Every NHL-CBA millimeter helps
May 10, 2005
OK, so Gary Bettman and Bob Goodenow didn’t sculpt a new Collective Bargaining Agreement after nearly four hours of meeting in New York Tuesday.
But we didn’t expect one anyway, did we?
Of course not.
What I anticipated was that the meeting would explode with such rancor the conference would be over within an hour and both NHL and NHLPA negotiators would immediately jet to Europe for the World Championships, as planned.
“The best news,” participant Lou Lamoriello tells me, “is that everyone is staying over on Wednesday and Thursday for more meetings.”
Like others on the league negotiating committee, the Devils CEO-general manager entered the Tuesday conference concerned about its outcome.
“It’s certainly not negative that they’ll continue talking,” Lamoriello adds. “I always consider that a good thing.”
League executive vice-president-chief legal officer Bill Daly issued the following statement: “The union has agreed, at our request, to remain in New York to continue meeting in smaller groups over the next several days on a variety of sub-issues that need to be addressed in connection with a new CBA.”
NHL insiders tell me that Goodenow’s decision to cancel his flight to Europe should not be construed as a major gain. But they were reassured that a number of player representatives were included in the gathering.
“I’m sure Goodenow did not want the players sitting in with the negotiators,” a top team official tells me. “He acts differently – more hard-line – when they are not at the table.”
Members of the NHLPA executive committee who participated include Trevor Linden, Bill Guerin, Bob Boughner, Vincent Damphousse and Trent Klatt.
A published report states that the player reps attending the meetings “are very engaged and aware of the importance of getting a deal done” but Goodenow stalls.
“He spent the first hour talking nonsense,” one of the league representatives tells me. “There was no substance. But we made it clear to the players that we’ve already lost weeks between meetings and this was not good.”
The players presence could be significant if – as some observers insist – the stickhandlers believe that Goodenow is unnecessarily stalling in negotiations and these players are antsy for a pact.
“We keep telling the union that the longer it takes for a deal to be made, the smaller the revenue pie that will be available for dividing,” a league negotiator tells me. “The players at the table may be believing that now.”
According to one published report, it was a players group that produced a linkage offer not Goodenow.
Because of a real possibility that the league’s ESPN pact could be greatly reduced and that major sponsors could be lost this month, some analysts believe that it is imperative for players to push through the linkage proposal.
Meanwhile, Goodenow’s strategy is coming under more and more scrutiny.
TSN’s perceptive analyst Bob McKenzie asserts that the union boss can choose from one of three battle plans: 1. The owners will eventually crumble and he’ll get a better deal somewhere down the line, even if the war lasts 24 months; 2. He accepts a Salary Cap but is holding out for key NHL concessions; 3. He has no intentions of making a deal and “maybe even risk losing his job and go out on his shield” rather than sign off on a capped and linkage pact.
Goodenow’s hope that the governors would become divided never materialized.
“If anything,” one NHL owner tells me, “we are more united than ever.”
Part of that unity is rooted in anger over Goodenow’s rejectionist negotiating style.
My conclusion always has been that the answer is number three and that – unless the players wrest control from him – no deal is possible with Goodenow calling the shots.
According to some insiders, player and agent pressure is growing for several reasons and one of them is that Europe no longer has the attractiveness as an alternate that it did last September.
The possibility of a World Hockey Association revival also is fading. The proposed WHA II also was suggested as an employment possibility for out-of-work NHLers. This, however, is not materializing.
When the players’ association holds its annual three-day meeting, starting May 24th in Toronto, Goodenow will have a league offer to present, but how it will be received is another story.
This much is clear; the more the parties talk, the more hopeful we can be although – as everyone knows – similar signals in the past produced nothing.
If the players want a deal badly enough – and the agents feel likewise – something good may happen on Wednesday and Thursday as a prelude to the players’ annual meeting.
Just remember, where there’s hockey talk, there’s hockey hope.
Keep hoping.
