drwscc

I sure am glad you're not the Commissioner. I can't imagine how many people who love hockey would never be exposed to it because of where they were born or grew up. What an elitist attitude. "You're from Texas/Florida/California, you don't deserve exposure to hockey."

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

Oh, you mean like all the other commissioners?

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.

Name the last likeable commissioner in any sport. They all suck, and always have. It's the nature of the beast.

So..it *is* about the money. I thought it was the love of the game, and these poor players are just being kept from doing what they love by the evil owners. So what you're saying is these guys *are* greedy. Glad you are finally admitting it.

Max player contract of 1 million dollars per year. Immediate reduction of ticket prices to $35-$50 maximum. Corporate sponsorship is limited. Ticket prices are frozen for the duration of the CBA. No max contract length restrictions. That way, noone can complain that the owners are making too much, and the contracts can't get out of hand. The players get to get rich, but not obscenely so. Win/win.

Who cares where the fans stand? It doesn't matter one iota. They know you'll be back, as much as you protest, so what does it matter. Like I said before, when this is all over, noone is going to care who won the PR battle.

This crap is exactly like politics these days. MY team is absolutely correct, and my opponents are all scumbags who are threatening to ruin the game/country/world. It's like everyone has lost the ability to be objective. NEITHER side has been negotiating in good faith, no matter how you spin it. BOTH sides are greedy and are working to get as much as they can. That doesn't change no matter who the commissioner is. They are fighting a PR war that, in the end, doesn't matter. If the players caved today, and signed the last offer from the league, would you all be upset and not watch the games because the owners lost the PR war, but got what they wanted? If the league caved, would you be upset? It doesn't matter as long as they come back.

Let em go. The owners are all scumbags anyway, right? Let Seattle deal with them.

Yep. Move the Oilers to Seattle. Good times.

You mean the NBA lockout that wrapped up a year ago when the players caved? Or how about the NBA lockout of 98-99, where they lost 30+ games? Or are you referring to the MLB strike of 1994-1995? The 232-day strike, which lasted from August 12, 1994, to April 2, 1995, led to the cancellation of between 931 and 948 games overall, and the entire 1994 postseason and World Series (also involved Fehr, interesting.) NFL Refs lockout that ended a couple of weeks ago? 2011 NFL lockout? Nah, you're right. These guys are saints. :S

You must not pay attention to any other sports. All of those men are despised by the fans of their leagues. Read any articles about Stern or Goodell, and it talks about how they try to out evil each other (Bountygate in the NFL, both leagues have recent work stoppages) The fact is, it's the Commissioner's job to be the hated "face" of the league. That's why they are paid well. Instead of you hating Jeremy Jacobs, Mike Illitch, and Ted Leonsis, instead you hate Bettman. He doesn't do any of this stuff on his own, but it's all his fault. Also, thinking someone like Gretzky could be the Commissioner is laughable at best. He has none of the requisite experience, and he's not the type of person that can stand being hated. He was a great player, but was a horrible coach, because that's not where his skills lie. I seriously doubt his ability to score goals will help him in an owners' meeting. IF Bettman gets fired, expect another Commissioner in the mold of Bettman, Goodell, Stern.

Bud Selig may be looking for a change. Heck, Roger Goodell also might be on the move. David Stern? Sepp Blatter? They have the experience.

I will have a hearty laugh when Bettman finally retires, and Gretzky or someone else that everyone is sure is the savior of the game, comes in and picks up right where Bettman left off. The butthurt will be enough to fill oceans.

So, it was good then that Jimmy D made his comments, right? He's just trying to force Fehr's hand by talking to the public. It's basic negotiating and he's not doing anything wrong or badly. It's being petulant, and wanting some attention. Nothing more, nothing less.

The NHL is boycotting the NHL until you're gone.

It's all about leverage. The players are being slightly reasonable *because* the owners locked them out. You better believe if they were playing the season, they'd be just as unreasonable as the owners initial offer. With the threat of losing the playoffs or the Finals, Fehr and the NHLPA could demand whatever they wanted. Again, Fehr has done this before.

The players would have been happy playing the season, and then when it;s playoffs/Stanley Cup time, Fehr would have pulled the plug and organized a strike. He knows that's where ownership makes a lot of money, and he knows that the players would be flush with money from the season so they could stay on strike longer. He's done it before.

and Fehr would? Please.

Record revenues. League won both previous lockouts, and will likely win this one. Tell me again how Bettman is not doing what the owners want?

Nobody cares about the fans. They all want money. They want as much as they can get, both sides. If it was Bettman or Selig or Shanny up there, it'd be the same story. But keep believing that if Bettman magically disappeared that Jeremy Jacobs and Mike Illitch would stop caring about money.

Sure they can. The owners can lock out the players any time they want. That's what it means to be an owner. Is it a good tactic, no, but they can absolutely call a lockout whenever they see fit, and nothing is going to take that power away from them. As soon as enough Dan Cleary and Cal Clutterbuck types that don't have the option of signing a lucrative deal in Europe start missing paychecks, you're going to start seeing cracks on the NHLPA side.

Based on Fehr's past, there would be no benefit to playing under the current CBA. All that would happen would be the PA would stall and fight until the playoffs/Finals, and then go on strike. It happened in MLB with Fehr at the helm, and there is no reason to suspect Fehr wouldn't pull the same crap here. So, he's trying to be understanding of the PA side, and not make a big deal out of it, instead of saying "Look, we need to sit down and get this done, and Fehr is stalling." What a jerk. There were 6 months at that time. I'm sure he figured Fehr would be ready in Feb, March, April..sometime around there. Plenty of time to sit down and start talking.

Yeah, Donald Fehr and his brother Steve put up 15 goals between them in January. How could they have time to sit down and talk to Daly and Bettman?