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mooseOAK said:Every time they tried to discuss a new CBA before this season Goodenow said "up yours" so the NHL had to at least know that playing 2004-05 was unlikely.
Once again you have that backwards .. In the summer before the season began the NHL was tossing around Hard Cap numbers in the 32 - 35 Mil range to the NHLPA ..
You remember everyone did a million calculations what a team would look like at that level with current contracts still in effect .. That was the leagues starting point, so when the NHLPA was not interested in negotiating from that, you should really not be surprised, considering to this day they STILL do not support a HARD CAP ..
The NHL never had any intention to play last season .. They started with offers that are well below where we are now and they wanted to get a year off guaranteed contracts off the books saving 1.2 Bil in the process and they needed to make and NHL World where Revenue was declining or their Proposals would make no Sense if the Revenue was 2.1 bil and growing.. and offering 32 mil ceilings in proposals..
When you throw a FINAL OFFER on the table and then send a few emails through the media and cancel the season you would have to be pretty young and naive to believe that the goal was anything else .. You don't put aside a $ 300 Million WAR Chest and then sign a deal last September or January even..