Well, luckily this weeks update has some substance (other than the depressing, sorrow inducing BS that filled the last two.) This past Tuesday, the NHL took what was largely viewed as a massive step forward in negotiations, offering a proposal to the players that was MUCH better then the ones they had previously tendered (coming "coincidentally" one day after their plan of hiring a famous PR firm and attempting to find ways to win fans support back was leaked to Deadspin.com). The big news was that this proposal offered a 50-50 split in HRR (gee, who predicted that?) while somehow preventing the players from facing immediate salary rollbacks (the method is very complex, and frankly I don't fully understand it, so I won't go into that here.) The deal is contingent on completion within the next week or so, with the commissioner and owners wanting to start a FULL 82 game season on November 2nd, following a week of training camp. Full details of the proposal were released in a press release from the NHL and fans and media everywhere found that, once again, hope was appearing. Only this time it truly felt real.
As expected, the players did indeed find things that they didn't like about the proposal. First: it's still a 7% drop in HRR from their current 57%, and though 7% might not seem like much, we're talking hundreds of millions of dollars from the shared 3.3 billion dollar "pie." There were also many systemic issues that players disagree with such as 5 year contract limits, and a increase to 8 years of NHL service and being at least 28 years old to have unrestricted free agent eligibility. Nonetheless, the hope of the NHL, presumably, is that the NHLPA would keep the base of the offer intact, and work off of it while forming their counter-proposal.
And that brings us to today, October 18th: the most critical day in the CBA negotiations. As I type, the NHL and NHLPA are meeting, with the NHLPA presenting one, or possibly multiple, counter offers and scenarios. The fate of potentially the entire season hangs in the balance. The NHL made it clear that this was an offer meant to get the season started very soon, and have all 82 games (per team) played. It has been widely speculated that in order to have a week of training camp and begging on November 2nd, a "deadline" of October 25th must be set as the least day for a deal to be reached. If negotiations stall, or Donald Fehr and the PA come back to the NHL with a proposal that is completely unrelated to the one offered on Tuesday, this ray of hope could once again be shattered, and this time possibly for good. Many believe that if negotiations fail here, the next talks won't occur until late December or early January, leaving only enough time for a shortened 45 game season, or worse, no season. If all goes well, my next "Thursday NHL Update" could be a "Thursday NHL Preview." So whats it gonna be players? Hockey or no hockey? Fans around the world know what they want, and they'll hold their breath, hoping and waiting to hear good news.
UPDATES TO FOLLOW
UPDATE (3:05 pm): the NHLPA had a conference call just before the meeting and discussed FOUR proposals, all of which consist of 50-50 revenue sharing, but have gradual down grading from their current 57% share, rather than an immediate 7% drop in year one. All four proposals could be presented in todays meetings.
UPDATE (3:50 pm): meetings coming to an end after about 70 minutes. Appears the NHLPA presented THREE proposals to the NHL. NHL to speak to media shortly...
UPDATE (5:00 PM): hope meet hammer, hammer meet hope...Gary Bettman emerged from the meeting after only 1 hour, claiming the day was a "dissapointment" and "step backwards" with no progress made. Steve Fehr echoed those sentiments, adding that the NHL took only 10 minutes to look over the NHLPA's 3 proposals before rejecting them outright.
UPDATE (Sunday, 10:30 PM): the sides spoke over the phone twice this weekend to "clarify" HRR definitions and other aspects of last Tuesday's proposal by the NHL, but no meetings have been scheduled. The NHL remains adamant that they will only "tweak" their proposal and are not willing to accept a completely different one from the PA. The deadline for a deal that would ensure a full 82 game season looms this Thursday. While good feelings and hope have faded in the eyes of many, there are plenty of writers and media members continuing to say that the two sides are as close as they have been to a deal since negotiations began (b/c the players are accepting a 50/50 split of HRR), and that a deal could soon be consummated, even this week. We can only hope...
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