Some CBA tidbits

Good afternoon, this is day 73 of the NHL lockout and we're no closer to getting an agreement than we were yesterday.

The NHL CBA talks have now decided to hire a federal mediator to help them in their squabble. Which for a short period of time gave NHL hockey fans a “sliver” of hope that there could be an end to this ridiculous work stoppage – the recommendation by the mediation team is non-binding.

This might be nothing more than window dressing. I am not giving up hope that just maybe, we finally can have a break through – we’re running out of time to have a meaningful season if this lockout drags on much longer.

Ed Tait; Winnipeg Free Press --- The U.S. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service announced Monday a pair of mediators will now be involved in negotiations between the NHL and the NHLPA in an effort to bridge the gap between the two sides.

"I think both sides are prepared to try a new approach," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told the Washington Times. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained." Added NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr in a statement: "We look forward to their involvement as we continue working to reach an equitable agreement for both the players and the owners."

Then one of the first official actions to come out of the federal mediators coming on board was to have one of the mediators removed from the team because of a twitter kerfuffle.

Kevin McGran; The Toronto Star --- In what could only be described as a bizarre twist, mediator Guy Serota was removed from the talks only an hour after being appointed due to the odd postings on his Twitter account (@GuySerota). Some of the tweets included references to masturbation and religious attacks on comic Sarah Silverman. He said it was hacked. It has since been deleted and replaced with nothing controversial on it.

He was replaced as a mediator by John (Jack) Sweeney, director of mediation services, once the hockey world got a look at Serota’s sometimes awkward musings on the social media site that has famously seen its share of hoaxes (recently during Hurricane Sandy), impersonators and the humbling of celebrities, like Alec Baldwin.

The ole my twitter account was hacked excuse. You really can’t make this stuff up – twitter references to self-gratification – some people should not post on twitter. When will people realize that you have to safeguard your twitter account but also; one tweet could ruin your whole life with one click of a mouse.

This is one of the best eye opening articles that I read today.

Barry Rozner; Daily Herald --- The reason there’s no agreement yet is that Gary Bettman has made promises he can’t keep. And if he doesn’t keep them and loses half an NHL season — or more — in the process, he will be out of a job that pays him $8 million a year.

That’s why there’s been little negotiation from the NHL. That’s why there’s no hockey. And that’s why there won’t be hockey until the owners order Bettman to sit down and negotiate, or a union decertification forces the league to bargain instead of bleed.

See, Bettman promised seven or eight owners that he could get another lopsided deal. If he doesn’t get it after losing a billion dollars in league revenue, he’s probably out of a job.

So Bettman is holding up the game to save himself, and one imagines he’s still convincing a small group of men that he can squeeze more from the players. That small group of owners, in turn, is keeping the arenas silent.

Doesn’t paint you a very good picture about the hopes of gaining a settlement for the CBA, unless certain owners want to have a new agreement.

The No Hockey League is back

I haven’t been following the NHL Lockout news as closely lately because frankly it’s been depressing and there hasn’t been much in the way of news to come out. There also hasn’t been any serious meetings either. I am hoping that NHL Network and NBCSN decided to give us some AHL hockey this season because I don’t think we’re going to have an NHL Season. It could also be a very long NHL season = No Hockey League Season.

Larry Brooks; New York Post --- It Is time for the moderate and progressive wings of the NHL Board of Governors to reclaim their league from the extremists who have managed to set the collective bargaining agenda.

It is time for the Governors who have been cowed most notably by owners’ commissioner Gary Bettman and Boston’s Jeremy Jacobs to gain control before this runaway train of an insane lockout goes over the cliff, taking the 2012-13 season and the NHL’s credibility with it.

All of a sudden, it is getting late early. All of a sudden, what seemed unthinkable over the summer and even up to a week ago, appears not only possible, but probable: The season — another season — is going to be canceled.

What kind of league operates this way? What kind of industry routinely shuts its doors upon expiration of each labor agreement? What manner of leader rules by gag orders, veto power and ultimatum?

There is a deal to be had here. Everyone in the industry recognizes it, and essentially everyone in the industry, including those on both sides of the aisle, recognizes the deal starts with the league guaranteeing all existing contracts with a capped rate of escrow of approximately 5 percent.

Apparently, the Winter Classic is going to be used as leverage either - this is from Sporting New's Jesse Spector...

The Toronto Star reported on Friday that, according to a source, commissioner Gary Bettman plans to pull the plug on this season’s Winter Classic as early as November.

“Gary told (the owners) he was going to cancel the Winter Classic in November because he didn’t want the players to use the game as leverage,” the Star’s source said.

No one should be confused now – the NHL owners aren’t going to give an inch in this labor disagreement and the NHL owners are bound and determined to weaken the NHLPA and will kill the season to make their point.

Kind of makes a guy wonder why the Owners and Players don’t just send this labor disagreement to arbitration hearing now to save our season. It doesn’t take a great hockey mind to figure out that the owners don’t plan on moving and they have sent their lap dog Gary Bettman out to relay that message.

Moreover, the fact that Gary Bettman is out there already threatening to cancel the Winter Classic should send the players a message that the owners plan on doubling down and agree with Bettman’s tactics. There is going to be no give and take here and this is beginning to look a lot like 2004-05 all over again.

The people that are going to suffer the most in this labor disagreement is the fans –it appears at least right now that the neither side care too much about the fans.

That being said I do blame the owners for most of this mess – if you were so broke why the owners signing these ridiculous contracts during the offseason. I am pointing my finger at the Owner of the Wild and the Nashville Predators specifically right now. Seriously, that is like someone that is grossly overweight complaining about their weight problems after eating a huge helping of chocolate cake. The owners can’t have it both ways.

Video NHL - 'Together We Can' #nolockout (HD)

This is an awesome video that's making it's way around the Internet - lots of good memories on this video.

As a Boston Bruins fans that watched Ray Bourque play many games with the spoked "B" on his chest, I can still remember that day that Bourque "finally" lifted Lord Stanley's Cup above his head, Gary Thorne with the call - it seems like it was just yesterday, "after twenty two years...RAYMOND BOURQUE!"