Just think, by the time the next round of guys are playing at the AHL level like the Marlies here, some of them will have already had a chance to experience an inclusive You Can Play Project work environment as NHL prospects.

The NHL, NHLPA and You Can Play Project shared fantastic news today of their “historic partnership” that will bring the You Can Play Project’s message and resources to all 30 teams across the league.

In establishing an inclusive work environment by partnering with You Can Play Project, the NHL and the NHLPA now stands as the first of the major sports leagues in North America to embrace the message of judging players based on “talent, heart, desire and work ethic — and not on the basis of sexual orientation or other discriminatory factors.” (youcanplay.com)

» Continue reading “NHL, NHLPA & You Can Play Project Announce Historic Partnership”

The NHL & NHLPA met again today with a federal mediator to continue labor negotiations. Talks will most likely take place Friday, but the two sides seem to be no closer to reaching an agreement that will save the season. What they may not have counted on was garnering the attention of the President of the United States.

Barack Obama urged the two sides to work it out while on the campaign trail in October. Fast forward to an interview WCCO-TV in Minneapolis today, and he touched on the subject again.

“My message to owners and to players is, `You guys make a lot of money and you make a lot of money on the backs of fans, so do right by your fans. You can figure out how to spread out a bunch of revenue that you’re bringing in, but do right by the people who support you,’” Obama said.

And I shouldn’t have to be involved in a dispute between really wealthy players and even wealthier owners. They should be able to settle this themselves. And remember who it is that’s putting all that money in their pockets.” (Quote Source: Fox Sports)

Damn right. If they won’t listen to the fans or sponsors, maybe they’ll listen to Barry.

Photo by Renee Renna

Every single one of us here loves hockey. You’ll understand why it’s difficult to put side personal emotions in this particular story. It’s difficult to know what to say when something you are so passionate about clearly doesn’t give a crap about their loyal fans who are living through yet another work stoppage.

Optimism started to rise among fans amid the long days of meetings this week. Even as an empty podium kept us up until early morning for some sort of update. With more sessions scheduled today, why wouldn’t we be hopeful?

Because the NHL and NHLPA are determined to kill this league, that’s why.

The NHLPA made a proposal today and executive director Donald Fehr said the two sides were close to an agreement. Queue the league soundly rejecting the proposal and pulling some of the most contentious items off the negotiating table. “Make whole” provision that had been increased to $300 million? Gone.  There are no meetings taking place tonight or tomorrow. There’s no date set for additional talks.

Feel free to fill in your own profanity laced tirade here.

Photo by Renee Renna

After last week’s meetings with federal mediators broke off after two unsuccessful days of meetings, there seemed to be little reason to believe that even a partial NHL season could be salvaged. The league and the NHLPA seem to have reached an impasse that traditional negotiating methods can’t breach. It looks like they are going to try a little something different this week.

The two sides will meet on Tuesday in New York, with six owners and a handful of players in attendance. Commissioner Gary Bettman and union executive director Donald Fehr will not be part of the session.

”The NHLPA has agreed to a meeting on Tuesday in New York that should facilitate dialogue between players and owners,” Donald Fehr said in a statement. ”There will be owners attending this meeting who have not previously done so, which is encouraging and which we welcome. We hope that this meeting will be constructive and lead to a dialogue that will help us find a way to reach an agreement.” (Quote Source: NHLPA.com)

» Continue reading “NHL Owners, Players To Meet Tuesday Without Leaders”

Neither Gary Bettman, pictured, nor Donald Fehr let on much as to the nature of today’s discussions, and maybe that’s a good thing. (Photo: Bridget Samuels/flickr)

Before we begin, I’d like to offer up some applause to the National Hockey League and the NHL Players’ Association for completing three consecutive days of negotiations, totaling approximately 18 hours for the week. And no one ran out of the room screaming or threw milk crates — at least, not to our knowledge. Well done.

*clap clap*

Okay. Now, to business.

PA executive director Donald Fehr and commissioner Gary Bettman both spoke to the media after today’s talks, but neither said much of importance or disclosed any details on what was talked about — in fact, some of the only information received is that talks were “constructive.” Considering all of this began with a considerable amount of secrecy (even down to the location), this has to be serious, and it has to be a good sign.

There will be a meeting on Friday as well. Cross your fingers, folks. It may be too soon to be really optimistic, but at least everyone’s still alive after three days.

Stay tuned.

Photo by Renee Renna

Before we get into the meat of the story: don’t get your hopes up just yet. The lockout continues, but for the first time in two months there has been progress at the bargaining table. NHL & NHLPA deputies Bill Daly and Steve Fehr met in secret yesterday at an undisclosed location and the meetings went well into the night. They went so late the hockey Twittersphere was wondering if they were waiting for the end of Daylight Savings Time in order to get another hour back.

“We had a series of meetings over the course of the day and had a good, frank discussion on the most important issues separating us,” Daly said.

“I agree with what Bill said,” Steve Fehr said. “Hopefully we can continue the dialogue, expand the group, and make steady progress.” (Quote Source: Yahoo NHL)

Not only did they meet, but the two sides actually agreed on something? Oh Happy Day!

» Continue reading “NHL/NHLPA Deputies Stay Up Late, Make Progress”

Is someone blinking? (Photo: Bridget Samuels/flickr)

Someone had to blink. At this point, it didn’t matter which side but for any movement to be made, someone had to.

Shockingly, it was the league.

» Continue reading “Finally, A Proposal *Updated With Evening News*”

Not to get anyones hope up, but there may be a chance we see the inside of one of these after all. (Photo: Mathieu Plourde/flickr)

When it comes to CBA negotiations, the media and fans have tried to find out everything going on before it happens. Maybe that isn’t the best way to approach things.

Today the “Big Four” (Gary Bettman, Bill Daly and Don and Steve Fehr) met informally in Toronto…and no one knew about it until after it happened. Although no formal discussions are scheduled at the moment, the two sides plan to keep in touch over the weekend and meetings could be scheduled as early as next week.

» Continue reading “Big Four Meet In Toronto”

Yesterday the league presented their counter proposal to the players associations’ proposal; a proposal which Gary Bettman called “significant”. Donald Fehr did not say what he thought of it but just that the players would respond tomorrow. As a fan who wants training camp to take place next month so I can see hockey in October, this all sounds promising. An actual “counter proposal”. A response the next day. I’m a happy camper at the moment.

» Continue reading “League Presents “Counter Proposal””

(Photo: Screenshot/nhl.com)

“The sides are far apart and have different views of the world,” were Bettman’s words as he addressed the media today. We already knew that, but the fact that he says this in response to the NHLPA proposal indicates an unsettling truth: the lockout is far more probable today than it was yesterday.

As I reported yesterday, there were reasons to be optimistic about the proposal. Players were willing to reduce their share of hockey-related revenue temporarily to alleviate the problems that the owners complained about (especially when it came to financial problems for smaller market teams), and they provided a solution that would help stabilize the finances of the league as a whole through targeted sharing. They also did not push to dissolve the salary cap. As far as we’ve seen from both sides, the players gave in as fairly as they could to everything but contractual changes, and it seemed like this might be a ‘happy medium.’

Not so for the owners, according to Bettman. Chris Johnston reported that “Bettman made it clear the NHL fully understands the NHLPA’s proposal. The owners just don’t like too much about it.” According to Michael Grange, Bettman says that the NFL and NBA set the context for these negotiations. Chris Johnston quotes him as saying, “Players in other industries and other sports in the last year have recognized the importance and need to make adjustments.” Yet Donald Fehr pointed out the NHL’s “glaring omission” of the MLB contract as context, which he helped lead to a tranquility that has kept the league in operation since 1994. He went on to say that the players have indicated that “every sport has its own economics, they’re self contained–you have to negotiate within that context.” He then goes on to say that players believe their concessions address their specific context and that they understand that both sides do have different views. ”The process is to find an agreement you can both live with even if you come at it from differing perspectives,” Fehr summarized.

» Continue reading “Stalemate For NHL And NHLPA”