For you few NHL fans out there, abandon hope

[Penguinfan]

I am not just posting out of frustration here, if you haven't been following the saga the last couple of days and aren't up to date on the talks, don't bother holding out any hope of a season. Talks that seemed to be heading toward a new CBA just suddenly broke off with the NHLPA's chief asshole heading back home with no new deal in place. I obviously can't say the season is officially off until Betteman himself says so, which I am sure he will discuss with the owners before making the announcment, but it sure looks as if it's over right now.

If I get an update I will post it, but this really seems to spell doom.

Penguinfan

 

[Snafu]

Yep, bye bye 04-05 season.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/shownews.jsp?content=h020425A

Official announcement is expected later today.

 

[Penguinfan]

I doubt an announcement will come today, they will let this twist in the players sides to see it the players can convince Goodenow to come to whatever senses he has and make a last second phone call to save the season, but even that is a lottery shot at this point. Betteman will have to meet with the owners before officially cancelling the season, but with Goodenow gone from NY and no new talks scheduled there is no hope for a season in all reality. The very scary part is this doesn't leave much hope for 05-06 either.

 

[Snafu]

i think that it went too personal between goodenow and bettman. that's absolutly wrong way to go.

 

[saint]

I guess I had signed off the season a while ago. I'm frustrated with both sides but moreso with the players. I don't understand why they won't agree to salaries tied to revenue, other than pure greed. I love the NHL and miss it but am willing to wait for whatever makes the game better in the end.

 

[Penguinfan]

Reports now say the ONLY one to leave the building was Goodenow himself and he had little or nothing to say, makes you wonder what really happened, something does not make sense about this. Betteman to comment in a few minutes.......

 

[Snafu]

maybe NHL gave good enough deal with cap and goodenows main principle was no cap `??? i hope that is the case.

 

[Penguinfan]

From NHLCBANEWS website:

This is a copy paste followed by my own thoughts:

Collective bargaining update
NEW YORK (February 4, 2005) - National Hockey League Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer Bill Daly today released this statement following a collective bargaining meeting with representatives of the NHL Players' Association:

"We had extensive and constructive talks over the past two days. While there are no future meetings scheduled, we have agreed to keep the lines of communication open.

"Despite several media reports to the contrary, we have no intention of making any further announcement relating to collective bargaining or the status of the season at this time."


I think something happened to convince Betteman to force Goodenow to take this to the players for a vote and that pissed him off because he knows enough players want to play now and will accept the cap. Goodenow has been tagged as a deadline kind of guy and he wasn't able to bully ownership at the precieved last minute and now may have to eat crow over this all.

 

[tubbysmith]

Being from ontario canada I can honestly say that I do miss watching and wagering on hockey. But you know what, they don't give a damn about us fans.

There may still be a small sliver of hope, but who cares? even if there is a season now it will just be a moot point. there's never been a complete season lost in any of the major north american sports. i'd rather have no season at all than some re-fried, half-baked season. many of the smaller market teams were in big trouble before this so you can imagine what the fallout from this will be like.

this strike is going to cost both sides more than they ever imagined.

i've already boxed up all of my nhl paraphernilia and placed it in the attic. har har.

 

[Penguinfan]

The only reason I would settle for a half assed season at this point is because if they cancell the season altogether then they won't even talk again till next fall and that will mean time/games missed from next year as well, if there is a next year at all.

Your right though, there is still hope, but we need a touchdown and the onside kick plus another score after that......

 

[tubbysmith]

hey penguin, one would think that if this season is in fact lost, they would be able to have a contract in place for next season. at least, that's what logic says. but this whole strike has defied logic.

lets look at the damage the MLB strike did.

which three baseball teams were the only ones to turn a profit in the first few years after the MLB strike?

according to MLB, only the New York Yankees, Colorado Rockies and Cleveland Indians generated a profit between 1995 and 1999, five years after the strike.

ouch.

 

[Snafu]

WAIT ! season is not cancelled yet !

http://hockeyrumors.blogspot.com/

this is as exciting as a playoffs ! not

 

[Penguinfan]

Pet

I tend to take everyting Ecklund has to say with a grain of salt, yes alot of what he says has happened and makes sense, but then again alot of things his "sources" come up with are a complete miss. I can make pretty decent GUESSES as to whats happening simply based on union/management negotiations I have been a part of. Nontheless, he does make for a good read.

 

[Snafu]

agreed Penguinfan, i didn't mean it as a serious information but as you said good read. but still, season hasn't been cancelled yet and who knows it never will, lock out just goes on.

 

[Penguinfan]

Pet, I'm a bit of a conspiracy theory kind of guy and I feel like going into this locklout the owners knew they would have to scrafice the season, one in which most of them would lose money anyway, in order to get a new CBA with the cap. If they cancell the season now there will be no urgency to negotioate and likely more games will be lost next season. I think Betteman is not cancelling the season just to keep negotiations going and when a deal is struck he will say damn, there really is not time to have a season, sorry we tried. I say this because in any negotiation both sides develop a dislike for each other and want to "win" as well as get a deal done, Betteman and Goodenow hate each other more than BeantownJim and tactfulness, I mean they hate each other. Goodenow is suppose to be this super negotiator especially when a deadline approaches, well my theory has him losing the battle and the season, something the players may not let him recover from. Hope I'm wrong, but like you even said, this thing has become personal between Betteman and Goodenow so all bets are off.

 

[Snafu]

agreed again very much, if season is shortened or play-off system changed for this season it would eat value of Stanley-Cup which is not good, i hope that season is not played at all.

sides have had several years time to start throwing in ideas how to make league healthy ( don't know if it ever was ) financially. nothing happened, and that points imo, that both sides thought they are powerful enough to dictate new contract. looks like players side have clearly over estimated their power and importance. and now owners are telling it's our way or highway. after all players are employees, and i think at some point players forgot that.

 

[DR STRANGELOVE]

I have lost all hope!

 

[Snafu]

G Bettman is having a news conference right now, and looks like very much that there will be a season.

28 games + playoffs.

nhl.com live radio

more later

 

[saint]

SO GAY

28 games, wtf that's a sham and takes away from the Stanly Cup.

 

[Penguinfan]

SO GAY

28 games, wtf that's a sham and takes away from the Stanly Cup.

Completely agree, but it is the best thing for the game. I wil probably involve all teams making the playoffs so excitement will be generated in all NHL markets and the fans will look foreward to next season since the CBA nightmare will be over. On the other side of it I think not having a season at all would do more damage to the game than could be repaired, especially in the US markets.