VM1138

And then the NHL will reject it. We have two options and two options only: 1) No deal at all, season cancelled. Most likely. 2) Deal is agreed to after two more weeks of strutting and refusal to compromise, but only at 11:59pm on January 14th, or whenever the last second deadline is. That's how these things are done.

Through all their negotiations, they've still not even started to close the gap. I doubt this will change over the course of a few weeks suddenly.

No way the courts allow this. It flies in the face of the point of a contract. The players fulfilled their end of the contracts in good faith and the owners will be made to carry out theirs. However, it'd be fun to see a mass UFA shift. So long as our guys stay. And I think small teams would survive. There are always Wisniewski's to go for the big contracts in nice cities where they can party.

The tenseness could be a good sign. If they're really serious about getting a deal done, and they've made real progress, now each side will toughen up again to grab whatever concessions they can before it's too late. Honestly, I still wish that nobody goes to the games. Watch them on TV (I know I will) but stay away from the arenas. I have a pet peeve about letting elites get away with hurting everyone else.

Agreed. I wouldn't say we stocked up on "garbage" but Holland did not address the weaknesses of the team. And that defense scares me. We need to remember that there wasn't much to choose from, Holland made his pushes and got outbid. As frustrating as that is, it happens sometimes. There aren't nearly as many elite players anymore, at least not with contracts expiring. The cap and lifetime contracts really eliminated the possibilities of trades and free agency.

Howard had a ridiculous amount of trouble with rebound control, too. The Griffs and Wings know how to train that out of a goalie.

I think the truth is that the owners wanted a lockout way before. Remember the re-alignment? They didn't even bother to show the NHLPA, which anyone with a kindergarten education would realize would sour relations between the two and that the NHLPA would almost certainly torpedo it. They angled to get this thing to a lockout a long time ago, they knew the costs. It really can't be a failure, because no matter what the owners will start making money again next season, and the players will end up playing. Both sides are going to be perfectly fine and are perfectly fine dragging this out.

All I know is that if they cancel the WC, they need to keep the teams for the next season. I'd hate to see the Wings and Leafs get screwed out of this.

This is a good point. If you have job security (like a Datsyuk or a Zetterberg) that person would benefit more from that spot than you would.

Honestly, I'm not sure how the other leagues are, quality wise. I know there are talent disparities, but I would probably just stay in the US if I could play in the AHL. Seems like a pretty decent league relative to the world. I wouldn't go KHL, they strike me as too mafia-run and wouldn't be trustworthy. I'd play for some of the more respected leagues, like the Swedish elite league, but if all things (income, benefits, etc.) were similar, I'd just stay here. It'd be hard to play on a team where you don't speak the same language as your coach or teammates.

Just to praise the Wings during the lockout, I just heard something from my mother. My 11 year old brother is part of their kids club thing and in the past he got a cheap little Red Wings bag as a perk. They called my mom and said that they were lowering the price and offering gloves, a hat and something else as a consolation prize of sorts for the lockout. Pretty classy, I think. Give more for less? Unheard of.

To be fair, we don't know what went on behind closed doors. There could have been 6 teams against the lockout, but that's clearly not enough to stop it. So at that point, as an owner, you'd probably vote in favor of the lockout in order to maintain relationships with the other owners that are essential to trades and business deals. It happens in politics all the time, if your vote won't matter, cast it with the majority.

Hopefully our Wings playing so well overseas will draw some more interest to the Wings once they come back home. At any rate, I'm learning about a lot of places with leagues that I would never have expected thanks to this lockout! Maybe it's not so bad for the game of hockey overall if it lets people like me discover new leagues.

That's awesome that they still use that barn. As a historian and a hockey fan, I love it when the two come together. Unfortunately, the only rink of any significance I've been to was the JLA, and we all know its quirks, namely the bathrooms and the "lively boards." The other arenas I've been to are all fairly small (roughly 5,000 people I think) and new so they're pretty cookie cutter. I remember once when I was a kid I went to a Flint Generals game and I remember the arena being abnormally dark and dingy. But maybe that was because I was a kid and I'm remembering it wrong.

I think time has clouded people's memories. They did all right, doing nothing more than standing pat. The main question mark is Brunner. If he tears it up it's an improvement, if he's average we're the same offensively as last year, and worse defensively. However, a shortened season really helps us because in a short time span it's anyone's game. Motivation and heart can carry a team farther over half a season than over a full 82 game stretch. And the chance for Franzen and other players to get healthy and Zetterberg and Brunner to get warmed up overseas bodes well for the Wings. Plus, we'll still have cap space, won't we? Which means desperate teams might be more willing to trade in a shorter season. EDIT: And as for Suter and Parise, they are non-factors now that they are on Minnesota. They might benefit from a shorter season, too, but long term they will continue to be a middling team that will miss the playoffs more often than not. Those two have taken themselves out of relevancy in the league.

I believe Franzen is one of the Wings who rented out an ice rink near Detroit. Cleary may be one of the other ones. They are practicing and keeping in shape down there, I think. Before we jump down his throat for this, let's remember how injury prone he is this time of year. He very well could be avoiding playing somewhere else to avoid being injured and then having the NHL season begin.

I really don't want an 82 game season. Then they wouldn't suffer. They would be emboldened and know they could pull this crap every time the CBA ends and have it all work out. I want hockey back as much as everyone else, but they need to pay. And by "they" I mean the players and the owners. Best way to do that is to lose games and money and not be able to make them up. So I hope there's no deal for a while yet. Start in December or something.

That's the point. Zetterberg is trying to force Bettman's hand by talking to the public. It's basic negotiating and he's not doing anything wrong or badly. But I highly doubt Ovechkin stays in the KHL. He was just working on having a bounce back year and probably wants to prove himself.

They better get to do the Winter Classic next season if this one gets canceled. But I bet it'll just revert to Pittsburgh.

Well, that doesn't necessarily mean anything. It could very well be politics. Some teams could have been against it, but once it was clear there was a majority in favor, a lot of times you vote with the majority to keep good relations with them and present a united front, since your vote didn't matter anyway.

You couldn't have a 30 team league pop up overnight, obviously, but if this lockout lasts a full year and still has no resolution, I think they could round up a handful of rich people who would want to invest in a new hockey league. Teams in Toronto, Detroit, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Montreal? I don't care if it's just regional as long as there are good players and I can watch it on TV.

Someone create a new league, please. For all the storied history of the National Hockey League, the luster has really worn off. Using a lockout as a negotiating strategy every time the CBA comes up for renewal is a terrible business tactic. They can't keep jerking people around like this. Unfortunately, there isn't any sort of organized movement to force the owner's hand so we're stuck with whatever they choose to do to us. We can rant all we want, and I'm certainly angry, but I'm not going to say I'm done with the league. If the Wings come back, I'll watch because I'm a die-hard hockey and Wings fan. But I wouldn't mind if the players started their own league and I'd probably give that a chance.

Jimmy D is a hockey genius. He hasn't damaged the reputation of the Wings. The Wings have the likes of Jack Adams in their cupboards. You don't have to be likable or wise to be great at your job. Scotty Bowman was a jerk, too, but any team would kill to have him come back and coach them. Jimmy D is on one side of the negotiating table, that's it. Maybe he was a bit crass, but that's his style. It's his opinion, it doesn't affect his job performance, and I doubt many players take it personally outside of using it as a negotiating tactic.

Awesome news about Zetterberg staying until at least Christmas. If anyone's body needs extra rest it's him. He should come back firing on all cylinders as long as he continues working out. Without playing, Homer is done. At his age and with his problems months of inactivity is going to make him far less effective than normal. EDIT: That shocks me that Ovechkin his playing for just over 5 million. Usually Russia throws TONS of money at people. Are they trying to be less mafia like or something?

Thanks for the response, just what I was looking for. And everyone, keep on topic. Don't devolve into a political debate about unions. I know since this is a political issue relating to hockey, it's hard to walk that line, just keep it focused on the lockout and the NHL.