The End is Near-Jan 14th Board of Govenors meeting

[X0ssbar]

"Sportsnet has learned NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has called a Board of Govenors meeting for January 14 in New York to determine whether or not this season will be wiped out."

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/article.jsp?content=20041222_102937_3628

Click to read more...

 

[J17 Vs Proclamation]

The season in my view will be wiped out.

 

[chiavsfan]

Barring a large cave-in by the PA (which I think will EVENTUALLY happen, just not yet) the season WILL be wiped out. Think about it, each side presented something, and each side wiped it out without a thought. No talks are planned, and realistically no talks will be planned until at least the 3rd of January (Trust me, the holiday's WILL be taken off). Which would give them 11 days to figure out something before the Board Meeting.

Sorry folks...love your AHL, ECHL, CHL, and others

 

[Grandpabuzz]

Just f'n amazing.

Because of cupidity, greed, and shameless pride the NHL will be the infamous first league to destroy a whole season.

Great job Goodenow and Bettman, you BOTH killed this league. I hope you both die happy.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Just f'n amazing.

Because of cupidity, greed, and shameless pride the NHL will be the infamous first league to destroy a whole season.

Great job Goodenow and Bettman, you BOTH killed this league. I hope you both die happy.

. . . if I could go back and stick a backbone into the baseball owners a few years ago so that they would have stuck it out for meaningful reform of the game, I would have gladly lost a year. Massive problems remain and still remain for the next collecive bargaining agreement when baseball will have to do it all again. If, and this is a big if, hockey can get its act together with the only cost being the loss of this year, I call it a worthwhile price to pay rather than putting bandaids on every 4 or 5 years (along with work stoppages each time losing part of the year).

 

[Chili]

Because of cupidity, greed, and shameless pride the NHL will be the infamous first league to destroy a whole season.

Over the years, baseball by far, has had the most acrimonius relationship between the owners and players. And yet they have never lost an entire season.

I'd like to hear both Goodenow and Bettman admit that they have failed here. The entire game of hockey is taking a step backwards by this season not being played.

 

[Madevilz]

If they cancel the season, THEY BETTER return with a GREATLY improved league.

 

[It Kills Me]

Theyre proposal seemed close enough.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/article.jsp?content=20041214_182509_4872

 

[shakes]

They cancel the season, I'm pretty sure thats the end of the NHL as we know it, especially in a lot of markets in the US. Baseball is America's pastime and it is just getting over the strike 10 years ago, what makes anyone think that hockey can recover, knowing that poker draws more TV audiences, is beyond me.

 

[nikolai19]

If they lose this whole season, they won't be able to come back. Part of the reason that baseball was able to come back is because of the McGwire-Sosa deal, which made baseball exciting again.

If this is the case, we'd better hope in 2007-2008 that Crosby is chasing Gretzky's scoring records and that there is a Rangers-Kings (NY vs. LA) matchup in the finals to gain interest in the sport again.

 

[two out of three*]

Theyre proposal seemed close enough.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/article.jsp?content=20041214_182509_4872

I thought so...

 

[struckmatch]

I wonder what the PA thinks about this, considering that all the players under $800,000 were not effected by the league's last proposal. Goodenow can say they are all unified, but with this news, I doubt there isn't a large number of PA members who would rather play under a system that involved linkage.

 

[MarkZackKarl]

stupidy

Can anyone logically tell me why the players would all of a sudden capitulate? The owners losing one season have far more to lose than the players losing a season.

I mean, you try and repair hundreds of thousands of people in your fanbase.... the players wont be blamed in the end. Sure the public as usual is misguided now, but if the owners cancel the season, the season ticket sales even in the strongest of hockey markets will plummet. Imagine what it would be like in Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Anaheim, Chicago?

You dont think people will cancel their seats if the owners have the gall to cancel a season because they dont want their management to be held accountable?

Ridiculous.

This whole lockout is insane.

 

[X0ssbar]

Another way to look at this announcement is that this is just the next move in these negotiations. Bettman is essentially setting a drop-dead date of Jan 14th for NHLPA without saying as much.

The next move is the NHLPA's. Its crunch time now and they are going to have to seriously look at their stance against a salary cap and decide if a long drawn out fight is worth it. One way or another the owners are going to get their cost certainty this time around no matter what damage is done to the game in the process. Their vision is clear and there is no turning back. They figure if the NHL maintains the status quo the league is doomed regardless. A cap system is the best way (they know of) that can guarantee their investment and the long-term financial health of the league.

I anticipate at least one more round of renewed talks after the New Year. If talks break down again then the season is lost and we can all look forward to impasse implications.

Like another poster said, the time for band-aid solutions is over. Get it right this time.

 

[MarkZackKarl]

tHE BEST SOLUTION WOULD be to hire competent GM's and have owners who understand budgets.

Also, the best solution would be to get rid of the masses of fans that are so gullible Bettman could sell the **** as gold and they would buy it.

Sigh.

 

[loudi94]

Can anyone logically tell me why the players would all of a sudden capitulate? The owners losing one season have far more to lose than the players losing a season.

Most owners have other "jobs" that allowed them to invest in a sports team. They'll be fine. A few teams may fold but as long as it's not the Habs, it will be good too. The players on the other hand haven't got too many other things to put on their resumes other than -hockey player.

 

[Go Flames Go*]

Oh well, it the players dont want to accept the payroll ranges offer, thats there problem they will soon be earning CFL salaries.

 

[ceber]

tHE BEST SOLUTION WOULD be to hire competent GM's and have owners who understand budgets.

Also, the best solution would be to get rid of the masses of fans that are so gullible Bettman could sell the **** as gold and they would buy it.

Sigh.

I'm pretty sure most of the owners understand budgets. Not many of them got rich accidentally, did they? I doubt any of them would stay rich if they didn't know how to handle their money, or were at least smart enough to hire people who did. If the owners didn't like the job the GMs are doing, wouldn't they replace them?

What does it matter what or who the fans believe?

 

[bleedgreen]

tHE BEST SOLUTION WOULD be to hire competent GM's and have owners who understand budgets.

Also, the best solution would be to get rid of the masses of fans that are so gullible Bettman could sell the **** as gold and they would buy it.

Sigh.

i just dont see how you can say that. i think bettman is weasel. i find him repugnant. unfortunately, bettmans job is to keep the owners happy and do whatever he thinks is going to save the game. whether you believe him or trust him, there is no way he is doing this for any other reason than to create a league that he at least thinks is solid. what is goodenow standing for? whats his job? he's a lawyer whose job is to get the players as much money as they possibly can - they are doing anything they can to keep things as close to present as possible. they dont even argue that a cap wont work, they just dont want one. the owners imo already won this whole thing, like it or not, we have to wait for the players to give up. bettman wouldnt be waiting for the labor impasse if he didnt already know they would win it - there is no way the players can win. they just want to disgrace and humiliate bettman as much as they can before they give in. i dont blame them, but how can it be worth it if they are just going to give in next year anyway.

 

[TexSen]

Oh well, it the players dont want to accept the payroll ranges offer, thats there problem they will soon be earning CFL salaries.

I'll argue that the players should be earning CFL salaries. It's got to be one of the highest paid sports with the crappiest ratings south of the border. And let's not fool ourselves.....without a decent TV contract down here at least half of the US teams are gone.

So let's start paying the players what they are worth as defined by the market (That's us the viewers both tv and in-arena) and get the outrageous ticket prices also in line with the popularity level of the sport here in the states.

For the product that is put on the ice and the popularity here in the states (aside from most of your original six clubs) there is no justification for ticket prices being over $50. There just isn't.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Can anyone logically tell me why the players would all of a sudden capitulate? The owners losing one season have far more to lose than the players losing a season.

I mean, you try and repair hundreds of thousands of people in your fanbase.... the players wont be blamed in the end. Sure the public as usual is misguided now, but if the owners cancel the season, the season ticket sales even in the strongest of hockey markets will plummet. Imagine what it would be like in Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Anaheim, Chicago?

You dont think people will cancel their seats if the owners have the gall to cancel a season because they dont want their management to be held accountable?

Ridiculous.

This whole lockout is insane.

I can tell you what it is like from the 'burgh . . . perhaps the most union-oriented town in america at one time, and still having deep union roots. The sport columnists and fans are almost universally behind the owners in this fight. The roots may run union, but we got left holding the bag for hundreds of millions of dollars that we will be paying for decades to come with that beautiful baseball stadium, PNC Park, where they play minor league baseball and seem destined to always play minor league ball. We were promised otherwise by baseball when we voted for that Park. The sentiment for the players unions has soured completely in this town. The bad experience also has complicated the new arena for the Pens, though that seems to be able to go through on the back of slot machine revenues.

 

[ti-vite]

Goodenow indicated that a season will only be held when all the ts are crossed and all i, dotted.

I remember Brian Burke or Bob McKenzie indicating that with a Cap CBA (or cost certainty) it would take upwards of 45-60 days to figure out all the details involved since these types of systems is quite more complexe than the last CBA..where the season began and a final deal had not even been ironed out.

The 'season' IMO was lost in November. Nothing new here.

 

[mooseOAK*]

tHE BEST SOLUTION WOULD be to hire competent GM's and have owners who understand budgets.

Also, the best solution would be to get rid of the masses of fans that are so gullible Bettman could sell the **** as gold and they would buy it.

Sigh.

Please advise what it is that makes you smarter than the majority of fans. Asking because it isn't immediately obvious.

 

[CarlRacki]

Can anyone logically tell me why the players would all of a sudden capitulate? The owners losing one season have far more to lose than the players losing a season.

I mean, you try and repair hundreds of thousands of people in your fanbase.... the players wont be blamed in the end. Sure the public as usual is misguided now, but if the owners cancel the season, the season ticket sales even in the strongest of hockey markets will plummet. Imagine what it would be like in Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Anaheim, Chicago?

The fact remains the majority of fans see the owners' position as the more reasonable one. That's not likely to change as a result of the season's cancelation nor will fans' allegiances. A canceled season might make fans dislike both sides more, but it won't get them to change how they view the situation.

Calling the public "as usual misguided" does nothing to further your argument. If you want to lay claim to some intellectual superiority because it makes you feel better about yourself, be my guest. However, a more thoughtful person recognizes there are very smart people on both sides of the issue.

As for destroying the league, fanbases, etc., it's not going to happen. The hardcore fans will be back and, unfortunately, those are the only fans the league has right now. Let's face it, there's pretty much no such thing as a casual hockey fan. Those are the people a prolonged labor dispute would alienate, but since they're such a rarity for pro hockey, it doesn't really matter all that much.

p.s. How does one "repair hundreds of thousands of people in a fanbase"? Are they broken? Should the NHL bring in a team of mechanics to fix them? Just wondering.

 

[Leafer4Life]

Bunch of arseholes. Thanks Bettman and Goodenow. Thanks for nothing.........