February 19, 2005
The Waiting Is The Hardest Part
It's 4:00 p.m. U.S. EST, and we still have no word as to the status of negotiations in New York between the NHL and the NHLPA. I'll be hanging around, and will pass along the details as they happen.
So stick around.
BAIT AND SWITCH UPDATE: The sad and suprising news from TSN:
NHL Chief Legal Officer Bill Daly told reporters in New York after the meeting that it was too late to save the season, and that the league's focus would turn to getting a deal done for the 2005-2006 campaign.
''Our discussions revealed that we remain as far apart as we believed we were last week,'' Daly told TSN. ''The rumours that the parties were close or had in fact reached a deal were greatly exaggerated. There is still a long way to go.''
What a joke.
OT UPDATE: Here's the statement from the NHL. No new talks are planned.
DOUBLE OT UPDATE: Here's the latest statement from NHLPA Senior Director Ted Saskin
"The NHL invited us to meet them today in New York. We met for about six hours. The League did not make a new proposal but did outline new details about their earlier proposal which made it crystal clear that we are much further apart than many people had speculated about earlier in the week.
We reviewed our proposed framework on CBA Deal Points, which was attached to our Feb.15/05 proposal, and the NHL today revealed a number of significant differences between our respective positions, such as:
1) While we expected the upper limit number on payroll would increase over the six-year term of the deal as hockey revenues increased, the NHL's position today was that the upper limit would remain a fixed number for six years, regardless of any growth in hockey revenues.
2) While we were told earlier in the week that the NHL's revenue sharing plan would not decrease over time, the plan they revealed today could decrease significantly over the term of the agreement.
3) While we anticipated a minimum team payroll number in our proposal, the NHL was today not interested in providing any minimum team payroll number, but only a maximum number.
4) While we had anticipated using our Dec. 9/04 system changes, with a couple of exceptions to be discussed, the NHL today outlined more significant exceptions which they were seeking, particularly in the area of salary arbitration and qualifying offers."
Sounds like there's still a lot of work to do to bridge the gap.
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Tracked on February 20, 2005 12:15 AM
Check it out, Eric:
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?ID=115459&hubName=nhl
Am I the only one who is pissed at the media for portraying that rumor as fact? ESPN and THN should be ashamed of themselves. I will never trust ESPN again and the only reason I'm not canceling my THN subscription is because I like their articles and I don't rely on them for day-to-day news. Both outlets could learn something from TSN, who from the start, had a source saying the rumor of un-cancellation was not true. I'm sick of being jerked around by the media. Let it die. I'm trying not to live in denial and they are not helping me do that.
Posted by:
at February 19, 2005 04:54 PM
I told my wife when I finally went to bed last night that I just had this sick feeling -- like I had taken a cheating girlfriend back on the promise that she'd be true only to have this gut feeling I was about to catch her cheating again.
Yesterday was the first time since last January or February that I felt some hope that the season would be saved. I should have known.
Posted by:
at February 19, 2005 05:26 PM
Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.
Posted by:
at February 19, 2005 07:47 PM
"There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."
Posted by:
at February 19, 2005 09:27 PM
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