More lockout reaction

The NHL lockout started back in September and while it has provided fans with heartbreak (nearly 50% of the schedule has been erased) and much hand-wringing (can’t they figure this out already?), it is far from over. We do, however, seem to be getting closer to the end, whatever that is. Last Thursday, the league cancelled games up until Jan. 15, which is probably the drop-dead point. Meaning the next move will probably be the last move. One of these days — and it could come before the calendar turns over to 2013 — commissioner Gary Bettman is going to announce the start of an abbreviated 48-game season or he is going to officially cancel the season. That moment will undoubtedly be the biggest of the lockout. And while we do not know if it will be a good or bad moment — having lost so much already, is there anything that can be labelled as good? — we can probably guess where it will take place. In a fight that has mostly taken place behind closed doors and unknown locations, the podium is where we receive most of our information and competing interpretations of that information. It has replaced the rink as hockey’s stage and has become the defining image of the lockout. For Bettman and NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr, the podium is where they seem to do their real work. As we plod along in what has been more than three months of labour strife, the lockout has been as much about spin and public relations efforts as it is about coming to an agreement. Nowhere was that more apparent than on Dec. 5, which if you had to choose might have been the most frustrating day so far of this negotiation. Leading up to that day, there had been genuine optimism that an agreement was within reach. Owners and players had met privately for two days in New York and had agreed to split hockey-related revenues 50-50, as well as made other concessions. They had reportedly made so much progress that coaches were calling players in Europe to be ready to come home for training camp.

During the day, a podium with the NHL logo had been set up in a Manhattan hotel for what was expected to be the biggest news conference of the lockout. It sat unattended for hours upon hours. Finally, Fehr arrived and relayed to reporters and fans — it was broadcast live across Canada — what seemed to be good news: hockey was close to returning. But as Fehr spoke, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly was leaving a voice message on Steve Fehr’s cell phone that essentially stuck a pin in the balloon.

The NHL, it turned out, had wanted the union to say yes or no to the offer hammered out the day before, not use it as the basis of another return offer. So, mere minutes after leaving the podium with a smile on his face, Fehr returned and told everyone that “it looks like this is not going to be resolved in the immediate future.” Within the hour, Bettman was gripping the podium like he was on a rollercoaster and through trembling lips raged against Fehr’s apparent deception.

Mary Altaffer/The Associated PressFor NHL commissioner Gary Bettman (pictured) and NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr, the podium is where they seem to do their real work.

“That reminds me of the last time the players the players said we were close, and we were a billion dollars apart,” Bettman said. “I don’t know why he did that … I find it almost incomprehensible that he did that … I am disappointed beyond belief that we are where we are tonight, and we’re going to have to take a deep breath and try to regroup.
“What you’re witnessing is very tough bargaining. We kept giving and giving and giving, we made five separate proposals, we kept negotiating against ourselves … my concern is, and maybe the mistake was, is maybe we should stop negotiating.”

Claus Andersen/Getty Images“If you would have asked me back then if I thought this lockout would be still going on now, I would have said no,” said Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman John-Michael Liles (L).

The day served as a microcosm of the entire lockout. Whether it was Bettman’s take-it-or-leave-it proposal to save an 82-game season in October or the decision to meet with U.S. federal mediators in November, the lockout has teased fans by providing false hope that a deal is around the corner. Then, once you get there, you realize that the road keeps stretching on.
“If you would have asked me back then if I thought this lockout would be still going on now, I would have said no,” Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman John-Michael Liles said. “You think something would ultimately be figured out. But ultimately, the players have to agree on a deal that is at least decent for us. And so far, there’s been bits and pieces that have been proposed to us that we can live with.

“Ultimately, we’re not getting anything close to what we had previously. We understand that. But to sit there and say you can have this but you have to take this, it’s hasn’t really been a negotiation. It’s been a lot of take-it-or-leave-its.”

The problem during this whole mess is that the two sides have always had an end date in mind. It was not the start of training camp, or the start of the season, or the Winter Classic or any other artificial dates. It was probably always mid-January. So with about three weeks to go, both sides continue to move their pieces around the chessboard looking for that final strike that will take the other side down. Last Friday, the NHLPA reportedly voted overwhelmingly in favour of giving its executive board the power to file a disclaimer of interest. The next step would be to file an anti-trust lawsuit against the owners, if it goes that far. If it does, it is a move that could potentially turn every single player into a free agent, and just might be the biggest moment of the lockout — and potentially in the history of the NHL. Either way, something is coming. We do not know what it is or if it will be good or bad. But this thing is far from done yet.