the players and the league are involved in a bitter legal dispute over the distribution of finances, and by no means are we deserving of any private bargaining information or proposals.
Before you can judge the players and understand the union mentality, I think you have to try to look at this situation from a realistic perspective. If you do, it becomes painfully apparent why the players have absolutely no intentions of winning over the fans. They’re not trying to go head-to-head with the league in some kind of public relations duel because, in essence, that would be a fruitless endeavor
According to recent polls, the majority of fans are overwhelmingly in support of the league’s bargaining position Most broadcasters and sportswriters feel the same way (you don’t have to spend much time to convince an underpaid beat writer that hockey players are financially spoiled), and as a result, they have no sympathy for the players and their plight. With little effort, Gary Bettman has used the media to disseminate his message to the fans in a savvy public relations campaign that has featured the revealing of six “good faith†bargaining proposals from the league. The players, conversely, have not come to the fore publicly with a substantial proposal since last year.
Now the fans look at this situation and say to themselves, ‘Wow, it really seems like the league is making a concerted effort to salvage the season, and maybe even training camp. You’d think the players would be willing to accept just one of those six proposals! Why are they being such brats?’
The reason for the players’ recent dismissal of the six financial concepts concocted by the NHL is simple - all six plans revolve around a salary cap, and the players have made it abundantly clear that they will not accept such a salary restriction. And unless Gary Bettman and his henchmen (sounds like a band) are dumber than I think they are, I’m willing to bet they knew damn right well that the union was inevitably going to reject all six proposals when they initially formed the concepts. To me, the public release of the six “good faith†proposals was nothing more than an exhibition of public relations on the part of Bill Daly and company, and was not a sincere attempt by the NHL to address the problems at hand.
The union, on the other hand, did make an attempt at achieving the goals of itself and the league on October 1st of last year On that date, Bob Goodenow proposed a five percent rollback on player salaries, a substantially smaller salary cap on entry-level contracts, and a luxury tax and revenue-sharing system. Even though specifics were not mentioned, the players’ proposal did address (on the surface) some contentious issues the league has with the current CBA. Nevertheless, the league publicly disregarded the proposal less than a week after it was presented by the union.
At least the players had the decency to consider the league’s six proposals for two weeks. Regardless, the union was simply prolonging the inevitable negative fan reaction Fans don’t give a hoot about the players’ position, because if we did, we would be able to read between the lines of the political posturing and the public relations fodder that we’ve been fed by the league over the last year. I’m not saying I support the union, but to side with ownership - who, by the way, would be primarily responsible for a lockout, should it occur - is completely asinine. What is even more sickening is the fact that fans seem to be falling prey to a perfectly executed NHL PR blitzkrieg that is making the players look as sinister as the big bad wolf and the league appear as innocent as Little Red.