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Owners, players still hope to save season
TSN.ca Staff
2/18/2005
Representatives of both NHL owners and players have not given up hope of salvaging the NHL season and many are confident games will be played this spring, TSN has learned.
According to sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity, several NHL owners have been in contact with agents and players in hope of getting a deal done.
"We can't let this thing die when we're so close," said one team executive. "We've come this far, it would be insane to lose the season over a relatively small gap."
Related Info
NHL's cancellation taking its toll in US
Post-NHL cancellation stories won't die
Negotiations broke off late Tuesday night after the players rejected the NHL's final offer of a 42.5-million dollar salary cap, while the owners rejected the NHLPA's proposal of a $49-million cap.
Hopes of a deal being reached even after Commissioner Gary Bettman cancelled the season surfaced Thursday when Detroit Red Wings' captain Steve Yzerman suggested a deal could still be done by the weekend.
"I don't know if it's necessarily tonight, tomorrow morning, Friday night or Saturday. I know the season has been cancelled, but it's not too late to uncancel it," Yzerman told The Hockey News.
And while Wayne Gretzky denied reports that he had been working behind the scenes with Mario Lemieux to get a deal done, he said Thursday he hoped the season could still be saved.
"I did talk to Mario today," Gretzky told the Fan 590 radio station in Toronto on Thursday. "I had a brief conversation about pretty much what everyone else is talking about, can we believe we're in the situation we're in. Nobody understands why we're in this situation. Nobody has the answer to how we got here or how we're going to get out of here."
Bettman said at his news conference Wednesday the league would go no higher than $42.5 million and added that the owners' offer was now off the table.
But Bettman also left the door open for the NHLPA to accept the league's final offer, saying that if the players called and said they would take the $42.5-million cap, he "would have to look at it."
In the 1994-1995 labour dispute, a group of unhappy owners went behind Bettman's back and negotiated directly with the players, forcing Bettman to cut a deal.
That will be much more difficult this time around, as it would take three-quarters of the league's 30 teams to override the commissioner, meaning that he needs only eight votes to hold his position.
In answer to a question at his Wednesday press conference, NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow said he would step aside if the membership wanted to go in a different direction. But Goodenow said he had not been asked to do so.
TSN.ca Staff
2/18/2005
Representatives of both NHL owners and players have not given up hope of salvaging the NHL season and many are confident games will be played this spring, TSN has learned.
According to sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity, several NHL owners have been in contact with agents and players in hope of getting a deal done.
"We can't let this thing die when we're so close," said one team executive. "We've come this far, it would be insane to lose the season over a relatively small gap."
Related Info
NHL's cancellation taking its toll in US
Post-NHL cancellation stories won't die
Negotiations broke off late Tuesday night after the players rejected the NHL's final offer of a 42.5-million dollar salary cap, while the owners rejected the NHLPA's proposal of a $49-million cap.
Hopes of a deal being reached even after Commissioner Gary Bettman cancelled the season surfaced Thursday when Detroit Red Wings' captain Steve Yzerman suggested a deal could still be done by the weekend.
"I don't know if it's necessarily tonight, tomorrow morning, Friday night or Saturday. I know the season has been cancelled, but it's not too late to uncancel it," Yzerman told The Hockey News.
And while Wayne Gretzky denied reports that he had been working behind the scenes with Mario Lemieux to get a deal done, he said Thursday he hoped the season could still be saved.
"I did talk to Mario today," Gretzky told the Fan 590 radio station in Toronto on Thursday. "I had a brief conversation about pretty much what everyone else is talking about, can we believe we're in the situation we're in. Nobody understands why we're in this situation. Nobody has the answer to how we got here or how we're going to get out of here."
Bettman said at his news conference Wednesday the league would go no higher than $42.5 million and added that the owners' offer was now off the table.
But Bettman also left the door open for the NHLPA to accept the league's final offer, saying that if the players called and said they would take the $42.5-million cap, he "would have to look at it."
In the 1994-1995 labour dispute, a group of unhappy owners went behind Bettman's back and negotiated directly with the players, forcing Bettman to cut a deal.
That will be much more difficult this time around, as it would take three-quarters of the league's 30 teams to override the commissioner, meaning that he needs only eight votes to hold his position.
In answer to a question at his Wednesday press conference, NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow said he would step aside if the membership wanted to go in a different direction. But Goodenow said he had not been asked to do so.
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