The approaches the NHLPA and NHL have taken to press conferences and media briefings couldn’t be more opposite.
The players stand in a row wearing their best suits and jackets with Donald Fehr standing at the front making statements and answering reporters’ questions.
The NHL seems like a one-man show with Gary Bettman as the go-to owner.
The kind of approach the two sides take with the media is comparable to the distance that separates them in their negotiations.
I’ve never heard a suggestion come out of the mouth of an NHL team owner to fix the collective bargaining agreement. It seems as if the owners feel powerless in the face of Bettman’s regulations or want to stay out of the spotlight and let Bettman be pelted with questions from the media. Either way, I feel like they should escalate the problem.
Gary Bettman recently announced that he is canceling the Winter Classic event with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings playing in this year’s event.
There are estimates on the CBC and Global News that the NHL will lose between $200 and $250 million from this event. This is a lot of money because all the winnings accumulate in just a few days when the event is fully committed. The NHL not only loses profits, it loses fame, sponsorships, branding, and trust from fans of this unique event, so it’s a huge loss for the NHL. I can’t believe the owners of the Leafs and Red Wings don’t speak their minds in the media. I’d love to hear what you have to say about this cancellation. I’m not sure if Bettman arranged an agreement with the 30 owners to keep quiet about the lockout until it’s over, but I find it rather suspicious that the owners aren’t showing any fight against it.
Of course, NHL.com doesn’t display all reports about collective bargaining agreement negotiations on its website, leaving third-party sports media outlets like TSN and Sportsnet to report only what they want them to report to the database. fans. Fans at NHL.com still comment on the lockout on the website itself, but the lockout comment page is always on a different story.
I read some of the comments and many of them claim that they simply returned the NHL merchandise for a refund and promised themselves to stay away from the NHL scene. Some say forever, others say until it’s over.
Unfortunately for fans who say they will continue to cheer on their favorite NHL team, the lockout could last longer than anyone would like.
Has anyone mentioned that the stoppage could last more than a season? Think how close the 2005-2006 season might have been. It was not until July 2005 that the terms of the collective bargaining agreement were reached. That’s just three months until the start of a possible second consecutive season locked down!
Since Bettman is such a ruthless negotiator, he would love to cancel a second season in a row if the plans don’t go according to plan. Don’t forget that he was never a huge hockey fan growing up. He admitted on CBC’s hit show ‘The Hour’ that he only attended a few hockey games growing up and never told anyone that he had a favorite hockey team.
Donald Fehr is also not known as an avid hockey fan. He is only known as the person who organized two separate lockouts in two different major league sports. The lockout in Major League Baseball in the 1994-1995 season was orchestrated in part by Fehr and that led to the cancellation of the World Series for that season.
Given that both CEOs are not passionate hockey fans, how will a deal be struck with passionate fans in mind? One day a deal will be struck, but not with the sense of urgency or enthusiasm that a true hockey advocate would have.
Most NHL players have their own followers on their Twitter account, and while some are silent on the matter, some are expressing their frustration and disappointment. Buffalo Sabers’ Ryan Miller is one of the few pesky players who wants to play hockey right away and I can see the point of him.
The players have already lost $216 million in salary as of November 3, 2012 and Miller is one of the highest paid goaltenders in the league and has already lost a couple of million because of this work stoppage. Mike Modano admitted that he lost more than $7 million in the 2004-2005 lockout and that losses like those of Miller and Modano are all too common when there is no CBA contract.
The fans are the ones who lose the most. It is not money that they lose, it is the trust and credibility that they lost with the negotiations. Very few fans don’t believe the claims and excuses the NHL and NHLPA are making about why they rejected each other’s proposals. Frustration is setting in and some fans have turned a blind eye to the news about the league negotiations and moved on to follow the AHL and even the European Leagues.
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