NHL Cancels Regular Season Games Through December 14th and 2013 All-Star Game

[RayzorEdge]

I skimmed through twitter in my spare time Tuesday and Wednesday and laughed at all the retards who actually thought a deal was going to get done overnight. Any momentum is always killed by egos and I saw it coming a mile away. Anyone remember what happened in 2005 before the season was cancelled?

There's good reason why we don't care. We have several minor and junior leagues giving us great hockey. The NHL is nothing more than a daytime soap.

[mikebflorida]

I think the whole thing is disgusting.

The owners aren't willing to negotiate, that much is obvious, it's their way or the highway and they are willing to wreck the sport. I just don't get it.

The Lightning's owner, Jeff Vinik is one of the moderates who wants the season to be played, he's spent a lot of money refurbishing the arena and on PR for this being the Lightning's 20th season and he's just not as greedy as some of the others like the Toronto owner.

It's very discouraging said Martin St Louis and as a fan who is quickly becoming a former fan, I completely agree with him.

I don't think there is much chatter about it because it's just too depressing. We definitely didn't ask for this and as fans, we suffer and have to read about billionaires arguing with millionaires over OUR money. Wow. The focking balls on these people.

It wouldn't be the first league to go completely under, others have failed too but nothing this big.

Best option now is for the union to decertify because then they can't lock out the players, it goes against anti trust laws here in the US, anyway. I doubt this will happen though.

[Philly Fan 27]

i thought bettman saying the 5 year max contracts is the hill they will die on was hysterical. how many owners offered 5+ years this past off season? or the last couple of seasons?

[Killah_punk]

It least the World Juniors are going to rock this year. Except of course that there being played in Russia so the game times over here in North America are going to be brutal. The last lockout in 2005 Canada had probably there best team ever iced at this annual tournament.

[Habs # 1]

Call it off... take care of the bullsh*t and come back next August with a deal at the latest...

Take the time and just get it done right!

[chilly666]

Originally Posted by RayzorEdge

I skimmed through twitter in my spare time Tuesday and Wednesday and laughed at all the retards who actually thought a deal was going to get done overnight.

the best part yesterday was how all the media were all repeating what fehr was saying and how optimistic he was, then boom, his brother comes in and all hell breaks loose and everyone was confused as **** until donald explained the situation.

Originally Posted by RayzorEdge

There's good reason why we don't care. We have several minor and junior leagues giving us great hockey. The NHL is nothing more than a daytime soap.

this is so very true and anyone who needs the nhl, is foolish

[hockey doc]

Almost everyone here have been blaming the players or the owners or both for not being able to find a middle ground to these contract negotiations. How about the media in Canada? Have they pressured either side in the press? The NFL replacement ref situation got settled in a heartbeat once the US media outlets enmass embarrassed and humiliated NFL boss man Roger Goodell over the horrendous calls that were being made on the football field.
Could the Canadian media can accomplish the same thing by singleing out and attacking only Bettman? This is his 3rd work stoppage, he should be getting raked over the coals over this. What do you Canadian guys see up there?

[chilly666]

why would they attack bettman? it's the owners calling the shots and telling him and daly what to do. plus it's not like canada is dying without the nhl either.

[hockey doc]

Originally Posted by chilly666

why would they attack bettman? it's the owners calling the shots and telling him and daly what to do. plus it's not like canada is dying without the nhl either.

Of course the owners are calling the shots, that's been happening since the formation of the NHL, only since the NHLPA was adopted that the players have had a voice in anything business related. The owners ruled with an iron fist and it's time they got a hefty dose of their own medicine. The media and the Canadian hockey fans need to pick a villian and go after them, the owners/bettman are the easiest target to hit in my mind.

[Mike Tython]

I have a hard time feeling bad for the players at all. They, or at the very least Fehr, had to know their proposal wasn't good enough yesterday. Hiring that maggot was the worst possible decision they could make, given his history. For him to put his spin on things in front of the entire world was absurd. But, of course, most of these players never received a formal education, so they're not the sharpest tacks in the world. In fact, and you can flame me if you want, but I appreciated Bettman's response to their three-ring circus act. He had every right to be pissed off, and I'm glad he called them out and was an candid as he was about it.

Aside from Jacobs, the other owners they brought in, namely the moderates like Burkle and Tannenbaum...I have to imagine those guys know what they're doing. Especially Burkle, who has a reputation for being worker-friendly and an ability to get labor agreements done. To see those guys be amazed at how everything went down told me all I needed to know about the PA.

[JKidd]

Originally Posted by Mike Tython

Especially Burkle, who has a reputation for being worker-friendly and an ability to get labor agreements done. To see those guys be amazed at how everything went down told me all I needed to know about the PA.

This was one of my big takeaways as well.

Burkle has been given awards for his work with labor groups, and getting deals done of all types and magnitudes, and for him to come away from this with this statement:

The idea to put players and owners together in the same room was a refreshing idea. Commissioner Bettman should be thanked for proposing it and the Fehrs should be thanked for agreeing to it.

The players came with a strong desire to get back to playing hockey.

They were professional and did a good job of expressing their concerns and listening to ours.

We wanted to move quickly and decisively. We have all spent too much time without any real progress at the expense of our fans, our sponsor and the communities we serve. It was time to make bold moves and get a deal.

Many people think we got over our skis and they are probably right, but we wanted to do everything we could to get back to hockey now. We didn't hold back.

We made substantial movement on our end quickly, but unfortunately that was not met with the same level of movement from the other side. The players asked us to be patient and keep working with them. It's not what they do and they wanted us to know they were committed. We understood and appreciated their situation. We came back with an aggressive commitment to pensions which we felt was well received. We needed a response on key items that were important to us, but we were optimistic that we were down to very few issues. I believe a deal was within reach.

We were therefore surprised when the Fehrs made a unilateral and "non-negotiable" decision – which is their right, to end the player/owner process that has moved us farther in two days than we moved at any time in the past months.

I want to thank the players involved for their hard work as we tried to reach a deal.

I hope that going backwards does not prevent a deal.

Per TSN

Tells me there is no hope. None at all.

[Boston Garden]

The worst owner in sports....bar none. I'm embarrassed to have this cheap greedy prick represent a Boston sports team.

I'm not dissolving the NHLPA of any blame, but Jacobs never changes....once a selfish greedy prick always a selfish greedy prick.

[Mike Tython]

Originally Posted by JKidd

This was one of my big takeaways as well.

Burkle has been given awards for his work with labor groups, and getting deals done of all types and magnitudes, and for him to come away from this with this statement:

The biggest thing I took away from the owners' statements was from Tannenbaum's, where he said something to the affect of: "If I hadn't witnessed it firsthand, I wouldn't have believed it."

What more can you say to that than wow?

[hockey doc]

There is still one avenue of approach not yet brought into the negotiating process, and that is binding arbitration. This could settle things in a day or two but there's a huge risk involved that either side would be willing to take. Each side could end up dissatisfied with the final decision of the arbitration panel and I doubt that either side would ever agree to try it, it may not be a legal option at this point. Any lawyers out there know about this?

[Mike Tython]

And there's gotta be some in-fighting in the PA. At least as far as the contract lengths go. Seriously, how many players in the PA will ever be lucky enough to get a five year contract in free agency, let alone a seven year contract if they are on the current roster? 10%? 20%? More? Less? Yeah, the Crosbys and Ovechkins of the league will (and in their case, already have and then some). But what about the rest of them like (and I'm using Pens players since I'm most familiar with them) the Tyler Kennedys and Joe Vitales of the league? Those guys probably just pray for a 1-3 year deal. That's gotta be a source of major disconnect.