NHL follies continue: Winter Classic cancelled

By Bob H
Posted on 11/02/2012 at 2:20 pm

After wild speculation for much of the last week, the National Hockey League made it official on Friday afternoon, cancelling the 2013 Winter Classic. The game, scheduled for January 1 at Michigan Stadium to be contested by the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings, would have been the sixth annual outdoor contest and the fifth to take place on the first day of the calendar year. “The logistical demands for staging events of this magnitude made today’s decision unavoidable. We simply are out of time,” said NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly in a statement issued a short time ago. …

November No Mo

By Bob H
Posted on 10/26/2012 at 3:10 pm

From its perch in the steel and glass canyons of midtown Manhattan, the National Hockey League announced the cancellation of its 2012-13 regular-season schedule for the entire month of November on Friday. “The National Hockey League deeply regrets having to take this action. By presenting a proposal to the NHLPA that contemplated a fair division of revenues and was responsive to Player concerns regarding the value of their contracts, we had hoped to be able to forge a long-term Collective Bargaining Agreement that would have preserved an 82-game Regular Season for our fans. Unfortunately, that did not occur,” said NHL …

CBA Chatter

By Dain S
Posted on 10/25/2012 at 1:00 pm

Everything you wanted to know about the CBA but were afraid to ask Here are your updates from the past week on the ongoing collective bargaining agreement talks from around the Web. If this whole thing wasn’t sad, it would be funny. The NHL refused to meet with the NHLPA unless the union works from the owners last proposal. I officially hate everyone involved in this. [Philly.com] [Eklund] [Toronto Sun] [The Hockey News] There are no further talks scheduled at this point, so it looks like if we have a season at all, it will be a 60 games or less schedule. 1994, here …

Another week, another blunder by the NHL

By Kim Pollock
Posted on 10/25/2012 at 11:00 am

Well, the National Hockey League has done it again! On Wednesday morning, reports began to surface about the league allowing team management personnel to speak one-on-one to their players regarding the NHL’s latest offer in an attempt to sway them towards agreeing to it. This allowance comes after the owners and general managers were forbidden from speaking to their players, and were threatened with heavy fines if they were to do so — including a $1 million penalty for offering any thoughts about the ongoing Collective Bargaining Agreement mess. Think about this: back in September, Scott Hartnell held his charity …

Forgive But Don’t Forget

By Hal G
Posted on 10/22/2012 at 11:00 am

Seriously, enough is enough. I’m tired of reading about the lockout. I’m tired of reading about proposals. I’m tired of reading who is at fault. Just knock it off already. The worst thing that the NHLPA could have done was hire Donald Fehr. Did they not see what he did to baseball when he led the MLBPA? Mr. Fehr is known for his strikes. The worst thing Gary Bettman could have done is not resign, period. This is Bettman’s third work stoppage, and it pains me to attack Bettman, because he is my brother (fraternal, not blood). But, Mr. Bettman …

CBA Chatter

By Dain S
Posted on 10/18/2012 at 1:00 pm

Everything you wanted to know about the CBA but were afraid to ask Here are your updates from the past week on the ongoing Collective Bargaining Agreement talks from around the Web. The moment of truth has arrived as the NHL has submitted a new proposal with a 50/50 HRR split. Today at 2:30 PM, the NHLPA is supposed to respond and hopefully either accept the new deal or give a counter offer that will seal the deal. [Toronto Sun] [Philly.com] [Kuklas Korner][ESPN] Check back here after 2:30, as I will update the status of the talks after the NHLPA …

NHL Manipulators (Mount Up!)

By Kim Pollock
Posted on 10/18/2012 at 11:00 am

On Monday, Deadspin revealed that the National Hockey League had hired a PR team to lead focus groups with the intention of skewing the public’s image of the league and team owners in a positive direction. Now, the idea of a company employing this tactic isn’t anything new. Every organization wants to be painted in the best light possible, and would pay good money to make that happen. But that really isn’t the biggest issue that lies within this action taken by the league. The issue is, among others, that the NHL spent an arm and a leg for this …

NHL proposal, as is, hurts Flyers

By Kevin Christmann
Posted on 10/18/2012 at 6:00 am

On Tuesday, the NHL made a new proposal to the NHLPA in which they offered a 50/50 split of Hockey Related Revenue, down from their initial proposal of 57/43. It was seen by many to be the first step towards some real progress in coming to an agreement on a new CBA, and saving an 82-game season. Yesterday, NHLPA Executive Director Don Fehr sent a letter to all players and agents in which he explains why he is less than thrilled with the proposal. Personally, I’m not the least bit surprised by the response. In fact, I think anyone who …

It’s a trap!

By Bob H
Posted on 10/17/2012 at 8:00 am

Have you fans already forgotten the wisdom and warning of one Admiral Ackbar? Man, the NHL really has you by the short and curlies, don’t they? Go ahead. Admit it. It’s the first step. Stand up in the circle, announce your first name and last initial, and say you’re an addict. Wait for the affirmation, because it’s there. Darth Vader himself, Gary Bettman, goes on record in making a conciliatory overture to the players which involves a seductive come-on to get the deal done and play a full season. You’re so desperate to see top quality hockey action that in …

CBA Chatter

By Dain S
Posted on 10/11/2012 at 1:00 pm

Everything you wanted to know about the CBA but were afraid to ask Here are your latest updates on the ongoing collective bargaining agreement talks from around the Web. Well, we have our weekly meeting in which both sides try not to blink. Here’s to hoping someone has the guts to try to actually make a deal and not try to “win” this labor war. [Kuklas Korner] [ESPN] [Puck Daddy] [Spectors Hockey] Don Cherry has thoughts on the players and the lockout:[Toronto Sun] For up to date info on the lockout and the labor talks, follow @KatieStrangESPN,@SpectorsHockey and @Eklund on twitter. …

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