By Logan Swinkels
Today the National Hockey League (NHL) received three counter proposals from the Players’ Association, but it is clear that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is not impressed with the position that players are taking.
“None of the three variations of player share that they gave us even began to approach 50-50, either at all or for some long period of time,” Bettman told reporters after today’s meeting.
He is referring to the 50-50 split of hockey-related revenue that the NHL proposed on Tuesday, with the intention of getting a full season started on November 2. Initially, the NHL’s latest offer was seen to be strong and worthy of consideration. However, the players have now shot this down and the possibility of saving the hockey season hangs in the balance.
“It’s clear that we are not speaking the same language,” Bettman said.
Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby has been visible at many meetings during this lockout. Today he spoke out about the current situation.
“We came in here today with those proposals thinking that we could really make some progress,” he said. “To hear those words from Bettman kind of shuts it down pretty quickly. In a nutshell it doesn’t look good.”
The NHL believes that 50-50 is their best offer. A logical move considering both the NFL and NBA settled on similar deals last year to end their own labour disputes with players.
NHL Players’ Association executive director Donald Fehr stated that two of today’s counter proposals had players on a fixed amount of revenue, which would reach close to the 50-50 split as long as the NHL’s revenue continued to grow. The third counter proposal would be a 50-50 split as long as the NHL honoured all existing contracts in full.
In response, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly contradicted Fehr by saying, “It is not a 50-50 deal. It is most likely a 56 to 57 percent deal (in favour of the players) in year one, and never gets to 50 percent during the proposed five-year term of the agreement.”
The NHL released further details about Tuesday’s 50-50 proposal, confirming that their offer for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) was for six years with the option for a seventh, if mutual.
“This is the deal we believe the league needs to get the games going. We believe that it’s fair to the players. We hope to continue with such a deal, the growth of the game and the increase in player salaries. But the longer this goes, and in particular if we are not in a position to have an 82-game regular season, the damage may in fact make it even more difficult as time goes on to make a deal.”
Bettman closed his address today by saying, “I am, to say the least, thoroughly disappointed.”
Safe to say, hockey fans will be too.
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