Not sure I agree Kevin.
In a case like this where there is such venom and distrust out of the entire population involved there has to be someone on both sides respected and trusted as a man of his word.
At this point it's those guys that need to be handed the reigns and keep the polarized folks out.
I was involved in a deal, as a seller, and it was a sizable deal. We had the "waterfront tower giant legal firm" representing us and the buyer had the same. Everybody was lawyered up while we hammered out the purchase agreement, took about 4+ months once the outline for the purchase agreement was in place. I remember spending many an hour on the phone with our reps while they went through a very long contract, point by point, and hammered into us where the buyer was trying to gain the upper hand or put the burden/liability entirely on us. Point by point and it starts to add up where it's not about 1 or even 3 points in isolation. And no doubt the buyer's attorneys were doing exactly the same as we went back and forth. Much of the negotiation actually ended up being between the lawyers and those guys were pretty damn tough. I always say I'm glad our guy was on our side - a tough nut when negotiating.
The point is, you get caught up in the effectiveness of your negotiators and you get an attitude about the things that aren't stacked your way and you are happy that these guys are battling it out for the best deal you can get. In our case, everything worked out great in the end and we got the best terms we could, which amounted to give and take throughout a massive contract.
Not to universalize my experience, but I do not doubt that Fehr walks through the terms of the NHL's proposal and points out all the places where the owners are trying to "tuck it to you." Here in this clause, over here in this section, again over here, etc. And it adds up. And you start to get aggravated, yeah, that not very fair! And Fehr has done a lot of this, he knows what he's talking about, he knows a lot more than anybody he's talking to in the player ranks, except for some of the agents, and those players are probably going to develop some emotion around it all, some trust that this Fehr guy is looking out for them and knows what he's talking about.
These negotiators do these deals all the time. They know that the end game is to get a deal done and to push things as far as they can go until it's time to close the deal or blow it. Holding out, letting things get amped up, getting people worried about the deal collapsing, all part of the process and they move on to the next deal. I have to believe that Fehr understand this is all part of a process that almost everybody hates but that is his job to bring to the best place for his side before the final bell rings.
I think it's pretty tough to dislodge the place Fehr has secured for himself. I would be surprised if they literally push him out of the way and take a deal that makes the union look soft or like it was a "big loss." I'm sure a lot of the guys are frustrated and bent about missing paychecks but when Fehr rattles off the 10 places where they get "screwed" in the new deal, it will be tough for many of these guys to raise their hands and say, "but we should take it."
That's how I see it at least.