Light at the end of the tunnel?

The NHL Lockout talks took a turn for the better yesterday it would seem. Many of the sources following the meetings closely tweeted saying they received texts from players involved in the talks have said that it was the best and most productive day during this whole debacle.

The NHL has entered into crunch time during the lockout. Both sides have admitted that they are fast approaching the point of no return in saving the season and the idea of having the players talk to owners has seemed to have turned the corner. At least based on yesterdays’ meetings there has been an air of cautious optimism about the end of the NHL Lockout.

I missed parts of the happenings as I was on the ice with my team, but I half expected that by the time I got home, I would check my twitter feed and other sources to find that the meetings had concluded after an hour and that the season would most likely be cancelled. Imagine my surprise to find out that the meeting was still on-going and that they had breakout sessions of smaller groups.

With the Board of Governors (BOG) meeting taking place today, there is as good of a chance as ever for both sides to table an offer and discuss it in-depth. Jason Brough of NBC’s Pro Hockey Talk has reported that the players intend to present the owners when the two sides reconvene after the BOG meetings. There has also been rumours on the social media front that Gary Bettman has already put together a schedule for a 60-game regular season. I don’t know whether that schedule has been drawn up prior to these meetings or as a result, but it certainly seems that the closer the threat of cancelling the season comes, the harder the two sides are trying to find common ground. Despite these rumours and the potential presentation from the players, Nick Kypreos has tweeted to say that “important to note with so many optimistic, no new written proposals have been shared yet.”

However, throughout this long-drawn, farcical process the fans’ hopes have been brought up again and again, only to be crushed. However, this time there seems to be a common consensus among people that there is some real progress. The only thing that we are now nervously anticipating is the conclusion of the BOG meeting and wait for news whether or not someone will torpedo the progress from yesterday. As Samuel Savolainen, NHL correspondent for Urheilulehti said in his column, the BOG meeting is the place where someone can add fuel to the flames and if that happens, I think we can pretty much kiss the season goodbye.

Should there not be an NHL-season, it would do irreparable damage to the NHL’s brand, not only in the USA – where a year-long lockout  would most likely render hockey a redundant sport – but worldwide as well.

At the end of the day, whether a deal is reached today or in the coming weeks, the only thing even the most disgruntled fan will care about when the deal is made and when the puck is dropped. Despite the lockout and the whole CBA process has probably changed my view on the NHL forever, I’m still anxiously waiting to hear the outcome of these talks. Maybe I wont follow with the intensity as I have but, I guess time will tell.

Whatever happens, this chapter will enter the NHL history books as probably one of its darkest moments, not only because it is the third lockout, but – as mentioned above – the farcical nature of the negotiations at stages throughout this process

Lockout meetings adjourn for tonight; Meetings to carry on tomorrow

So the second straight day of NHL lockout negotiations has drawn to a close. Though the parties didn’t meet for as long as the previous times, there is an air of cautious optimism about the latest set of negotiations between the two parties.

 

The league and the players’ association is not making any statements about what is being said in the meetings, but the information that has leaked out to the insiders has been somewhat positive. Perhaps the most positive comment was made by Doug MacLean on twitter when he said that “The Board of Governors were sent a memo last night from Bettman saying if no traction today, talks could break down.” The fact that the two parties are meeting again tomorrow gives one hope that there is, at least, some traction from the negotiations over the past few days.

 

Additionally, as mentioned in the post before, the NHLPA did put forward an offer on the “Make Whole” aspect of the negotiations and apparently the NHL has responded to the offer, but there are no details as to what the response was.

 

Where in reality there probably is a million and one things that the parties need to resolve, but at least the meetings are taking place on a daily basis. One only has to wonder why it has taken this long to get to this stage of negotiating.

 

 

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Latest NHL Lockout Rumors (Please treat them as such)

This post is based only on rumors that have been circulating on the Internet of late. As the NHL and the NHLPA keep talking for the second consecutive day in an undisclosed location, the rumor is that the two parties could be closer to an agreement than at any point during this conflict. Though none of this information has been verified as yet, due to the tight media blackout imposed by the two parties, it is worth treating the information with a pinch of salt (rightly so).

The rumour has it that the NHL and the NHLPA have come to an agreement on the “Make Whole” (honouring existing contracts) and a 50-50 revenue split. Supposedly today’s talks will be around the Restricted free agent-, free agent status and contract term lengths.  There is rumblings that a deal could be announced as soon as Friday, or Sunday, depending on the source and a league (supposedly 72 games) could start as soon as 1^st of December.

As said, these rumors have NOT been confirmed yet and should be treated as rumors and taken with a pinch of salt. However, this is the first real progress that we have heard in over a month since the NHL first tabled its 50-50 offer.

 

Edit @ 20:38 GMT: According to a story at NBC Sports’ ProHockeyTalk, the NHLPA tabled two offers to the NHL. One offer on the revenue split and one on the “Make Whole” provision. According to the story, the NHLPA is expecting the NHL to respond to these offers in today’s meetings. It looks like it could be a pretty interesting, albeit long night of news and information of the lockout

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NHL Lockout Threat: European Teams Start To Tool Up With NHL Players

The NHL season is scheduled to kick off on the 11^th of October, but it is in serious jeopardy due to the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) expiring and the parties are, according to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, far apart from each other.

Since the playoffs, many journalists, insiders and players have speculated that the earliest they can see the season starting is December and it is looking like the October start time for the league is some way off.

Given that the previous lock-out saw an entire season cancelled, it sent a lot of players to Europe to play and looks like a lot of teams are making plans to get players to return to Europe, should the lockout take place.

HC Davos in Switzerland has already announced that it has agreed that San Jose Sharks centre man Joe Thornton and new New York Ranger Rick Nash would ice for the team. Both played in Davos for the whole year during the last lockout.

Frolunda in Sweden has, according to a couple of tweets, tabbed up Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers, Erik Karlsson of the Ottawa Senators and Loui Erikkson of the Dallas Stars to play for the team should the lockout take place. All the players are products of the Frolunda system.

The Finnish Flash, Teemu Selanne, apparently has said that he would “not rule out playing for Jokerit.” Selanne who turned 42 this summer, signed a years’ extension with the Ducks in what he has hinted would be his last season in the NHL. For the other NHL  Finns, there haven’t been any firm news of player movements, but sports outlet Veikkaaja polled 15 Finnish NHL players (poll was done anonymously) and only one said that he would play in the Finnish SM-Liiga.

From my perspective, where it would be great to see NHL players playing Europe, I would rather see a full season of NHL hockey. Should the lockout take place, it would be the third lockout during my lifetime, which cannot be good advertisement to the way the league and the sport operates.

I sincerely hope that the owners, the NHL and the NHLPA can reach an agreement so that we have a full 82 game season.