Kali, don't be fooled by the 50-50 headline

[Zeus]

This is A LOT worse for the players than the headline states. Read up on the details which the owners publically released (i've never heard of that before):

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=6435 ... L|NHL|home

[Don]

I thought it's pretty hilarious how in both NBA and NHL the owners just go '50-50 is totally fair' and so many people fall for it. I think players in both league started with like 57% so it's like 10% range decrease, and of course 50/50 is totally arbitrary and given how much impact star players have to sports, there's no inherent reason why they should get less.

[kali o.]

I find it a little funny that my proposal wasn't all that different.

The players will accept it (barring some minor issues) or the entire season is lost.

[Zeus]

I find it a little funny that my proposal wasn't all that different.

The players will accept it (barring some minor issues) or the entire season is lost.

No chance. 5-year contract limits? Revenue sharing with little teeth? Massive escrow payments in year 2? That bullshit "make whole" crap? A LOT has to change before there's an agreement, we ain't even close right now. Putting a pile of shit in a pretty box don't mean they want it. I was actually kinda hopeful after I hear the initial quick details that the owners finally caved in a bit and finally decided to be a little reasonable. But after reading that article on NHL.com, I knew there's a long way to go. I may not get to see the Winter Classic after all.

Consider this nothing but a PR move after the league got confirmation from that Republican think tank they hired that they were losing badly in the public eye (not opinion; look it up). There's a reason they released the details of a private CBA still in ongoing bargaining to the public. That's completely unprecedented and a huge shock to everyone. And if you read how it's worded (look at the underlined parts), it's specific purpose is to gain public support to put pressure on the players. It absolutely reeks of desperation on the part of the owners (quick deadline, grandstanding, making private negotiations public officially) and the players ain't stupid enough to swallow the pill as provided, not with Fehr at the helm.

The other hopeful divide-and-conquer result of this to weaken the result of the PA ain't gonna work either. The comments coming out of the players within hours pretty much showed they weren't drinking that Kool Aid. And that's before they even had a day to get through the nitty gritty of it.

If you think the NHL owners are an old boys' club, they seem progressive when compared to the MLB owners prior to the '94 strike. Remember, it was the way baseball owners acted that gave strength to sport unions and the concept of free agency to begin with back in the 70s.

[Don]

I don't think the owner has as much leverage as they think they do because unlike the NBA, NHL isn't a national brand. They play hockey outside of North America, right? While this is true with NBA, there's really no global basketball without the NBA brand. I can see an European league backed by a few guys with way too much money (like the Russian guy who bought the Brooklyn Nets) compete fine against the NHL because hockey is not dependent on NHL globally.

[Zeus]

I don't think the owner has as much leverage as they think they do because unlike the NBA, NHL isn't a national brand. They play hockey outside of North America, right? While this is true with NBA, there's really no global basketball without the NBA brand. I can see an European league backed by a few guys with way too much money (like the Russian guy who bought the Brooklyn Nets) compete fine against the NHL because hockey is not dependent on NHL globally.

The owners are under the assumption that if they've grown the sport this much (50% increase) in the 7 years since the last lockout, they can do it again. They'd rather take another big hit to "get it right" since their "right" from last time don't work no more.

[kali o.]

As I already said, the offer tabled was pretty much take it or leave it. I think I have a pretty solid handle on the whole issue...I think moreso than you. There is room to come together still, but the NHLPA either needs to:
- Accept the make whole provision as is, and accept a 52, 51, 51, 50, 50 split
- Negotiate on the make whole provision (probably a revenue based reimbursement in year 3 so players don't shoulder 100%) but accept everything else, minor tweaks aside

Those are the two options. If the NHLPA is not prepared to deal with that, the season is gone. With that moron Fehr representing the players...I think you can kiss the season goodbye.

[Zeus]

As I already said, the offer tabled was pretty much take it or leave it. I think I have a pretty solid handle on the whole issue...I think moreso than you. There is room to come together still, but the NHLPA either needs to:
- Accept the make whole provision as is, and accept a 52, 51, 51, 50, 50 split
- Negotiate on the make whole provision (probably a revenue based reimbursement in year 3 so players don't shoulder 100%) but accept everything else, minor tweaks aside

Those are the two options. If the NHLPA is not prepared to deal with that, the season is gone. With that moron Fehr representing the players...I think you can kiss the season goodbye.

The 50-50 and "make whole" bullshit are the two biggest issues but there's a helluva lot more wrong with that offer than that. There's actually zero give to the players in any way whatsoever and did nothing but galvanize them even further than they already were

Yes, I agree that's the totalitarian options the NHL has given them. And it's nothing more than just a repackaged version of their initial offer. Basically, the NHL has said "it's our way or the highway" and haven't even bothered negotiating (ignoring the "B" in "CBA"). The owners simply think the players will cave and take it like the bitches they want them to be, particularly since that's what happened 7 years ago.

The simple fact of the matter is it's a bullshit offer that was only done as a PR move. My subject line was sayin' "it's a bullshit PR movie, don't buy it". Looks like I won't be going to the Winter Classic after all.