Bitter Harvest

By Bob H
Posted on 10/08/2012 at 5:00 pm

Yes, in addition to Columbus Day — a.k.a the time of the year we Americans celebrate some old, white disease-ridden Europeans who crossed the seas and invaded a land already populated by native peoples and gave them gifts of assimilation and annihilation — today is also Canadian Thanksgiving (Jour l’Action de grace). Fun fact: while the U.S. day of tryptophan worship and football viewing was brought into being by George Washington in 1789 and celebrated annually since 1863, the Canadian version was not solidifed until an act of Parliament in January of 1957. It is also three days until what …

Gary Bettman: The Lightning Rod

By Bob H
Posted on 10/06/2012 at 4:00 pm

As a public service to those fans simply not interested in hunting down stories about the lockout across the continent on the weekend, Flyers Faithful is pleased to reprint portions of a Friday piece from the Globe and Mail, profiling NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. This week in New York, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman sat down for a Q and A with Globe and Mail columnist Roy MacGregor to answer questions on the league’s lockout of players. Q: Does the court of public opinion matter? A: Ultimately it does. What our fans want, what our fans believe, what our fans are …

Donald Fehr: The players’ defender

By Bob H
Posted on 10/06/2012 at 1:00 pm

As a public service to those fans simply not interested in hunting down stories about the lockout across the continent on the weekend, Flyers Faithful is pleased to reprint portions of a Friday piece from the Globe and Mail, profiling NHLPA Executive Director Donald Fehr. The NHL had just announced that it was cancelling 82 regular-season games due to the owners’ lockout of players when NHLPA chief Donald Fehr sat down for a Q and A with columnist Jeff Blair. Among his thoughts? There is some merit to the concept of a soft salary cap and luxury tax — and …

The first cut is the deepest

By Bob H
Posted on 10/04/2012 at 2:17 pm

So, it’s come to this: We will apparently not enjoy a full 82-game slate for our favorite teams this season, as the NHL announced a short time ago that it will excise the first two weeks of the year: “The National Hockey League announced today the cancellation of the 2012-13 regular-season schedule through October 24. A total of 82 regular-season games were scheduled for Oct. 11 through Oct. 24. The cancellation was necessary because of the absence of a Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL Players’ Association and the NHL.” While it does mean that games can be rescheduled, let’s …

Point/Counterpoint: Shut up and do something!

By Bob H
Posted on 10/02/2012 at 1:00 pm

Welcome to another edition of Point/Counterpoint, where a pair of Flyers Faithful scribes square off, debating an issue with their own unique style and flair. This week, Bob H and Nick D find some common ground, though with different voices, over how we should feel now that the NHL is in the throes of another lockout. Point, Nick: I grew up watching hockey. This city became enamored with the way the Broad Street Bullies played the game: grind it out, blue-collar, arrive in ill-humor type stuff. They won by outworking other teams. It is an incredible spectacle. Even now, with much of …

It’s Fargin War!

By Bob H
Posted on 09/16/2012 at 12:30 am

Neither the NHL’s Board of Governors, its Commissioner, nor the Players’ Association were able to come to an agreement on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement by the midnight deadline. And so, the third lockout in the last 18 years has commenced, all under Gary Bettman’s watch. The following is a message, in the emotion of the moment. Directed to Bettman, the 30 owners for whom he has been a perfect tool, the Fehr brothers and all the players, stolen from Roman Troy Moronie: “You lousy cork-soakers. You have violated our farging rights. Dis somanumbatching sport was founded so that the …

Quebec 1, NHLPA 0

By Bob H
Posted on 09/14/2012 at 9:30 pm

One of the last remaining options for hockey to be played on schedule as the clock ticks down to a lockout has apparently been exhausted. After hearing a combined five hours worth of argument in one of its regional bureaus in Montreal on Friday, the Quebec Labor Board ruled in favor of the National Hockey League and the Canadiens, saying that provincial law does not make it illegal to lock out players. The decision was originally reported by RDS of Canada to have been announced some time on Saturday. It was an unprecedented and rapid development that wiped out the …

Sucker

By Kim Pollock
Posted on 09/14/2012 at 12:00 pm

We’re just about 37 hours away from having to face a bummer of a reality — no hockey, at least not anytime soon. It’s been a summer of waiting, hoping, praying that the NHLPA and the league would reach a new CBA and the season would start on time, but it’s not happening. There should be training camp going on now, preseason games that get the fans hyped up for the real deal. But, nope. The players are home, or they’re in NHLPA meetings, and when the fans turn on the TV to catch a game, they’ll only be met …

CBA Chatter

By Dain S
Posted on 09/13/2012 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. Well, after both sides barely acknowledged each other’s existence, they were able to come to NYC for a meeting yesterday:[ESPN] [Hockeybuzz] [Puck Daddy] For the most part ,it seems like too little, too late as both sides try to position themselves as the “good: guys in this scenario. [Puck Daddy] [Scott Burnside][Sportsnet.ca][Philly.com] [Edmontonsun.com] There are two press conferences scheduled today, where both sides will most likely point fingers and the fans will be …

Labour Bored

By Bob H
Posted on 09/12/2012 at 2:00 pm

Earlier in the week, it was revealed by multiple sources throughout North America, TSN and RDS chief among them, that the National Hockey League Players Association intended to file briefs on behalf of their clients to the Quebec Labor Board. Added to that, was the report of a similar case to be presented in Alberta on behalf of the two clubs residing in its two largest cities. The argument, at its core, states that since the union is not certified in the province, it is illegal for the Canadiens organization to lock out players. This is a stunning turnaround from …

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