Jedi

Or not... LeBrun's now tweeting that talks are over, and there's reportedly been no progress. No more talks with mediators planned at the moment.

As expected, still not much word leaking from today's meeting, other than LeBrun tweeting that it's still going on at this time... No news is good news, hopefully...

I'm sorry, but that's an incredibly crass thing to say. While it's true the Penguins would receive the majority of that money that's lost, there are other local businesses that are suffering because of the lockout. Ordinary, hardworking people that are losing money through no fault of their own. THEY are the true victims of this lockout.

They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-haaa - Napoleon XIV

LeBrun says both sides are meeting again today at 11am, mediators included again. And Puck Daddy had a funny little snippet from Fehr's comments to the media about mediators (emphasis mine, for comedic value)...

LeBrun's tweeting that the meeting is still going on, as of about an hour ago. He also speculated that we won't hear much in the way of news updates from today's meeting...

At the time Danielsm paid for the tickets, the exchange rate for Canadian-to-US dollars was 1.022768, meaning that $1USD = $1.02CDN. So for the $708 US price, he actually paid $724.12 from his pocket. At the time of the refund, the exchange rate for Canadian-to-US dollars was 0.970127, meaning that $1 USD = $0.97CDN. So for the $708 US refund, he only received $686.85 back. Because the Wings/JLA Box Office can only trade in US Dollars, they could only refund the original $708.00 USD they received, regardless of the currency exchange rate. Through no fault of his own, Danielsm got screwed out of $37.27, or the cost of one beer at the now-cancelled Winter Classic. $708.00 US x 1.022768 = $724.12 Canadian - Amount Paid $708.00 US x 0.970127 = $686.85 Canadian - Amount Refunded

Don't Look Back - Boston

Which is exactly what the next-to-last line of my previous post points out. That said, getting both sides together with a third party will only help the process. It might not help enough to get a deal done, but if absolutely nothing else, it will make things abundantly clear as to which side is refusing to negotiate or willing to budge on certain issues.

It appears a Federal mediator is now involved in the CBA negotiations, per LeBrun... ...and McKenzie... To me, this can be nothing but a good thing. A neutral third party who can sit both sides down, and help them see how close they really are... Though, McKenzie is quick to inject a little bit of reality about the situation... And finally, if anyone were curious, here is the official press release from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service...

Oh My Sweet Carolina - Ryan Adams

Dear Anne (Stan Pt. 2) - Lil Wayne

The Heckler is a largely satirical website, in the same mold as The Onion. I'm inclined to close this one, until we get confirmation from a more reputable source.

Bob McKenzie thinks that the final CBA will probably be no less than 6 years, and most likely 8-10 with an "opt-out" around 6 years.

That's certainly a fair point. However, most of these proposals will have some fairly intricate details that will take awhile to come out. The CBA that just expired was 454 pages long, but the gist of it could be boiled down to about 3 or 4 paragraphs. Most of these proposals can be over-generalized in much the same way.

Aaron Ward. Bob McKenzie breaks it down in a little simpler terms... Same here. Hoping that the new proposal today paves the way to real negotiations. A deal is so close, get it done boys! Because 10 years out is far too long for the players and owners to agree to in this economy and under the current NHL economic system. Neither side wants to get screwed if the revenue either increases or decreases dramatically in 4 years, so they won't sign for such a long deal. And yes, I realize that the NFL just signed a 10 year CBA. But how many times have people said it's not fair to use other leagues as models? The NFL is a money making machine of GARGANTUAN proportions, so both sides there can afford to sign longer term deals.

Interesting tidbit from Dreger... And Brad Richards sent LeBrun a text, saying...

Aaron Ward's reporting that the CBA meeting is over for the morning. Fehr's addressing the media currently. The meeting only lasted about an hour. Fehr says the two sides will reconvene at 1pm EST. Chris Johnston with the Canadian Press...

A few tweets about the meetings, which should be underway by now. Too many individual tweets to link to, so I'm just linking to the source... NHLPA Aaron Ward Bob McKenzie Darren Dreger

Friend of the Devil - Grateful Dead

http://shop.nhl.com/...ductId=13239192 http://sports.yahoo....hl-lockout.html Kevin McGran with the Toronto Star has an article out highlighting the issues in the CBA negotiations that have been agreed upon, close to agreement, and are still under discussion. I believe most of the issues they've agreed on, or are close to agreement, have been covered here already. But I thought this one was particularly intriguing, and I hadn't seen it mentioned...

Everyone, please remember that this thread is for discussion of the lockout, meetings, etc. pointing out each other's posting style and viewpoints in a "gotcha" game isn't exactly staying on topic.

Darren Dreger confirms the next meeting will be tomorrow morning at 10amEST. And it looks like the NHLPA is having an internal meeting this evening, discussing strategy and presentation for tomorrow's session.

I Don't Even Know Myself - The Who

Thinking of the Carmina Burana? http://youtu.be/DZ71CQiDBpY