Sammy said:
I kinda agree with you but what do you think the owners should put on the table. Their best offer & then let the players negotiate off of that. Thats ludicrous. If the players get off the no salary cap/linkage mantra then I suspect those other items are negotiable but until then, why take them off the table?
Well, at some point, for the sake of negotiation, the owners have to make a serious give back.
Something that the rank and file players might look at and say "hey, that ain't so bad, I could live with that."
At this point, the owners aren't even really attempting to negotiate.
They've got just about all the cards. We all know that. Still, they've been arrogant and excessive in their demands.
You here that talk out there from Roenik et al? They're starting to say that they could live with a cap,
At some point, for the future of the league, and for the future of their franchises, the league needs to make a serious proposal.
One that has the hard cap, but that gives players freedom of movement in return.
Because if the entire season is wiped out, the NHL might resume hockey in 2007 with a $24 million salary cap, and they'll still lose money because no one will be watching.