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[Retired] Official Lockout Thread

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http://espn.go.com/n...-bickering-ways

Given that that proposal included a chance to play all 82 games and thus pay players a full salary -- whatever those salaries would have looked like under a new deal -- one might have expected the players to seize that and try to manipulate it and tweak it more to their liking.

You know, sort of draw a line from A to B.

Isn't that, after all, what negotiating is supposed to look like?

Multiple sources have told ESPN.com there was and is room within that owners' proposal to move, areas that could have and still could form the basis for negotiation and some sort of resolution.

Likewise, multiple sources have told ESPN.com that many players believed that owner proposal was a good starting point. It had its warts, of course, but it was a place from which to begin getting a deal done.

Instead of drawing that line from A to B, the players came in with proposals that appeared to be a further reworking of their earlier proposal -- or lines that went from D to E.

Within minutes of the meeting's rather abrupt end, there were claims that the sides were trying to mislead the public about what exactly the offers entailed.

Here is the telling point to this whole situation. I do agree with this assessment.

In this two-man drama, one character, let's call him Don, hands the other a sheaf of papers.

"Hey, read this, Gary, I think you'll like it. It's exactly what you need," the Don character says.

At the same time, though, the Gary character hands Don a similar sheaf of papers.

"Hey, read this, Don, this is really good."

The two continue to hand the papers back and forth throughout the play.

The problem is that both characters are blind.

Absurd? Sure. Just like these negotiations.

Because here's the rub. When all the rhetoric had cleared after Thursday's deflating exercise, what was left was the idea that maybe what's written on those two sheaves of paper isn't all that dissimilar.

Edited by Nightfall

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I don't think the proposals are all that different. The NHLPA will get to 50/50, but in a phased in approach so they can collect on curent contracts. NHL wants 50/50 immediately.

Here's what I don't understand. It is much less important for the owners to get to 50/50 immediately as it is for the players to be able to phase it in. The players only have a finite life left to earn money. The owners are it for the very long run. Why don't the owners see this key issue and work something to protect the players that can only earn money for the next few years on average.

The issue may be just that though....why would the owners budge. They know the players have far more to lose by not playing, so they are getting advice to wait it out and the players will cave eventually. This is probably true, but the players are going to try and stand strong....admiral, but not smart. If they stand strong for too long, they will lose more money than they will ever be able to get back by whatever better deal they are able to make....I will guarantee that. They'll say it is worth if for the future generation of NHLers, but really, those guys will be on completely different CBAs. I guess you can look at it as setting a precedent, but not sure why the players would push so hard for that.

I agree with the players fighting for their rights, I just think they should think about it a little more smarter and what's in it for them.

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My only question is...do the players realize that they are already giving up percentages of their salary with each missed paycheck during this lockout?

They are telling everyone each time they want their contract to be honored 100%...but in the meantime they already lost 1 of 12 paychecks this year...essentialy giving up 8% of their salary.

They also have to realize that when the next batch of games is canceled...the chances are only getting smaller that the owners are willing to honor their contracts in full, whatever construction they want to use.

I hope that the PA shares their proposals with the media, so I can have a look for myself how they want to get to 50/50 in the first year without giving up salary...

If they can salvage a full 82 game schedule, there's likely no need to pro-rate any salary (aside from a drop in revenue). They may miss a check or two, but their remaining checks would just be that much higher.

Also, there is the principle to consider. The fight may be futile, but that's not a good reason to just submit. If you can leave the other guy a little bloody, it makes him less likely to want to fight again in the future.

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Without having read this entire thread, has any started the discussion about how Mr.Ilitch may be one of the hurdles that this negotiation is facing? Seems logical since a couple of key points in the negotiations are cap circumvention (which he did) and revenue sharing with smaller clubs (which he does a lot).

Maybe he's lobbying hard to save money so he can fully fund a new arena! LOL

Judging by the way he looked last night I dont think he is making many judgment calls on anything. :(

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If they can salvage a full 82 game schedule, there's likely no need to pro-rate any salary (aside from a drop in revenue). They may miss a check or two, but their remaining checks would just be that much higher.

Also, there is the principle to consider. The fight may be futile, but that's not a good reason to just submit. If you can leave the other guy a little bloody, it makes him less likely to want to fight again in the future.

Well that is the problem...a 82 game schedule is not possible anymore after the PA's proposal.

Leaving your enemy a little bloody is fine, but not when that means you leave yourself in a bloody massacre...

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Well that is the problem...a 82 game schedule is not possible anymore after the PA's proposal.

Leaving your enemy a little bloody is fine, but not when that means you leave yourself in a bloody massacre...

Well, the league did say the full season could be played if started by November 2nd. TECHNICALLY there's still time, but I'm not holding my breath...

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Here's the truly sad part of this (and the fans are guilty of it as well):

I've been moderately anti-NHL (and pro-NHLPA) for this whole thing, and despite the NHL's brilliantly evil PR tactic of placing an arbitrary negotiating deadline on the PLAYERS to acquiesce to the demands of the owners and end a lockout that the OWNERS created, I'm not losing sight of how this entire dispute started, and how ridiculous it is. Even if no deal gets done before 10/25, and there's no 82-game season. Most people assumed that was a foregone conclusion once we started losing preseason games anyway.

But while I still largely agree with the players, and view the lockout as unnecessary, I'm getting the sense from the NHLPA that "honoring current contracts" is an issue taking precedence over all. And that's terribly short-sighted. There are MANY other significant issues that severely compromised the fairness of the game and the safety of the players from 2005 to 2012, but the fans heard "82-game season" and "50/50" and suddenly all they care about is "Accept! Accept! Accept!".

There's some good elements in the NHL's proposal. I like the 5-year deals, and the third-party arbitrator for discipline decisions is probably a good thing. But the $12 million drop in salary cap will cripple some franchises, and the provisions retroactively punishing teams for signing mega-deals are barbaric and certain to cause horrible unintended consequences.

If you would've asked anyone in 2011: "What are the major issues affecting the long-term viability of this game?", here are a handful that come immediately to mind:

  • The safety of the players, caused in large part by the 04/05 rule changes and the increased speed of the game
  • Circumvention of the salary cap, including the new "Minnesota Wild" tactic of offering absurd signing bonuses to pay players nearly double what the CBA supposedly allows in one year
  • "Revenue sharing", or the complete lack thereof
  • Proper scheduling/realignment (such as the plan proposed last year and rejected by the NHLPA as a bargaining chip)

Notice that none of those were "what percentage of hockey related revenues go to the players and owners", though that issue is obviously tied to players salaries and the bottom line of the 30 teams. If you fixed those four things (and I think all four of them COULD be significantly improved), we'd have a much better game and a more viable business model going forward.

If you leave those issues untouched, rush into an agreement arguing primarily over grandfathered contracts, AND expand the league to 32 teams (as is heavily rumored today), we're going to be right back here again in 7 years or so. And in the meantime, we'll see even more BS like what Chicago and Philadelphia did to become Cup contenders, plus a whole assortment of NEW problems. I want hockey back worse than anyone, but if we're going to have a lockout that the NHL tells me we sorely need, then I want to see some evidence that there was a purpose to that lockout other than playing with revenue numbers. Say what you want about the 2004-05 Lockout, but we did emerge with a notably different (and, in many ways, better product) after that horrible experience.

Edited by StormJH1

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This article is worth a read, I just stumbled upon it and it talks about Bettman possibly knowing he was going to turn down any offer the PA tabled before it even happened, and his whole 50/50 offer was just a pr move and really held no water.

http://www.rantsports.com/nhl/2012/10/18/nhl-rumor-did-nhl-plan-to-turn-down-nhlpas-offer-from-the-start/

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Yeah

This article is worth a read, I just stumbled upon it and it talks about Bettman possibly knowing he was going to turn down any offer the PA tabled before it even happened, and his whole 50/50 offer was just a pr move and really held no water.

http://www.rantsport...from-the-start/

Yeah all that sounds a few people on here got together and wrote an article about what they thought....no proof of anything. Both the NHLPA and the NHL are wanting the moon and the stars and no one is willing to give anywhere. I lean more towards the owners simply for the fact that no other business in the world has it's employees making more money than the owners. That wouldn't be very smart of the owners.

Edited by hillbillywingsfan

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This article is worth a read, I just stumbled upon it and it talks about Bettman possibly knowing he was going to turn down any offer the PA tabled before it even happened, and his whole 50/50 offer was just a pr move and really held no water.

http://www.rantsport...from-the-start/

None of these proposals that either side are throwing out there are going to be accepted. It won't be until both sides sit in a room longer than 60 minutes to NEGOTIATE a deal. There are going to be things in any proposal that the other side is not going to see eye to eye with. Which is why you have a negotiation and concessions by both sides working towards the goal of making a deal that works for both sides. I haven't seen that desire by either side. It seems that playing the PR card and complaining is more important than making a deal.

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Yeah

Yeah all that sounds a few people on here got together and wrote an article about what they thought....no proof of anything. Both the NHLPA and the NHL are wanting the moon and the stars and no one is willing to give anywhere. I lean more towards the owners simply for the fact that no other business in the world has it's employees making more money than the owners. That wouldn't be very smart of the owners.

The players getting 57% of HRR in no way means they make more money than the owners.

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Ryan Lambert with Puck Daddy had a scathing review of the League's (read: Bettman's) negotiating tactics. I'd recommend giving it a read.

I've left out a good chunk of the middle, because you really should go and give the whole thing a read. But I've included the parts that I agree with most.

"(We're) going to get a deal done" - Gary Bettman to some dude, October 18, 2012, approximately 2:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

"We were done in an hour today because there was really nothing there." - Gary Bettman to reporters, October 18, 2012, 4 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Funny, that.

Why, it's almost like the NHL had no intention whatsoever of accepting whatever offer the NHL Players' Association put forward yesterday, and that everything it has done to this point has come as part of bad-faith negotiations disguised as platitudes about how much the fans matter and how important it is for them to get a deal done.

...

But again, it was a PR move, and so the NHLPA fought back in the only way it knew how, offering three proposals with all different terms, but two of them with revenue shares based on growth, rather than just flatly dropping to 50-50 as the NHL's does. The other, which they had to know the league would never accept under any circumstance, sure doesn't make Bettman look good. Basically, it said, "We'll go to 50-50 today if you give us the money you owe us on the current deals up front."

Oof. That last part really has to sting Bettman. The players were ready to capitulate to your 50-50 demands right away, as long as the owners you represent in all this gave them the money contractually owed them.

Instead you pitched a fit to the media and considered it to be in a different language than what you were asking.

This is, in the NHL's mind, not acceptable. Reason enough for Bettman to storm out of a Toronto office building after talking about how deeply disappointing all this non-capitulation is — and to be sure, that's the only thing he's upset about — then get in a hired car and take the first flight back to New York City. Second time in a row that's happened. All the PR spin in the world can't change the fact that it's the league, not the PA, that refuses to negotiate.

"There was nothing to talk about," Gary? Sounds to me like that's only because the things to talk about weren't exactly what you wanted to hear. Next time try holding your breath until your face turns blue. That'll show everyone that you and aren't being inflexible at all.

Don Fehr, the players, and the fans (one of whom you directly lied to less than two hours before your press conference) will know you mean business.

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Proper scheduling/realignment (such as the plan proposed last year and rejected by the NHLPA as a bargaining chip)

The players didn't reject it as a "bargaining chip" as you say. In case you forgot, the NHL proposed realignment was completely uneven and gave Eastern Conference teams an almost 10% advantage in making the playoffs versus the Western Conference teams. THAT is why the players rejected it, like anyone else would have.

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The National Hockey League announced today the cancellation of the 2012-13 regular-season schedule through November 1. A total of 135 regular-season games were scheduled for Oct. 11 through Nov. 1.

The cancellation was necessary because of the absence of a Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL Players' Association and the NHL.

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Yeah

Yeah all that sounds a few people on here got together and wrote an article about what they thought....no proof of anything. Both the NHLPA and the NHL are wanting the moon and the stars and no one is willing to give anywhere. I lean more towards the owners simply for the fact that no other business in the world has it's employees making more money than the owners. That wouldn't be very smart of the owners.

I think you are wrong. Employee compensation is the main expense of great many businesses especially in the services area. Owner gets whatever is left after all expenses are covered.

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Guest RedWingsDad

The players didn't reject it as a "bargaining chip" as you say. In case you forgot, the NHL proposed realignment was completely uneven and gave Eastern Conference teams an almost 10% advantage in making the playoffs versus the Western Conference teams. THAT is why the players rejected it, like anyone else would have.

Well that just sounds stupid... the concept of eastern and western conference wouldn't have existed under the new proposal. Also, what did they use to determine that 10% advantage, lol? Don't mean to derail the lockout conversation... but .. yeah... lol

Edited by RedWingsDad

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Well that just sounds stupid... the concept of eastern and western conference wouldn't have existed under the new proposal. Also, what did they use to determine that 10% advantage, lol? Don't mean to derail the lockout conversation... but .. yeah... lol

The fact that the two divisions in the "Eastern" conference had 7 teams in them, while the two divisions in the "Western" conference had 8 teams each. SInce the top 4 teams from each division would make the playoffs, that means each of the teams in the "Western" divisions would have a harder time making the playoffs than the teams in the "Eastern" divisions, since they have one more team to compete with in their division.

I don't know if the actual percentage is 10% (I'll leave the actual amount to someone who's better at math than I am), but it's clear that it's fundamentally harder for teams in the "Western" divisions to make the postseason than teams in the "Eastern" divisions.

photonw.png

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Well that just sounds stupid... the concept of eastern and western conference wouldn't have existed under the new proposal. Also, what did they use to determine that 10% advantage, lol? Don't mean to derail the lockout conversation... but .. yeah... lol

The two divisions in the east would have 7 teams each, the two divisions on the west would have 8 teams each. The top 4 teams from each make it to the playoffs. Its not rocket science to see that the teams in the east would have had a very clear and pretty significant advantage in making the playoffs.

Edit: Didn't see Jedis post there, looks like he beat me to it.

Edited by sleepwalker

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Guest RedWingsDad

The fact that the two divisions in the "Eastern" conference had 7 teams in them, while the two divisions in the "Western" conference had 8 teams each. SInce the top 4 teams from each division would make the playoffs, that means each of the teams in the "Western" divisions would have a harder time making the playoffs than the teams in the "Eastern" divisions, since they have one more team to compete with in their division.

I don't know if the actual percentage is 10% (I'll leave the actual amount to someone who's better at math than I am), but it's clear that it's fundamentally harder for teams in the "Western" divisions to make the postseason than teams in the "Eastern" divisions.

photonw.png

Thanks for breaking it down. I probably should have clarified the precise reasons for my "lol". I knew that the teams wouldn't be even, but it is quite silly to me that the whole (awesome) idea was scrapped by the NHLPA over just that... in favour of the current system. Adding an expansion team could have solved that problem. Clearly the owners weren't worried about the "10%" disparity. Going off on a tangent I know.. I had just never heard what the exact reason for scrapping the re-alignment was.

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Thanks for breaking it down. I probably should have clarified the precise reasons for my "lol". I knew that the teams wouldn't be even, but it is quite silly to me that the whole (awesome) idea was scrapped by the NHLPA over just that... in favour of the current system. Adding an expansion team could have solved that problem. Clearly the owners weren't worried about the "10%" disparity. Going off on a tangent I know.. I had just never heard what the exact reason for scrapping the re-alignment was.

I may be mistaken but I think the reason was because they had the power to scrap it and the fact that the owners just came up with it w/o consulting the PA. Probalby aslo a PR move to say that they wasn't just going to lay down and take whatever the owners wanted.

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Craig Custance has a good article on the negotiations so far.

It was a conversation before the craziness. A Monday afternoon chat when all we knew was that this week was a crucial one for negotiations between the NHL and the NHLPA.

Red Wings forward Dan Cleary, one of the group of players who were in Toronto on Thursday to present the union's three offers, was asked a question that ignited an interesting answer.

Once a deal is ultimately struck, will both sides be able to come together amicably to help rebuild the game as a partnership?

"I think so," Cleary said on Monday. "When it comes time to have a partnership, which we all want, which we have to have -- if we don't have it, we'll have a lockout in six years. Again. We will, for sure."

And that's where we are right now. At a point in negotiations that impact not only how long the coming season will be but whether or not the two sides are setting up a growth-crushing cycle of a lockout every six or seven years.

The wounds inflicted now and the negotiation tactics used in an attempt to get a deal done aren't forgotten when it comes time to talk about a new deal down the road. Especially when so many of the key players are the same.

One former player who was very active in the previous negotiations between the league and the players that set up the last lockout shook his head in frustration at the news that came out of Toronto on Thursday.

"Now it sounds like it's going to be a long one, eh?" he said. "It's the same as last time, the same owners, [Jeremy] Jacobs and those guys."

The players remember these things. They'll remember that they took two days to consider the NHL's offer made earlier this week only to have their three counterproposals shot down in minutes.

Brendan Morrison is another player who has been through multiple negotiations and he explained why it was so important that the league make the next offer this week. It had nothing to do with current talks and everything to do with previous ones.

"Players are reluctant to really alter our current proposal simply because in '04-05, we felt we made a huge sacrifice moving forward -- gave up 24 percent [in rollbacks]," Morrison said earlier this week. "Our feeling at the time was, OK, if they do accept this, the deal is going to get done. Instead, they took that offer, put it right in their pocket and said, 'OK, thanks, what else are you going to do?'"

Scars from a previous negotiation that impact the current one.

It's been said often during these negotiations, but the next step is critical to these talks and potentially the long-term health of the game.

It's expected that another block of games will be canceled soon, but we've already seen a willingness to reschedule. That's not the end of the world.

The key in the coming days is that neither side digs in for a home run in these negotiations. Both sides have to feel like they're getting something.

There have been times during negotiations where Donald Fehr's motivations have been questioned, which is natural when an outsider steps into a tight-knit sport and immediately holds so much power. Was his ultimate goal to wipe out the salary cap and set up a system like baseball's? Was this an opportunity to secure his legacy as one of the all-time best labor negotiators? Or is he simply just trying to preserve as much money as possible for a group of athletes who are being asked for major concessions during a period of strong growth in their sport.

While the league quickly shot down the three offers made by the players Thursday, there has to be some reassurance in those offers to the NHL that Fehr is serious about a deal. Deputy commissioner Bill Daly made it clear that he didn't agree with the math, but at the very least there looks to be a willingness among the players to get close to 50/50. There's a deal to be made.

But at the same time, the owners have to show more give. There's still a perception out there that the NHL's offer this week came with major concessions from the owners. They were only major concessions when compared with their previous offers. Compared with the last CBA, the players were being asked for concessions across the board.

They're being asked for a paycut. They're being asked to wait longer for free agency. They're being asked to limit contract length.

Most players are actually very realistic on where they stand. They know they're going to take a hit financially in this next deal. That's just the reality when it comes to leverage. But there has to be at least something in it for them.

"We're willing to make major, major concessions over the term of the deal, but we would rather do it through growing the game rather than give them money up front," said one player. "And we're not just going to give you money for no reason; it has to be used properly."

The two sides aren't incredibly far off on the financial split. As Elliotte Friedman pointed out today, the two-tiered system where signed players keep their money and unsigned players take the future hit might be a workable solution.

It may be too late to save the entire 82-game season at this point, but it's not too late to find a deal that prevents a future cycle of lockouts. The long-term health of the game has to be the biggest priority.

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Thanks for breaking it down. I probably should have clarified the precise reasons for my "lol". I knew that the teams wouldn't be even, but it is quite silly to me that the whole (awesome) idea was scrapped by the NHLPA over just that... in favour of the current system. Adding an expansion team could have solved that problem. Clearly the owners weren't worried about the "10%" disparity. Going off on a tangent I know.. I had just never heard what the exact reason for scrapping the re-alignment was.

They didn't reject it because they didn't like it. They rejected it because they felt they didn't have enough information to properly evaluate it and the league wasn't interested in providing it to them.

"Players' questions about travel and concerns about the playoff format have not been sufficiently addressed. As such, we are not able to provide our consent to the proposal at this time," union head Donald Fehr said in a statement.

"We continue to be ready and willing to have further discussions should the league be willing to do so."

Fehr added the league had set a Friday deadline for the union to approve the plan.

Shortly after the plan was approved, commissioner Gary Bettman said the NHLPA had expressed concerns but that the league didn't need the union to sign off on the changes.

Fehr rejected Bettman's claim and said the proposed plan would have fallen under the players' terms and conditions of employment in the collective bargaining agreement.

"We were prepared for the realignment from the NHL, but we weren't given every bit of information regarding it. How can you make an educated decision without all the proper information?" said Florida Panthers player representative Mike Weaver.

"We asked for the reasoning and that reasoning was not produced. They were not open to discussions about it."

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=384427

Bettman basically implemented this plan without involving the union and dared them to kill it. It was the first F-You by the league to Fehr and the union, and a pre-cursor to how the CBA negotiations would go. (getting back on topic)

It's part of my problem with Bettman. Heading into a CBA negotiation instead of being diplomatic and involving the union he ignored them and literally said we don't need your approval. Great way to set the tone for coming negotiations.

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