Finally....it's over!

[Drbio]

The AP is reporting that the NHL season has been officially cancelled. It's about damn time.

[capitalcity]

NHL?

[Drbio]

The No Hockey League

[mary]

Oh well. At least now we can all focus on Curling.

[GP]

You might be a bit premature on that. According to ESPN they are close to a deal with the players caving on the salary cap issue. They are hammering out the details at this moment.

[ames7]

The players have caved to a $52mil cap, but the sides are still $12mil apart.

While I think it's completely POINTLESS to have a season at this point & the league would be much better off hammering out a CBA that will hold off both sides for a while & spend the summer figuring out how to remake the image of the league so that at least the few people who cared before actually care again... while I think all that, I'm also happy that at least we have some movement. And the fact that the players have given in to a cap makes me think that there will at least be an agreement before next season, which is more than you could have said for the last, oh, 7 months or so.

[Drbio]

Originally posted by: GP
You might be a bit premature on that. According to ESPN they are close to a deal with the players caving on the salary cap issue. They are hammering out the details at this moment.

Blame the Associated Press. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img]

[sike]

Originally posted by: mary
Oh well. At least now we can all focus on Curling.

nothing wrong with that!

[ames7]

NOW it's over.

God. How depressing.

[Smiles]

There is a giant rock in the pit of my stomach. I feel like I'm going to be sick right here at my desk.

I wonder who's going to get canned first? [img]i/expressions/brokenheart.gif[/img]

[sike]

just look on the bright side, now 27 can air all the COPS it wants!!!!!!

[Rhylan]

wooo hooo!! This has been the best year, ever. I have been able to watch SportsCenter and not have to sit through highlights of a shitty sport scattered about between basketball and football. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

[Big Boy Laroux]

GREAT point, rhylan!

[ames7]

Originally posted by: Smiles
I wonder who's going to get canned first? [img]i/expressions/brokenheart.gif[/img]

Better be Bettman. It certainly won't make up for this fiasco, but I personally would feel much better if that clown went down for this.

[mavsfanforever]

Actually it is not over yet. I just heard a rumor that they have agreed on 45 mil cap. They are going to meet on saturday again.

[Max Power]

Updated: Feb. 19, 2005, 9:48 PM ET
Associated Press
NEW YORK -- The NHL season is dead -- again.

After 6½ hours of negotiations, with Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux at the bargaining table, talks broke down Saturday, leaving the already canceled hockey season beyond saving.

"It's certainly not going to be resurrected after today," players' association senior director Ted Saskin said. "It's 100 percent certain coming out of today's meeting that nothing could impact the cancellation of the season."

Just three days after the season was called off because of the protracted lockout, the NHL and the union restarted talks at an undisclosed location in New York.

Commissioner Gary Bettman and players' association executive director Bob Goodenow weren't in attendance, but two of hockey's greatest stars were.

However, Gretzky, the managing partner of the Phoenix Coyotes, and Lemieux, the player-owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins, couldn't help the sides bridge the gap over the salary cap.

"Mario and I were happy to be part of the process, and everyone seemed to work very hard together," Gretzky said. "We had a constructive meeting, and we only hope they will continue meeting for the betterment of the NHL and its fans."

On Wednesday, Bettman canceled the season, saying it was too late to play any semblance of a schedule. That made the NHL the first major North American sports league to lose a full season to a labor dispute.

And now the focus shifts back to trying to reach an agreement as soon as possible so next season isn't lost, too.

Gretzky and Lemieux were joined on the owners' side by NHL chief legal officer Bill Daly and outside counsel Bob Batterman, while the union was represented by Saskin, director of business relations Mike Gartner, players' association president Trevor Linden, vice president Vincent Damphousse, and outside counsel John McCambridge.

"The talks were cordial and informative, but revealed that there remain significant differences that need to be discussed and resolved by the parties," Daly said. "No new proposals were made by either side. While no new meetings are scheduled, we remain committed to continue working through the process until a new agreement can be reached."

Linden said Daly called him on Thursday night and invited him back to the table. Some players urged Linden not to go, but the Vancouver forward gave talking another try.

"I know that today was not good," Linden said "From both sides, this is not a good situation.

"It's basically uncharted territory. Where we go from here? I don't know if anyone is sure."

Before Daly called Linden, there was no official contact between the NHL and the players' association since Tuesday night -- when the sides traded what they said were final offers.

All proposals were rejected, and Bettman canceled the season at a news conference Wednesday.

"I hope all parties continue talking and come to a solution for the betterment of the game," Lemieux said.

Bettman said in a letter to Goodenow on Tuesday that the league's salary-cap proposal of $42.5 million was as far as he could go and that there was no time or flexibility for negotiation.

Goodenow sent a letter back, proposing a soft cap at $49 million that could be exceeded by as much as 10 percent by teams twice during the course of the six-year deal.

It appeared there was momentum toward reaching a deal and the season had a chance to be saved, because the sides were only $6.5 million apart on their cap numbers. But talking ceased after each side sent two letters to the other on Tuesday night.

There were big breakthroughs Monday in Niagara Falls, N.Y., when the NHL agreed to drop its demand that player costs be linked to league revenues, and the union, in turn, came off its steadfast opposition to a salary cap.

Bettman said the NHL couldn't afford the union's final proposal and said if all 30 teams spent $49 million on player costs, then more money would be paid out to players than last season.

"I can't see anything worse than what they put on the table today," Saskin said Saturday.

The commissioner said that teams lost more than $1.8 billion over 10 years, the last time a collective bargaining agreement was reached. The previous lockout cut the 1994-95 season down to 48 games per team.

NHL clubs claim to have lost $273 million in 2002-03 and $224 million last season.

Bettman had said a deal would have to be in the drafting stages by the end of last weekend if there was going to be time to play a 28-game season and a standard 16-team postseason.

[Drbio]

The NHL died the day the players and owners starting threatening to cancel the season. Now that they actually have done it, they are doomed. You are seeing the dismantling of the first profesisonal sport and other players unions are taking note. The only reason baseball has survived their labor woes was because of the game itself. Baseball is integrated into the fabric of America. Hockey is a canadian game that the US made better. The fan base has diehards that will still watch when (if) hockey returns, but they have stepped out onto a slippery path to which (I think at least) they cannot step back off of. Hockey is dying......call the funeral home and start setting a payment plan.

[mavsfanforever]

Good. I can totally concentrate on mavs and the Rangers.

[Phil Helmuth]

I agree that hockey made a huge mistake with this strike. Hell last year I only knew about 10 players in the league, now its gone down the drain.

[Smiles]

Originally posted by: Phil Helmuth
I agree that hockey made a huge mistake with this strike. Hell last year I only knew about 10 players in the league, now its gone down the drain.

If you knew the players, you wouldn't be calling in a "strike". The players won't touch that word with a ten foot pole. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

[mary]

Originally posted by: Smiles

If you knew the players, you wouldn't be calling in a "strike". The players won't touch that word with a ten foot pole. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Why is that smiles?

[u2sarajevo]

The players did not strike. The owners locked them out.

[mary]

The owners refused to agree to any of the proposals set forth by the players union, and therefore refused to have a season.

The players refused to agree to any of the proposals set forth by the owners, and therefore would not play for the compensation agreement that was being offered.

Except from a public relations perspective, the difference does not seem that significant to me. If there is one, I'm curious to find out what it is.


Edited because I can't spell.

[u2sarajevo]

The difference is that the players can blame the owners. And you and I may know that's BS, but History will take a cursory look at the conflict....

[Drbio]

I completely blame the players. Period. No qualifications. If they are willing for a measley million a year than screw them. Owners own companies to make a profit. I'm sick of the aura of entitlement that is embedded in professional sports.