RippedOnNitro

I think an even 50/50 split is fair considering maintaining an ice hockey rink is more expensive than like a basketball court??? Not sure how much all the hockey gear costs??

They will only discuss non core economics on Friday...

I concur 100%. Making a deal should not be that hard if both parties would look for a solution which is in the best interest of the league and not in the best interest of the owners or the players.

Isn't this actually bad press for the players? A player saying they have absolutely no problem with sitting out even more than a season in order to secure their huge paychecks?

I agree...a brand new league will face the same problems in the future. As long as the players have a saying in how much their employers are required to pay their employees these things will happen!

I wonder who gets nervous first...the owners of the players? History says the players...and from my own opinion I also think the players would be getting nervous before the owners. Just think of it...owners of the losing teams don't have to pay the players, therefore saving a lot of money. Besides the "higher talented" players (even they can earn only less in the KHL under current rules), others will be playing in the AHL or other lower leagues making a lot less money. You can say what you want, but the paychecks/contracts they receive from the NHL are always very generous (even if they have to give up 10% of it).

You might be right yes, but was just thinking out loud on how to just start the regular season. I don't mind at all seeing Detroit's prospects giving it their all in the NHL when given a chance.

Unfortunately I am not be able to watch any games, but the AHL should be awesome this season.

I concur. It is refreshing to watch a league which does not revolve about money all the time. Just players who play for good fun.

Was more thinking about talented youngsters who are still willing to play for 1-2 mln a year...or does the NHLPA block those players from playing?

Aha, so they are willing to give up more seasons? That's good news...! Can't the NHL just use replacement players till the solution is resolved??

Are they gonna build new arenas or use excisting small arenas??

According to the IIHF they must return to the NHL I believe.

Football rules!

I wouldn't call Betman and Fehr Hockey Gods...more like Hockey Morons.

Working around the clock to make a deal...really?!?! I laughed so hard about that avatar! I officially cancelled by subscription for my GameCenter package yesterday. If they somehow get a deal without cancelling/postponing any regular season games I am happy to re-subscribe. However if there is only one game cancelled/postponed I will not re-subscribe this season. Good thing I just started watching NFL since last week for the first time of my life (I live in Europe...) and I absolutely love it, so I will get my needed sport fix!

And they can't support their family with let's say a paycheck worth of the league minimum ($500K a year)? Hell even I can support my family with 10% of that! I can understand it is a principle matter, but the players should never play the victim card. They should be lucky they're getting paid multiple millions a year just to play some game where even when they play horrible all season they still get paid fath checks. There are doctors/surgeons out there who save people's lifes every day (sometimes they have to be in surgery 18 hours straight!)where they can not make a mistake without costing someone's life and they do not get paid like $6M a year! Not saying that I am siding with the owners...a lockout is at fault of all parties involved!

To me it sounds like that player plays hockey for the money and not for the love of the game. It's a shame! They should allow an audience at that meeting and to be aired live, so everyone can yell "booooooo" once an owner votes for a lockout.

On a personal level I am pissed off. But on a business level they are about to lose a paying customer, they will not provide me what I pay for, a full regular season as scheduled, so I will be switching providers, meaning another hockey league to watch (NHL = hockey, but hockey != NHL or another sports, NFL has just begon, for example, and I am really starting to like watching those games actually).

I will be cancelling my GameCenter subscription as soon as the lockout is official...no reason to keep paying for something that isn't there! In case there is so much as even one regular season game cancelled, then I will not subscribe again for the remainder of the season. They probably don't give a damn about it, but just for principle matter.

Nice to hear they are having a 45-minute negotiation again on Wednesday in an effort (can you even call it that?) to prevent a lockout...ugh

I think for either logic a case can be made. Sure they are locked out by the owners and do not get a pay check. Which means they should find an alternate income (aka playing in another league for less aside from the 1% who could get more). On the other side when a player makes $2M in the NHL now and they would need to take a 15% paycut to continue playing in the NHL (= $1.7M) or they do not sign a new deal and play for the AHL for $200K. I am basing this amount on capgeek's numbers where AHL contracts are less than 10% of the NHL contracts. Ofcourse this is based on a one year only period, so you can say the players would prefer to "bleed" one year to get better in the long run. I think the only solid case is that the ones who will really suffer are the fans and the people who work in/around the stadium etc.

That was indeed a very misleading title. And I unfortunately can't say I am as optimistic. But the nhl and nhlpa can proof me wrong...

I think key points are: 1) Lowering the cap floor. If you force teams to spend at least X-amount on player salaries when they simply can not afford them you are going to end up with a team that makes a loss every year. 2) Cap hit = actual salary. This would reduce the insane amount of 5+ year contracts that are signed. Would the Flyers really have sent in that offer sheet for Weber with a cap hit of 13 mln in his first year? No! Nashville did not have a choice to match the offer since Suter already left. (Well technically they had a choice) But in this case you force a team that can not take on such a contract to take on such a contract simply by a possible cap circumvention. I wish both the owners and players will come to their senses and do what is the best for the league and the fans instead of just thinking about themselfs. With a lockout soon to happen I am looking for alternative things to do / other leagues/sports etc. and I must say that I am going to care less and less about a lockout each day...

We will wait and see if NHLPA is going to drop their demands as well in regards of their first offer. At least the NHL is flexible according to NHL.com (http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=640748) "We're not married to the structure, so if it's a good proposal [from the Union] and takes a different route, we're open to that," Daly said." "The NHL is planning to take time to analyze the Union's proposal, and it is possible the sides continue to negotiate through the holiday weekend." <-- they better be!!!