Formal meetings between the NHLPA and commissioner Gary Bettman were cancelled today. Bettman, along with deputy NHL commissioner Bill Daly, spoke informally with NHLPA Executive Director Donald Fehr and his brother, NHLPA advisor Steve Fehr in an attempt to "chart a way forward in talks." The Fehrs requested to delay further discussions to tomorrow. The 2 sides of the CBA disagreement are discussing how to divide up the hockey-related revenue. Revenue sharing and rules regarding player contracts are also key issues in these negotiations. Both sides appear to be miles apart at this stage of the negotiations and the players have already said that they will not play if a new CBA is not in place. In addition, Bettman has already announced that the owners will lock out the players if a deal is not reached by September 15. The regular season is tentatively scheduled to begin on October 11.
The NHL decided to dismiss the NHL Players Associations initial proposal today, then the NHLPA boss, Donald Fehr, set off to Chicago for pre-scheduled meetings with players. Fehr will not return to Toronto in attempts to resolve a future CBA until Aug. 22. Fehr did indicated that he and Bettman will be talking by phone during his trip. It still only gives the two sides 24 days to reach a new agreement, find common ground, and avoid another lockout. To most, that's a grim outlook to the future of the NHL, the current CBA expires on Sept. 15. When 2 sides have such different views, less than a month doesn't seem like even close to the amount of time needed to reach an agreement. Yesterday the players were responsible to offering fans a more optimistic outlook on possibly getting a deal done. That's what the players have been responsible for doing throughout this entire process. If anyone has shown they want a deal done, it's the players. Their initial proposal they presented to Gary Bettman and the NHL was not a one sided deal. If anything, it tailored more to the owners than it did to the players. But, the League shot that down immediately less than 24 hours later. From today's standpoint, if the league shuts down for the 2012-2013 season, blame should be on anyone but the players. The players are the proactive ones in this process. They have showed more flexibility to get a deal done and to avoid a lockout. The players did that in the 2004-2005 lockout. They gave in to the owners, just to make sure there was a season in 2005-2006. All fans can do is wait nervously to see if it gets resolved.
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