NHL to Cancel Season

[BHK 0]

Updated: Feb. 14, 2005, 1:35 PM ET

 

Associated Press

 

NEW YORK -- With no miracle save in sight and a weekend deadline long gone, the NHL made plans for a news conference Tuesday to cancel what little remained of a season already decimated by a lockout.

 

A public relations executive, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press that planning was under way Monday for NHL commissioner Gary Bettman to make the announcement at a news conference in New York.

 

The Canadian Press, citing an unidentified source, said Bettman will cancel the season at the news conference.

 

The NHL would become the first major professional league in North America to cancel an entire season because of a labor dispute. This would mark the first time the Stanley Cup was not awarded since a flu epidemic canceled the finals in 1919.

 

Asked about The Canadian Press report, NHL spokesman Frank Brown said the league had no immediate comment.

 

After vowing not to reach out to each other after two days of talks broke off Thursday, the sides met Sunday at the request of a high-ranking federal mediator. Neither Bettman nor players' association executive director Bob Goodenow attended.

 

But that round of talks in Washington was also unsuccessful, with both sides saying that no progress was made.

 

Neither side has been willing to budge on the salary-cap issue -- the NHL has said it is necessary in any new deal, and the players' association has rejected it as a solution.

 

NHL chief legal officer Bill Daly was joined Sunday at the five-hour meeting by outside counsel Bob Batterman, with players' association senior director Ted Saskin and outside counsel John McCambridge on the other side.

 

The sides were assisted by mediators twice before, as recently as a Feb. 2 negotiating session in Newark, N.J. Sunday's meeting was requested by Scot B. Beckenbaugh, the acting director of the U.S. Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service.

 

Neither side thought mediation would help end the stalemate that has lasted five months.

 

The lockout reached its 152nd day Monday, a day after the NHL was to hold its All-Star game in Atlanta.

 

Bettman said the sides needed to start putting a deal on paper by the weekend if the NHL was going to hold a 28-game season and a 16-team playoff.

 

The NHL said its 30 clubs need to know what their costs would be, and the only way that could be achieved is with a salary cap that linked league revenues to player costs.

 

A cap was an automatic deal-breaker for the union even though it agreed that the financial landscape had to change. The players' association contended that there are many other ways to fix it.

 

The sides have traded proposals throughout the lockout that started Sept. 16. But the salary cap has always been the sticking point. Other issues such as arbitration, revenue-sharing, and rookie caps, never reached the true negotiating stage because the sides couldn't agree on the big issue.

 

On Friday, the NHL sent a memo to its 30 clubs, allowing them to contact players -- something that was previously forbidden. The memo also allowed team executives to speak publicly about the lockout

 

I am sad

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

Its Wednesday now. I don't know why it was pushed back.

[2GOLD 0]

Yeah, good job guys.

Cancel your next season after one of your worst ever with a television contract coming to an end.

 

BRILLANT!

[Vigo 0]

Both sides are filled with morons. Who the fuck does the NHL think it is, the NFL? They can't afford to go around cancelling seasons. No one gives a shit about hockey as it is, cancelling seasons just multiplies the problem even more.

[Guest Failed Mascot]

Brendan Shannihan just stated on ESPN that the NHL may be done for 2 or 3 years because the players are unwilling to budge. I blame the players here. They would still make millions, just one or two million less than before. Their greed is at fault since I can't imagine the NHL owners making a whole lot with the way hockey is now. Its just damn boring.

[2GOLD 0]

Brendan Shannihan just stated on ESPN that the NHL may be done for 2 or 3 years because the players are unwilling to budge. I blame the players here. They would still make millions, just one or two million less than before. Their greed is at fault since I can't imagine the NHL owners making a whole lot with the way hockey is now. Its just damn boring.

 

Can't ANOTHER league be formed??

I actually NEED hockey!

 

The NBA playoffs make my brain hurt.

[Vigo 0]

The players will eventually lose in this. If this does stretch into 2 or 3 seasons I'm gonna bet that at least a couple teams will fold which means some players aren't going to be playing in the NHL.

 

I could see some of the owners trying to leave the NHL also and starting up their own league.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Well, I'm thankful at least that I won't experience another Avs disappointment in the playoffs. Surely some others feel the same way about their respective franchises.

[Guest Failed Mascot]

No more Bruins letdowns against the Canadians.

[bob_barron 0]

Well, I'm thankful at least that I won't experience another Avs disappointment in the playoffs. Surely some others feel the same way about their respective franchises.

I'd rather have hockey then no hockey.

 

I stopped caring in December- this whole cocktease about whether they will cancel the season is getting really annoying

[BHK 0]

No one gives a shit about hockey as it is

I do. I also think one of hte major problems is that the mainstream media further perpetuates this by saying that no one cares about hockey. Well, I do. I have many friends that do, also. Just becasue it's not the NFL doesn't mean "no one" cares about it.

 

Then again, that makes me loook like I'm completely blaming the media, which I'm not. It's partially the NHL's own fault, also.

[razazteca 0]

I'm still wondering why there are teams in cities where a cold winter is 70 degrees.

[Red Baron 0]

I don't, and many others don't.

 

I mean if hockey is back on, its on, but its not like my life revolvs around it.

[The Czech Republic 0]

I'm still wondering why there are teams in cities where a cold winter is 70 degrees.

Because Gary Bettman is a genius, natch

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

I'm still wondering why there are teams in cities where a cold winter is 70 degrees.

Because Gary Bettman is a genius, natch

Florida & California have a lot of snowbirds, so I could see them supporting teams, but sticking them in Carolina & Atlanta is ridiculous.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

This is going to mirror MLB's situation ten years ago. At some point the NHL will declare an impasse, and impose their own rules. They will doubtless bring in replacement players. The NHLPA will challenge that the NHL has not bargained in good faith, and sue. And they will win, because the NHL was done NOTHING to attempt to bring about a fair arrangement. They keep sitting on that bullshit salary cap. It's not going to happen. If they can't run a successful business, it is NOT the job of the players to accept lower salaries because their employers are a group of clueless jackasses.

 

The NHL fell into a losing situation. They have two options, either raise revenue, or cut expenses. Successful business raise revenue, and both sides win. The NHL decided to piss on their sport. The players offered to cut salaries by 24%, much more than I would have offered. If the owners can not accept that, fuck them.

[The Czech Republic 0]

I'm still wondering why there are teams in cities where a cold winter is 70 degrees.

Because Gary Bettman is a genius, natch

Florida & California have a lot of snowbirds, so I could see them supporting teams, but sticking them in Carolina & Atlanta is ridiculous.

What prevented Bettman from vetoing the Whalers move? Lack of common sense?

[Tawren 0]

Fuck both sides. Even if the NHL comes back, and I mean ever so not just this year, I am done watching. They don't want my business, they don't get my business. They knew from the start when the deal expired and they didn't start negotiating until when? The Friday before? They had several years to do it.

 

So fuck em. I have tons of hockey to watch. Local, national, international, all over the place. Fuck em.

[Lightning Flik 0]

The players offered to cut salaries by 24%, much more than I would have offered.  If the owners can not accept that, fuck them.

Al, that salary cut would only be gone for about three years tops, and we'd be right back to where the NHL started all over again.

 

And would it really kill the NHL to have a roaming salary cap? I honestly believe it wouldn't've killed to at least try the system and at least see if it works. Just make damn sure that the owners have to declare all financial gains to an independent money managing person and what's the harm? It seems to be working for two leagues.

 

As I said before, I don't agree with either side, as both have pretty much now alienated everyone out there for hockey fans, but I don't see how the salary cap would've "hurt" anything. Besides the fact that it limits owners spending, but also makes sure they actually have to spend cash. However when your team is the Edmonton Oilers, things like that really don't matter to me.

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0]

Hey, screw the players. With the money I saved from not buying any tickets I can buy new roller hockey equipment. I can play hockey and watch people play a non-defensive, no shut out, fast paced game for free.

[Guest MikeSC]

I hope they hold it in a phone booth, so all of the people who still give a damn can have plenty of room to sit.

-=Mike

[Vern Gagne 0]

When this over what really changes? Can the NHL guarantee a more offensive orienated game? Can they create a new generation of star players? Players even the novice fans look forward to watching, and even non fans know.

[CanadianChris 0]

Its Wednesday now. I don't know why it was pushed back.

Here's why (credit: TSN.ca):

 

NEW YORK (CP) - The No. 1 issue that has plagued the NHL lockout went out the window Monday night when the NHL Players' Association offered a deal that included a $52-million US salary cap.

 

But the deal was rejected by the NHL.

 

The surprising move was made by NHLPA senior director Ted Saskin during his secret meeting with NHL executive vice-president Bill Daly in Niagara Falls, N.Y.

 

According to an NHLPA statement, Daly began the process Monday by offering a $40-million salary cap without ''linkage'' - a fixed link between player costs and league revenues, which has long been the centrepiece of the NHL's bid for cost certainty.

 

The union counter-offered with the $52-million team-by-team salary cap. The players' proposal also featured more aggressive payroll tax thresholds and tax rates on team payrolls.

 

''It is indeed unfortunate that with the major steps taken by both sides today we were unable to build enough momentum to reach an agreement,'' Saskin said in a statement released early Tuesday morning.

 

The union's offer also included the 24 per cent salary rollback on all existing contracts.

 

These latest developments came as the NHL announced a news conference for Wednesday at 1 p.m. EST in New York when commissioner Gary Bettman is expected to announce the cancellation of the 2004-2005 season.

 

While no talks were planned for Tuesday, the fact that both sides made dramatic moves from their longstanding positions Monday night could spur on more last-ditch efforts to save the season.

 

As it stands, the players have finally accepted a salary cap for the first time in their history while the league gave up on linkage. Now the two sides are separated by $12 million on their cap figures. And with the rollback, two-thirds of the league's teams would be under $40 million.

 

But is it too late?

 

Earlier on Monday night, the league sent out a statement saying talks between Daly and Saskin produced ''no progress.''

 

Bettman's news conference was originally slated for Tuesday, according to a source, but pushed back a day as Daly and Saskin met late into the night.

 

It all made for a roller-coaster day.

 

''I've said all along, until someone tells me it's over, it's not,'' Devils GM and CEO Lou Lamoriello said from his New Jersey office Monday. ''It's too easy to be negative.

 

''There's no question we have something scheduled at this point for Wednesday. It's looking very bleak right now but it's not over.''

 

The Devils boss also offered some advice.

 

''To me, let's get rid of all these buzz words (salary cap, luxury tax) and get something done that works for everybody,'' he said.

 

Should the worst happen Wednesday, the NHL will become the first major professional league in North America to cancel an entire season from start to finish. But Bettman says the damage the NHL will suffer as a result is worth it in order to get ''cost certainty'' for his owners. 

 

The NHL and the union met for more than five hours with U.S. federal mediators in Washington on Sunday but still could not make any progress. Bettman and NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow were not at the meeting. Daly, the NHL's executive vice-president and chief legal officer, and outside counsel Bob Batterman represented the league while Saskin, the NHLPA's senior director, and outside counsel John McCambridge were there for the union.

 

So much of the season has already been scrapped. Through Monday, 824 of the 1,230 regular-season games have gone by the wayside.

 

If an agreement can still be reached, the league has a shortened schedule ready to go that would see teams play 28 regular-season games, playing only within their conference. The playoffs would stay the same and consist of four rounds.

 

WOW. From saying there would never be a cap to OFFERING a cap...and the league dropping linkages to revenue...what a turnaround. They should just meet in the middle at $46 million and get this thing done today.

[Crimson Platypus 0]

Damn, they just won't learn from baseball's mistake will they? I JUST now have been sloooooowly getting back into baseball from their BS in what was it? 1994? Yeah, good luck getting me to buy tickets to Red Wings tickets now assholes.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Damn, they just won't learn from baseball's mistake will they? I JUST now have been sloooooowly getting back into baseball from their BS in what was it? 1994? Yeah, good luck getting me to buy tickets to Red Wings tickets now assholes.

Most baseball fans returned in 1995. Most statistics quoted from sportswriters use the attendance numbers of the pre-Strike year of 1993 as a basis of comparison. The problem is, those numbers are skewed because baseball's attendance in Colorado hit nearly 4.5 Million, and Florida drew a hair over 3 Million. The National League averaged more fans per game in 1995, immediately after the strike, than they did in 1992. The Strike probably stagnated attendance, but it hardly killed the game, and baseball recovered fully within five years.

[Guest Ether]

Damn, they just won't learn from baseball's mistake will they?  I JUST now have been sloooooowly getting back into baseball from their BS in what was it? 1994? Yeah, good luck getting me to buy tickets to Red Wings tickets now assholes.

I think the Red Wings, and most other teams, will do fine. Most hockey fans are of the die-hard breed and will come back when hockey does - I'm sure Detroit has plenty of them. It's teams like Nashville - small-market and with mostly casual fans - that will struggle. If the lockout does what it's ultimately supposed to do - create a competitive balance - I think you might see an attendance increase in some markets, like Pittsburgh and Edmonton.

 

NEW YORK (CP) - The No. 1 issue that has plagued the NHL lockout went out the window Monday night when the NHL Players' Association offered a deal that included a $52-million US salary cap.

 

This was as aspect of the lockup that I found amusing the whole time. The players would keep saying "no cap", but does anyone think they would reject an offer from the owners that placed a cap at $90 million? Same thing with the owners if the players called for a luxury tax starting at $25 million?

[Open the Muggy Gate 0]

Damn, they just won't learn from baseball's mistake will they?  I JUST now have been sloooooowly getting back into baseball from their BS in what was it? 1994? Yeah, good luck getting me to buy tickets to Red Wings tickets now assholes.

Most baseball fans returned in 1995. Most statistics quoted from sportswriters use the attendance numbers of the pre-Strike year of 1993 as a basis of comparison. The problem is, those numbers are skewed because baseball's attendance in Colorado hit nearly 4.5 Million, and Florida drew a hair over 3 Million. The National League averaged more fans per game in 1995, immediately after the strike, than they did in 1992. The Strike probably stagnated attendance, but it hardly killed the game, and baseball recovered fully within five years.

Most of the fans came back during the big 98 season when McGwire and Sosa had the home run chase. The world paied attention to baseball again. I really don't see anyone having the effect that McGwire and Sosa did during that run. Hockey may have suffered permanant damage here. And the sad thing about all this in my eyes... the owners of the teams are losing LESS money but NOT having the teams play than if they did play.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Yeah, good luck getting me to buy tickets to Red Wings tickets now assholes.

Now we know how the Illitches get so much money to buy players, they double-charge their fans.

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

God, I hope they can come to a freaking agreement today.

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0]

You can boycott Little Caesars pizza if you hate the Red Wings.

 

You know the Union could agree completely with the owners and the owners would reject the offer and visa-versa. I am sure most of the owners wanted to kill the NHL since most of them were losing money. If you go on the NHLPA's website, Ed Belfour makes a cool 8 million, Jaromir Jagr makes 11 million, and etc. It was the owners' fault because they listened to the agents of these players.