A view from a new forum member
I have really tried to be objective in this whole mess. I thought the players' proposal in December was pretty good and a decent starting point where the NHL could counter-offer much better luxury taxes and such. I believed the NHL made a mistake not trying to negotiate it. I also thought the last NHL proposal was pretty good and a starting point for the NHLPA to negotiate a higher cap and a lower number from where the profit sharing would begin. I thought it was a mistake on their part not to, but the NHLPA has clearly made a bigger mistake with this recent turn-down.
The NHLPA claimed back in December that the NHL distorted the inflation numbers that would result from their offer, claiming their inflation numbers were accurate and would in fact give the NHL a similar effect to what their cap proposal would do. And from what they presented, it was beleivable. Now, the NHL basically said, "OK, here's your chance to put our money where your mouth is." And the NHLPA swiftly rejected the offer.
I agree that the triggers presented were worth rejecting. However, the NHLPA also pretty much handed the NHL their "Get out your impasse free" card by not even attempting to negotiate the triggers or even saying, "We standy by our offer and can guarantee it would work, but the triggers are too severe." They simply said, "Nope. Take our offer or make us a better one." They, very clearly, are not willing to negotiate. You could say the NHL isn't, either, considering all of their proposals basically include a cap. But...although both aren't really negotiating, the NHL is doing more of it. They would win easily in an "impasse contest" at this point. The NHLPA has done nothing but stonewall the NHL, giving no options (save one and only one) in return, while the NHL has constantly provided revised offers and some cross-over ideas. They may not be the best offers, but they are different offers. If the players have any hope of "winning", they had best make a different counter offer or at least publicly engage in some type of negotiating dialog.