Is the NHL closer to sending its players to 2014 Sochi Olympics?

100 px (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Let’s hope that they can get it done soon that will send the NHL players to the 2014 Olympic games in Sochi, Russia. It does sound like a deal is very close.

NEW YORK — NHL players are just a slap shot away from returning to the Olympics next year.

While a deal hasn't been reached yet between the NHL, the union and the International Ice Hockey Federation, to send the league's players to Sochi, a long meeting Monday pushed the sides much closer to an agreement.

"Things are moving along," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said.

Bettman, union leader Donald Fehr and IIHF President Rene Fasel met for more than five hours Monday at league headquarters to work on a deal that would allow NHL players to compete at the 2014 games in Russia. This would be the fifth Olympics for the NHL.

Not everything has been agreed to and the various sides need to meet internally to sign off on any pact. Still, Bettman called Monday's session a "constructive meeting," adding there are still "some I's to dot and T's to cross."

"I think it's fair to say that we're not quite ready to announce it's done," Bettman said.

After 113 days NHL Lockout is over… Yay!

I woke up this morning to find out that the winter of discontent is over; the NHL and the NHLPA have agreed to sign a new CBA, according to Minnesota Wild beat writers Michael Russo of the Star Tribune.

"We have reached an agreement on the framework of a new collective bargaining agreement," Commissioner Gary Bettman said at a joint news conference with NHLPA Executive Director Don Fehr at 5:45 a.m. ET. "The details have to be put to paper. ... It's good to be at this point."

Do you hear that? Yay! The NHL lockout over! The NHL will no longer be the No Hockey League. I suppose now the NHL will try very hard to win back the millions of fans that they upset and too for granted. If the reports that I have been reading are correct, the new deal is for 10 years with a mutual opt-out after eight years.

So we shouldn’t have to go through another lockout until the 2021 season. Winning back the fans that they took for granted is not going to be an easy task, especially in this economy. Many fans will stay home and watch the game on NHL Center ice or get the games through their regional sports channels. I can say many.

Now the NHL teams have to fish their players out of the different European hockey leagues, especially the KHL.

The Kontinental Hockey League was a favoured (sic) destination, especially with the Russians as Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin, Washington's Alex Ovechkin and New Jersey's Ilya Kovalchuk were among that league's scoring leaders, just as they usually are in the NHL. [TSN.CA]

So basically, for 113 days the NHLPA and the NHL owners who acted like a bunch of spoiled children. Finally got to work and signed a deal. This should have been done last summer. I think the fact that the NHL owners put that ridiculous proposal out in September, kind of slowed things down and polarized the two sides.


Now the NHL wants us back. I think they have one hell of a marketing job to do. It’s not going to be easy getting some of the casual fans back into the NHL arena’s to watch the games. The NHL had a lot of mojo after last season’s Stanley Cup Playoffs and they squandered that momentum.

There might be some people that don’ want to spend that $70.00 - $200.00 to see a national hockey league game. I spent $70.00, for lower bowl seats the last time that I went to a Minnesota Wild game in March of 2011.

Honestly, I will be back watching the game from my living room, and I can’t wait to see the Boston Bruins play hockey again. I can’t wait to watch my Bruins smash P.K Subban and the Canadians again, but I am still angry.

I can’t wait to watch the Brad “Little Ball of Hate” Marchand’s antics as he drives the opposition fans and players nuts. I already have a shot across the bow to one of my buddies that hates Marchand.

Lastly, I still think that the Vancouver Canucks led by the Sedins Twins and Alex Burrows are still a bunch of diving frauds.

Make this happen NHL and NHLPA

This is something that I have seen tweeted and written print a few times in the last week, the is that the NHL owners have told the Commissioner Gary Bettman that cancelling the season is not an option.

Paper exchanged between NHL/ NHLPA. Bottom line: Big mkts. have told Bettman a cancelled season is no-go. Fehr knows this. So will grind.
— bruce dowbiggin (@dowbboy) January 2, 2013

If and when a new CBA is signed, word on the street is the NHL will make Centre Ice free for the season.
— Josh Rimer (@JoshRimerHockey) December 30, 2012

NHL CBA negotiations now a game of chicken?

National Hockey League Players' Association (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have sometime's wondered if this is what's really going to happen. I was also wondering if the NHLPA will realize they can no longer get anymore out of the owners and then sign the best agreement, they can get.

It would appear that the owners aren't going to give them much. Me personally, I would advise the players to sign the deal that's on the table soon, if there is no movement by the owners so they can save the season.

Bruce Garrioch,OTTAWA SUN --- The NHL and NHL Players' Association have turned to a dangerous game of chicken with the season on the line.

Who blinks first?

NHLPA special counsel Steve Fehr did reach out to NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly for a short telephone conversation Tuesday, but no talks are scheduled even though both told QMI Agency Saturday they're prepared to bargain.

Daly said in an email to QMI Agency Tuesday that NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr is trying to bide his time to see if he can get his best deal for the players when the loss of the whole regular season is truly on the line.

But Daly also admitted a meeting wouldn't solve much because the NHL isn't going to go any further than the offer tabled two weeks ago in New York as the massive losses continue to mount for both sides.

"It disappoints me and saddens me because it's just more days lost," wrote Daly. "But, I'm not sure what meeting does from our side. There is nothing left to give and its clear Don is aiming toward a 'deadline' showdown."

This NHL Lockout has been a gong show, there is no reason this should have come to this. I like most are now wondering, when is the 2012-13 season is going to begin. Is there going to be an NHL season, if not, will there be an NHL season next year? We're running out of time for a season this year.

Not 100 percent, but it's likely NHL will cancel more games before end of the week
— Pierre LeBrun (@Real_ESPNLeBrun) December 18, 2012

During the regular season, I watch 4-6 NHL hockey games every week. I follow the Boston Bruins and the Minnesota Wild and watch whoever is playing when neither team is on TV. This fall, much like the 2004-05 season this fall has been empty. My life has a void again, like the 2004-05 season. I find myself watching movies and bad sitcoms to fill the void. The people that are casual fans might not come back when the lockout is over.

A recent study of 1,000 Canadians found that the found the NHL lockout is so bad for the league's image that it's comparable to BP's Deep Water Horizon's destructive oil spill. Yeah! That's not good. So you have to wonder if this game of chicken the two sides are playing is doing more damage than good.

All that I want for Christmas is a meaningful NHL season.

RT @craigcustance: Hard to argue this from Brisson: "Canceling the season -- there's no words to describe how devastating that would be."
— Steve Zipay (@stevezipay) December 19, 2012

NHL proposes meeting between owners, players

National Hockey League Players' Association (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This newspaper article came through my twitter feed. After reading a few of these articles it would appear that the owners are pulling out all the stops to break the NHLPA. I can't think of anything else that they're trying to accomplish.

Seriously! What else could this be?

It would also appear that the NHL owners are trying to check the unions solidarity as well. I suppose they think they can peal a few of the players off to pressure the union to sign their deal that they presented earlier.

Like some have said, this lockout just might be about the players with the big contracts. I am beginning to lean that way.

Rob Rossi, Triblive --- Now with a second lost season in eight years a growing possibility, the league has proposed a meeting between only owners and players, deputy commissioner Bill Daly said.

Daly declined to provide details, and he would not say whether all NHL owners or representatives would be available for the meeting that would exclude league and union executives such as commissioner Gary Bettman and union head Donald Fehr.

The Players’ Association did not say if it would agree to the meeting – though many players, including Penguins from Sidney Crosby to union rep Craig Adams, have said they would like to hear from more owners.

What do you think?

It would appear that the NHL owners have no intention of negotiating and seem to be dead set on cancelling another season if the players don't take their offer that is on the table. So we wait.

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.

Tweets of Silliness - Bettman wasn't two week Moratorium.

Daly: "Regardless of what we propose or how we suggest to compromise the answer is "no,"At some pt you have to say "enough is enough".
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) November 16, 2012

I really don't know why the two side can't come to an agreement and get a deal done. The NHL can't afford to lose another whole season. The NHL owners lead by one of the most unlikable people Gary Bettman is trying to break the player union or at least weaken it. If the season is lost, the blame in on the NHL Commissioner in my opinion.

Daly: "unfortunately, we have determined we are involved with Union leadership that has no genuine interest in reaching an agreement."
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) November 16, 2012

Series of Daly quotes on league initiated hiatus:"We have made repeated moves in the Players' direction with absolutely no reciprocation."
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) November 16, 2012

Sources have indicated Bettman floated the idea to NHLPA that both sides take 2 week moratorium.This has NOT been discussed further. #TSN
— Aaron Ward (@aaronward_nhl) November 16, 2012

#CBA Can confirm what @aaronward_nhl first reported, that Gary Bettman suggested to NHLPA's Don Fehr that two sides take 2-week moratorium
— Katie Strang (@KatieStrangESPN) November 16, 2012

My opinion: Bettman's 2 week moratorium makes no sense if he really wants a deal. Trying to burn calendar, put more pressure on players.
— Allan Walsh (@walsha) November 16, 2012

57% is irrelevant now that both sides talking about principle of 50/50. NHLPA agreed to eliminate back diving deals. @globekpd
— Allan Walsh (@walsha) November 16, 2012

Related articles

• Did Bettman over play his hand? (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

Did Bettman over play his hand?

Here is my question as the lockout continues towards day 60 – has the NHL owners and Gary Bettman over played their hand? From reading some of the articles that I have seen the last couple of days it would appear so.

Mark Spector; Sportsnet.ca --- Somehow, commissioner Bettman and his deputy Bill Daly have made it their quest not just to get the players to a 50-50 share of Hockey Related Revenues, but also to dictate when a player can become a free agent, when he qualifies for arbitration, how long he can sign for, what colour his car should be, what he should name his dog…

Bettman wants half the pie for his owners, but also wants to tell the players what kind of ice cream to put on their half. Even people who work with the teams don't see the wisdom in losing games over that, we're starting to learn.

The rest of the hockey world sees it as a sign of unparalleled greed by the owners.

"The dollars are set. Why are the teams so concerned about how the dollars get split up among the players?" a prominent agent asked on Monday. "Why the heck do they care if Player A gets 20 years at 20 million, or 1 year at $500,000? The players' pool is fixed."

 Perhaps it is a snapback from all those previous CBAs in which Bettman failed to close enough loopholes to keep salary escalation from occurring.

Can we have some F'N NHL Hockey?

We just went through what seems like the longest election of our time...At least the American's did.  To make things worse, the NHLPA and the NHL owners are still locked in a labor dispute and we still don't have an agreement after 52 days. Can we please get this thing settled? Lock both sides a room until they can come up with an agreement.

Is there a solution looming.

This is good news... Right?

NHL-NHLPA meeting still going....
— Pierre LeBrun (@Real_ESPNLeBrun) November 7, 2012

#CBA As of 9:25 p.m. ET, talks between NHL/NHLPA still ongoing. Interpret that as you wish...
— Katie Strang (@KatieStrangESPN) November 7, 2012

Tuesday Morning ponderings

I haven’t really been following the CBA lack of a negation’s as closely as I was before the college hockey season started. It’s becoming evident that the NHL owners are trying to see if the NHLPA’s resolve will develop fissures and start to fall apart. It doesn’t really appear to be happening just yet, although according to Michael Russo, “there are some players that are starting to fret over lost wages.”

I suppose, if you’re an older veteran NHL player like former SCSU Husky forward Matt Cullen, you only have a finite number of years to play before in the professional ranks before you become too old to play in the NHL anymore.

The thing that really bugs me is that this is the third lockout of Gary Bettman’s 19 year tenure as the NHL commissioner – so in my opinion he will go down in NHL history books as being the lockout commissioner. Bettman is highly unpopular with the NHL fans and the players – but he isn’t going anyway fast according to Christopher Botta of the Sporting News.

Octagon agent Allan Walsh, a persistent critic of Bettman’s, struck a similar chord last week. “The writing is on the wall,” said Walsh, whose clients include Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. “Every sports commissioner has a certain shelf life, and Bettman’s has expired. We all know the lockout will end at some point, but Bettman has become such a toxic commodity for the game, it’s untenable after three lockouts that he be the person to grow revenues in partnership with the players going forward.”

ut unlike Logan, Bettman—who answers to the owners of a 30-team league and has the support of an overwhelming majority of them—is not going anywhere.

“Gary’s in this for the long term,” said Harvey Schiller, the former president of the Atlanta Thrashers and now chairman and CEO of GlobalOptions Group, a risk management and business solution company in New York. “He has majority support of ownership. Gary has made a commitment to them and they have made one to him.”

I consider myself a big time NHL fan and I watch at least 5-6 NHL games every week on the NHL Center Ice package, “when” the NHL is playing and not locked out. While I am saving myself $170.00 by not having the NHL this season, I would much rather spend the money.

So I find myself at a loss to find anything decent to watch on the television most nights. I guess I would rather watch the NHL than Broke Girls and Revolution, even though I do think both are decent shows.Personally, I would much rather watch the Minnesota Wild and the Boston Bruins, however, we don’t have that option right now.

I have seen some of the people that I follow on twitter say that they won’t be watching the NHL once the lockout is over – myself I will be crawling back the minute they solve this mess.

I do think that blame is on the NHL owners, I am with Minnesota Wild defenseman Ryan Suter who said.

“If you can't afford to (sign contracts) then you shouldn't do it. (Owner Craig Leipold) signed us to contracts. At the time he said everything was fine. Yeah, it's disappointing. A couple months before, everything is fine, and now they want to take money out of our contracts that we already signed.”

So for the time being – a fair number of us just have our college hockey – I know that’s how I am going continue to fill my NHL void with NCAA hockey until the NHL owners and the NHLPA come up with a solution. There have been a few other options that popup from time-to-time, I currently have a KHL game to watch on my DVR at home and there is going to be another KHL game on MSG on October 31st.

Is there an end in sight to the NHL lockout?

I have been reading some of the articles that have popped up in my twitter feed group/list that I created and I am not sure what to make out of some of the tweets and stories that have appeared this afternoon and into this evening.

One of the questions that I think that is starting to come up is did the NHL owners over play their hands and are they finally realizing that the players aren’t going to break? So are the owners ready to crack?

Pierre LeBrun, ESPN.com --- Fehr reiterated to ESPN.com on Tuesday that he believes the league in that meeting Thursday told the NHLPA there isn't much wiggle room on the rest of the deal, apart from "make whole," other than "minor and insubstantial" tweaks.

Not helping things is the growing distrust between the two sides, the controversy over the league’s 48-hour window allowing GMs to talk to players being the latest example. It’s the kind of thing that doesn't inspire either side to believe anything the other side is saying.

Having said that, all rhetoric aside, I believe the ability of both sides to figure out "make whole" is paramount to having any chance of ending this lockout.

This is the article that makes me think that the end to the lockout might be closer than we all think. I mean seriously, we know that there are some NHL owners that aren’t doing that well financially and last year one blog said that there were a half dozen teams that might not make if there is a lockout that lasts for a whole season.

James Mirtle, Globe and Mail --- So the NHL is tired of talking to “a baseball guy” and trying to take its message directly to the players, looking for a sympathetic ear.

Such an end-around isn’t unusual – after all, it happened during the last lockout – but it usually comes as part of an endgame strategy.

Are we that far along already? Maybe.

But this time around it is as much to do with (a) testing the players’ resolve and (b) frustration with NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr’s dour consistency as anything.

It’s also a sign the league is getting a little anxious – and that a compromise that can end this lockout could actually not be as far away as the rhetoric suggests.

What the NHL is really doing here is fishing for weak points in the membership: players who really don’t want to miss paycheques and are willing to consider the not quite 50-50 offer on the table.

I guess only time will tell and here are a few more tweets that popped up tonight, that you can peruse and see what I am talking about.

@helenenothelen @michaelgrange I do. And I suspect Bettman and Fehr settle this long before we hear about meeting that seals it.
— Rob Rossi (@RobRossi_Trib) October 24, 2012

likely this deal gets done before either #NHL or #nhlpa confirm meeting that ends #lockout. This was never ending in public view. #quietgood
— Rob Rossi (@RobRossi_Trib) October 24, 2012

Related articles

• NHL Lockout: NHLPA Counteroffer Seems to Makes Sense, What's the Hold Up? (bleacherreport.com)
• NHL lockout 2012: NHLPA counter-proposal expected Thursday (sbnation.com)

Not so fast - NHLPA and NHL Owners no closer to a deal

English: NHL Commisioner Gary Bettman in 2007. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

On Tuesday the NHL owners put forth another proposal for a new CBA – shortly thereafter there was a lot of excitement that finally we might get an NHL season.

Donald Fehr came out on Tuesday and said, "Simply put, the owners' new proposal, while not quite as Draconian as their previous proposals, still represents enormous reductions in player salaries and individual contracting rights."

Today, the NHLPA put forth three (3) counter proposals to the NHL owners and Gary Bettman and the NHL owners balked at all three of them.

TORONTO — NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman received three counterproposals from the players’ association on Thursday and left the negotiating table “thoroughly disappointed.”

No new talks have been scheduled, and the possibility of a full hockey regular season is quickly shrinking.

The union offered multiple options in response to the NHL’s offer on Tuesday that called for an 82-game season and a 50-50 split of hockey-related revenues between owners and players.

Bettman said that proposal was the “best that we could do” and added that the two sides are still far apart.

“None of the three variations of player share that they gave us even began to approach 50-50, either at all or for some long period of time,” Bettman said. “It’s clear we’re not speaking the same language.”

After today's revelations, I think we're right back where we were before the lastest round of proposals and counter proposals. This tweet by the Breaking News Twitter feed give me pause to think that we're not going to have an NHL season this year.

NHL owners reject 3 counter-offers from players; commissioner says sides 'nowhere close' to deal - @globeandmail bit.ly/RbCL0W
— Breaking News (@BreakingNews) October 18, 2012

Sidney Crosby: when you make 3 proposals and get shut down in 10 minutes it's hard to think the other side really wants to negotiate.
— Michael Grange (@michaelgrange) October 18, 2012

Crosby says he will look a little harder at playing in Europe.
— Bruce Garrioch (@SunGarrioch) October 18, 2012

Easton Synergy EQ50 Sr. Hockey Equipment Combo (Google Affiliate Ad)

Toews on Owners; 'who knows if they're willing to do it again'

When I read articles like this one, I get the feeling that this labor disagreement might have the possibility of going for a very long time and there could be a chance that it might not get it settled next season.

s/t to KK… This article is a good read, also, I haven’t see a lot lately that gives me any hope… Former Fighting Sioux forward Jonathan Toews is quoted in this article as well.

Stu Hackel, Red Light Blog --- From the players’ perspective, the owners’ stance borders on self-destruction. Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews, among the most respected leaders in the game, articulated that on Monday after an informal practice by Chicago players. “We saw what the (owners) did in ’04-05, and who knows if they’re willing to do that again,” Toews said (quoted by Chris Kuc of The Chicago Tribune). “To me, it’s just carelessness. It’s them just trying to show everyone that they’re the owners and they’re the league. They can do whatever they want. If they want to hurt their own game and drive it into the ground, that’s what they’ll do. Even if it comes down to that, it doesn’t matter as long as they get what they want.”

Precisely what they want is now fairly well-known: They want to pay the players quite a bit less than they did under the previous agreement. Ownership’s contention is that the economics of the game don’t work, even after they overhauled them in the recently expired CBA by locking out the players for a season to achieve a salary cap system that was designed to fix things. If that tactic worked once for them, the owners are prepared to do it again.

But when that system also brings about record revenues and the healthiest state the NHL has ever been in, it’s worth asking if the economics are as bad as the owners claim. “I know it’s tough to muster sympathy for multimillionaires,” Siegel writes, “but when most of these owners say they’re losing money every year, they’re telling the truth.”

As Siegel points out, Forbes magazine listed 18 NHL clubs that lost money last season in their 2012 team valuations while simultaneously pointing out that the game’s economics have never been more favorable to the owners. (As a caveat, the NHL has always said the Forbes numbers are not accurate; but they remain the best information we have and constitute legitimate estimated and educated guesses.)

When I read articles like this one, I get the feeling that this labor disagreement might have the possibility of going for a very long time and there could be a chance that it might not get it settled next season. I understand why the players don’t want to lose a big chunk of the gains that they have made during the last CBA – I also don’t think that they should have to. This lockout is on the owners – the players wanted to keep playing – the owners locked them out. Now the fans are hostage of the owners and the NHL players.

(Video) Former Sioux Jonathan Toews appears in the message from the NHL Players to the fans

I hate to say this, but today kind of feels like a funeral. It's also kind of a case Deja Vu all-over again, we have seen this act before - and we didn't really like it very much. Here is the video from the NHLPA players and former Fighting Sioux forward Jonathan Toews is in the video.

Related articles

• How Fans Can End the NHL Lockout (insidehockey.com)
• Unable to Reach Deal, NHL Officially Begins Lockout (forbes.com)
• NHL enters lockout as sides stay away from bargaining table (vancouversun.com)

Tweet(s) of the day... Doom and gloom

Gary Bettman shut down his Twitter account today. That's not the biggest thing he'll shut down this week.
— Down Goes Avery (@DownGoesAvery) September 12, 2012

This is the tweet of the day in my opinion. It's also sad because I do believe that there is definitely going to be a lockout. This afternoon, the NHLPA turned down the owner's latest proposal.

It does sound like this time that the owners did give in a little bit in their latest proposal to the NHLPA - yet the owners are still asking for quite a bit give back by the players.

Under the owners' new six-year phase-in proposal, players would receive 49% next season, and end up with 47% in the sixth year. In immediate terms, players would receive a roughly 9% decrease in salary next season. In the league's previous proposal, the first year loss was pegged at 19%. According to the league's numbers, this proposal is asking for $275 million less in concessions than owners asked for in their last proposal. [Kevin Allen, USA Today]

So it's looks like there is going to be an unprecedented third work stoppage under Gary Bettman. I don't think that history is going to look very favorably on Gary Bettman... I believe that Gary Bettman is one of the more polarizing figures of our time when it comes to sports figures.

I think we can now start referring to Gary Bettman as the lockout commissioner. Also, the mood is starting to get even more toxic as people are beginning to realize there basically is no chance a lockout is going to be avoided it appears that the owners aren't moving very far from their two previous proposals makes me think that they're not going to move very far.

To sum up NHL-NHLPA, no progress was made today, and no progress has been made so far in 2012.
— Chris Botta (@ChrisBottaNHL) September 12, 2012

I am wondering what the split will finally end up being when the next CBA is agreed to by the NHL players and the NHL owners? Kind of looks like the owners are trying to get a 50/50 split with the players like the other professional leagues do.

#CBANHL's new deal takes less $ from players but Fehr said it's going from an "extraordinarily large amount" to a "really very big amount"
— Katie Strang (@KatieStrangESPN) September 12, 2012

Wonder if NHLPA understands how weak union looks when so many Euros bolt for home the second labour stoppage announced.
— Damien Cox (@DamoSpin) September 12, 2012

Text from player pal: "NHL offer is a f***ing joke. Sets PA back 20 years. I appreciate what I got, but wake the f*** up buddy."
— Chris Botta (@ChrisBottaNHL) September 12, 2012

This is what we are going to be missing if there is Lockout...

Just to remind you what you will be missing if the NHL owners lock out the players on September 15, 2012. The past two Stanley Cup Finals were some of the best hockey that I have watched in a very long time - the game of hockey has never been more popular and I think that a work stoppage might cut into those gains that have been made.  The NHL owners made a record 3.3 billion dollars in profit last season.

That being said that most of us understand not all is equal and not all teams enjoy these same profits - but it's the owners that have signed these players to these exuberant salaries and I hold them culpable for the mess that we are in. I hope everyone has a great and safe Labor Day holiday.

Got my annual must read "The Hockey News Yearbook".202 awesome pages. Top 50 players in the NHL list and not one owner made the cut.
— Allan Walsh (@walsha) September 2, 2012

Tweets from today.

@_markmarino @goon48 @themikemoonan @_timrosenthal @bruinsdaily Keep it going everyone. #FireBettman
— Chris Wassel (@ChrisWasselTHW) September 1, 2012

Guessing NHL might shut down camps well before then RT @renlavoierds: Meeting on Sept 12 & 13 in New York for NHLPA members
— Dave Stubbs (@Dave_Stubbs) September 1, 2012

Fehr -- if you can get an agreement on big conceptual issues the rest of a deal can be done pretty quickly#NHL #NHLPA
— Michael Grange (@michaelgrange) August 31, 2012

Bettman -- we got stonewalled today so we're not in position to move ahead on other issues#NHL #NHLPA
— Michael Grange (@michaelgrange) August 31, 2012

agent on NHLPA: “Back in 2004, the NHLPA was synonymous with apathy. That's changed since then. It’s a whole new world right now."
— Tim Panaccio (@tpanotchCSN) August 31, 2012

Fact: NHLPA proposals do more to help small market teams with $100M industry Growth Fund than last NHL offer. @puckinghockey
— Allan Walsh (@walsha) August 31, 2012

Fehr & NHLPA want revenue sharing but have to believe there are numerous NHL owners who oppose that, or at least a few of the big ones
— Ed Frankovic (@EdFrankovic) August 31, 2012

For the rest of us, lager heads in order. RT @sn_nhl: Talks resume, end quickly as NHL, union remain at loggerheads dlvr.it/24wlF3
— Jesse Spector (@jessespector) August 31, 2012

NHL players stand their ground, talks break off #NHL #NHLPA #CBA #badnews tinyurl.com/9l3rodo
— Pat Leonard (@NYDNRangers) August 31, 2012

Bettman points out MLB's 8 work stoppages. Mentions player strike before World Series. Mark today as the day it got ugly.
— Chris Botta (@ChrisBottaNHL) August 31, 2012

Here are some of the tweets that I found today that relate to the NHL CBA Negoiations - as most of you know already, talks broke off today and it appears that there is a huge gap between the NHLPA and the NHL owners. While there is still time to get a new CBA agreement in place it would appear that is not going to happen and the fans should think about making other plans for at least the start of the hockey season. This is beginning to look a like 2004-05 all over again.  

Players indicating NHL 1st CBA proposal looked to reduce player salaries by 24%, 2nd proposal by 19.3%.Reason for NHLPA counter today #tsn
— Aaron Ward (@aaronward_nhl) August 31, 2012

CBA Update 8/29/2012

This is what we know after today’s negotiations – the NHLPA is not at all thrilled  with the NHL owners latest proposal. Donald Fehr also said that the NHLPA will have their own counter proposal of their own – that could happen as soon as tomorrow.

So the new buzzword to out of the CBA negotiations this afternoon is Hockey-Related Revenue and Gary Bettman wants to change the definitions what a HRR is - to me that looks like they owners are moving the goal posts on the players.

Apparently, NHLPA head Donald Fehr isn't all that thrilled with that because the NHL owners made 3.3 Billion in revenue last season. "Our preference is to keep the same definition of (hockey-related revenue)," Fehr said.

Sean Gentille Sporting News --- After about 90 minutes of meetings between the sides in New York on Wednesday, Fehr told reporters that the league proposed what currently represents a 46 percent share of hockey-related revenue for players. That's up from the initial offer of 43 percent, which was presented on July 13, but down from the 57 percent the union currently receives.

According to multiple reports, the NHL proposal had three years at a fixed salary cap starting at about $58 million—a drop of about $12 million—before returning to a system where the cap is based on overall league revenues with a 50-50 split; and no rollbacks for current contracts.

That, at least according to Fehr, was not entirely accurate due to league-proposed changes to the definition of hockey-related revenue; the players might be getting 50 percent in the latest proposal, but it would come from a smaller pie.

"Our preference is to keep the same definition of (hockey-related revenue)," Fehr said.

Also, Fehr said, players would pay more in escrow in the early years of the deal, which would essentially function as a salary rollback. The union, according to multiple reports, projects to pay 15-20 percent in escrow off the top of each paycheck, compared to about 8 percent currently. That money is held out to guarantee appropriate division of revenue, then paid back at a later date—assuming the league meets its projections.

Also, Garry Bettman had this zinger today, saying the players should have no "entitlement" to 57 percent revenues.Yeah, that comment is going to win Bettman friends with the fans and players.

While that condescending comment from Bettman is actually on it's face is true -  then why are the owners paying the players these exuberantly huge contracts? Don't pay players 110 million dollars over 10-12 years and then in the next breath say that you're broke.

I am not sure how these owners can look at us with a straight face and say that the NHL players are being paid too much - especially after the deals that they signed this summer. Does Gary Bettman and the NHL owners expect Suter, Parise and Weber to have their deals cut down?

I just don't see how they can walk these contracts back and get the players down to 58 million when the current cap is at 70 million, there are 16 teams currently over that mark.

Then it appears the owners aren't being honest about the revenue split as well - it apparels that the actual revenue split that the owners are proposing now is about 54.1 to 45.9 - which is really not much of a move from 57 - 43 split that was proposed in the June 13, 2012 proposal from the NHL owners.

CBA update

This is what the Commissioner of the NHL Gary Bettman had to say about the NHL Owners second proposal.

"We need to get on the same page on the economics," Commissioner Bettman said, "and we're hoping that by virtue of the proposal we made today that there will be some traction and that there will be a framework for the negotiation."

"We believe we've made a significant, meaningful step," he added. Bettman also said, he said it was "a significant proposal with meaningful movement."

This what the head of the NHLPA Donald Fehr has to say about the proposal.

"It's a proposal that we intend to respond to," said Fehr. "I'll leave it at that."

While there won't be a response today, there should be a response by the players tomorrow according to Fehr. 

“There’s not a lot to say today,” Fehr said. “We want to work further on it overnight. We have an expectation, based on what we know now, that we’ll get back together tomorrow afternoon.

“It is different in some respects from before, but I don’t want to categorize it until we have an opportunity to really go through it and we understand it and come up with an appropriate response.”

Looks like the owners latest proposal is asking for a 52/48 split from the players - so there is some movement.

Darren Dreger from TSN tweeted this break down of what the Owners proposed today - you can see that the owners are going for the 50/50 split.