NHL’s Latest Offer Is A NO Win Situation For The NHLPA
Gary Bettman Does Not Care About The Fans Or The Game.
The NHL Lockout is a month old and games have been cancelled through October 24th.
Hockey fans were praying for hockey by Thanksgiving or at the worst by the Winter Classic. Or some MOST were thinking another season would go up in flames due to GREED.
Today the NHL presented their latest deal which entails the following:
The NHL put a new offer on the bargaining table for the NHL Players’ Association on Tuesday morning, which includes a 50/50 split of hockey-related revenue and contingent on an 82-game season beginning Nov. 2.
“We hope we’ve given our best shot,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman told reporters on Tuesday afternoon.
Best shot really? How about your best shot back in 2004-5 so this mess NEVER happened?
This is a NO WIN SITUATION for the NHLPA. If they take the deal they lose 7% of the revenue that the owners AGREED to back in the LAST lockout. Now The players have to play more games during a condensed schedule.
Which means….MORE INJURIES, so the NHL can re-coop their losses.
If the NHLPA turns down this offer, they now look like the “BAD GUYS” in this. The NHL would win the PR battle that they are losing right now by a LANDSLIDE.
The owners & “GREEDY GARY” have backed the NHLPA in the corner. The players will have to accept the offer or the fans will turn on them. Just what the NHL wants.
It’s A SHOTGUN WEDDING!
I want hockey more than anyone, but I also want this league to become stable and not the LAUGHING STOCK of organized sports.
If I was Donald Fehr, I would tell Gary Bettman to SHOVE IT!
Bettman does not care about you (the fans), the players or the game. He just wants to line the pockets of the owners…..as he twists his handlebar mustache and while he sports his EVIL grin.
More On This Developing Story:
Here's a perspective Bob McKenzie over at TSN and The Hockey News put forward a few days ago. Most sensible look at the situation I've seen.
The players were never going to keep the 57 per cent. That was established from the outset. Fehr has already called this an excellent start, and he'll be the right guy to check for any chicanery in the fine print. But if you look at concessions and compromises that have been made in just about every industry on this continent – recent Canadian agreements between auto workers and the Big 3 as a good case in point – it's all about middle ground in a worsening economy now. And that economy ain't gonna get better for quite some time.
I think this one's gonna be tweaked and signed. Any further disagreement, and not only will fan interest drop off (and it's much harsher this time than last), but you're going to see fans really sticking it to the players. It isn't just that Bettman (who may be an a-hole, but is doing his job; I blame Jacobs most of all, and I'm a Bruins fan) flipped the PR to his advantage here. It's that he put pressure on the players to show they care about the fans, too. If the NHLPA turns this down flat, they're going to lose the PR battle and, more importantly, fan allegiance for good.
http://www.tsn.ca/blogs/bob_mckenzie/?id=407263
Cranky pants I agree, but its like seeing Darth Vader killing Luke. The Dark Side Wins again!
Have to disagree with on this on, Gillster. The owners assume all risk and should get the lion’s share. Hope to see you in the 336 this weekend. I’ll have my Bruschi blue on.