joe and said some very good things about him, and coming from one of the leagues most respected and best forwards, thats a good sign. He is sneaky like Datsyuk, he has speed, and he makes some sick passes, and puts in highlight reel goals. If he can transfer his talent to the smaller ice we will be an amazing team with him. Don't be a wings fan that knocks on every bad move the organization makes, s*** every team signs players they shouldn't. Thats what the ahl is for, but I firmly believe Brunner will rip ice for us in Detroit.

firing bettman isn't going to end this lockout or solve much of anything except please the anti bettman crowd who are under the delusion that he is the sole creator of all these lockouts also according to this article, the union knew about the 48 hour window on friday, not just today

the pa has refused to meet on nhl terms and the nhl refuses to meet on the nhlpa terms. the pa are also the ones who refused to come up with a new proposal unless the nhl took salary rollbacks off the table. likewise the owners refused to negotiate until the players accepted rollbacks. both sides are guilty of wanting it their way or the highway.

This. I was so infuriated by Bill Daly's statement this morning suggesting that there was "nothing to discuss". The NHLPA presented 3 counter-proposals, and they were rejected within the course of an hour. I took the NHLPA about 2 days to put those together, which is really quite remarkable considering the size of the union and the fact that the NHL has been dictating the terms of this debate and creating artificial timelines. If the owners' position is that there's nothing to discuss unless the player's accept our exact proposal, that is NOT "negotiating". I can already sense fans starting to turn on the players a bit, and I really wish they would put this into some perspective. You can't simply say "Oh, these guys are all millionaires that get to play a game for a living, just give a little money back". Aside from the fact that most players are "thousand-aires", not millionaires, and may only get a few years a professional contract before they have to retire (or get hurt), it's easy for FANS to give back the players money that they've earned. Heck, fans would love the product just as much if Crosby made $200,000 a year, and the entry level salary was $25,000. But I'm sorry, that's just not realistic for the scope of this business and how much money these players (which ARE the "product") generate. This is a cash grab by the owners, who basically were caught betting against the future success of their own league when they agreed to the 57/43 split. The contracts already signed were limited once by the rules of the 2005 CBA (salary cap and other provisions), and are now being asked to be reduced AGAIN by the terms of a new CBA that didn't exist at the time the deals were signed. And, oh by the way, all of this is against the backdrop of a league that has made absurd amounts of money over that same period of time. A lockout is much harder on players than it is on owners. I find it comical that fans actually believe these players want to be wearing suits instead of playing the sport they dedicated their lives to AND earning lucrative contracts for so doing.

esteef

Not true. Bettman does not hate Crosby! esteef

How did I know you'd go to the "Well, those other guys only murdered a few people, Bettman murdered way more!" argument You people are ridiculous and blind. It doesn't matter if it's Gary Bettman or Wayne Gretzky. If the owners want a lockout, that's what's gonna happen. You want to rail against something, rail against the owners. It makes me laugh that you really think this was a cabal of 7 owners. ALL of the owners are rich men, and they didn't get rich by not taking advantage of situations when they had an opportunity. Mike Illitch is not sitting there going "C'mon guys. I really want to lose money, so let's just let the guys play." The owners are not in this to lose money; they are going to make as much as they possibly can. Sounds just like the players, but the players are good, and the owners are bad. There are *no* good guys in this situation. The owners voted for a lockout, and the players hired their own Bettman to fight the real Bettman. Instead of someone who might be willing to negotiate, they decided to hire the most contentious and litigious labor negotiator around. What does that tell you? Hell, most of the players even understand that the Fehr brothers could care less about hockey. But, keep on believing that the players are operating in good faith, and that the poor owners like Mike Illitch and Terry Pegula are being thwarted in their quest to lose money for your benefit by an evil Commissioner and an Illuminati of 7 owners. Oooh Booga Booga

http://www.cbssports...to-labor-strife No, not like all other commissioners. And I'm not sure what a baseball strike has to do with a new NHL commissioner.

"@DarrenDreger: NHL remains firm, willing to negotiate with the PA by only working off NHL offer tabled last Tues. NHL wants next meeting to be an end pt." News flash: this isn't negotiating! Both sides shoot negotiation in the face before they even get in a room together. Nothing is going to get done this way. They need to stop sniping at each other through the media and put on their f$&@ing big boy pants and sit down at a table together for more than 90 minutes. Bring in a mod if you have to, but stop tattling on the other guy for being the meanie.

There quite simply is no way I could fathom voting for anyone in the history of hockey above Gretzky at the center position. You know why Gretzky isn't known as a great two way player? Because any coach on the planet would have been a moron to ask him to curtail his scoring. He didn't have to play great defense because he'd simply outscore the other team. There is a reason he's known as The Great One. Just playing out a hypothetical: had he decided that he wanted to play a defense first game, his hockey IQ and vision were such that I have no doubt he'd have been among the very best at it. As they say, though, you can teach defense, you can't teach scoring... which is what he did better than anyone before or since. EDIT: Clarity

Joe Thornton only has 9 points in 10 games there, in Thornton's most productive season on the NHL, he scored 114 points in 82 games with the Sharks in 2006-07