Hockey

NHL optimism crumbles with no progress

By TOM JONES
Published February 20, 2005

Just as NHL fans renewed optimism that hockey would be played this season, they were hit squarely between the eyes Saturday with another slap shot.

As negotiations between the NHL and its players' union went from frustrating to hopeful to surreal to baffling over the past weeks and days, fans held out hope the season could be saved. That seemed possible when talks were set for Saturday in New York with hockey legends and owners Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux pulling up chairs to the negotiating table.

But the last-gasp talks crashed with no progress, no new talks scheduled and, seemingly, no hope of saving the season.

"Our discussions revealed that we remain as far apart as we believed we were last week," NHL chief legal officer Bill Daly said. "The rumors that the parties were close or had in fact reached a deal were greatly exaggerated. There is still a long way to go."

This time, they mean it. Really.

"The season was canceled on Wednesday and it's certainly not going to be resurrected after (Saturday)," said Ted Saskin, senior director of the NHLPA. "It's 100 percent certain coming out of (Saturday's) meeting that nothing could impact the cancellation of the season."

Daly said the focus has shifted from saving this season to reaching an agreement as soon as possible and, "prepare to come back as strong as possible next year."

The sides - minus commissioner Gary Bettman and union chief Bob Goodenow - met for 61/2 hours Saturday. But the NHL's offer was virtually the same one it made, and had rejected, before canceling the season Wednesday.

"I can't see anything worse than what they put on the table (Saturday)," Saskin said.

The Avalanche's Vincent Damphousse, a union vice president, said: "When we saw more details on their offer we realized it was much worse than we thought."

Even though the NHL invited the union to the meeting, Daly said he was surprised the union did not make an offer. Bettman, in a memo to the owners, said the sides remained far apart.

While Bettman was canceling the season Wednesday, there was a ground swell among some owners and players to reach an agreement to save the season. Both made major concessions leading up to the cancellation, with the players agreeing to a salary cap and the owners backing off the need to link payrolls to revenues.

In their final offers, the union proposed a team salary cap of $49-million and the owners offered a cap of $42.5-million. It seemed the sides were down to crunching numbers, but neither could bridge the gap.

Thursday night, however, the NHL contacted the union and asked for a meeting. The union agreed and set up a meeting for Saturday. With Gretzky and Lemieux working behind the scenes, it appeared a deal would get done.

It's believed, however, the NHL did not move off its offer of a $42.5-million cap, mostly because many owners do not support a higher cap and/or still want to tie payrolls to revenues.

"I'm not really that disappointed," Lightning representative Tim Taylor said. "I still believe this has been all about next season anyway. Once the season was canceled (Wednesday), I don't think there was any intention of playing this season. To me, it's about getting a deal quickly and I think as long as we can keep talking, we can get that done.

Even if the sides agreed on a salary-cap number, there were still many unsettled issues, including arbitration, guaranteed contracts, free agency and entry-level contracts. That's why Taylor believed this season could not be saved.

Daly portrayed Saturday's meetings as "cordial and informative," and said the league remains committed to working until an agreement is reached.

The sides could take a break from talks, but both also might want to take advantage of the fact they are closer this weekend than they were a week ago before the concessions. A long break, however, might allow the sides to slip back into their original hard-line stances that created the lockout.

"We only hope they will continue meeting for the betterment of the NHL and its fans," Gretzky said.

Now the NHL and union face a backlash from fans already disappointed with Wednesday's cancellation. They had their hopes raised only to have them dashed again.

"It was crystal clear from our standpoint that we weren't (close to a deal) and that was evident (Saturday)," union president Trevor Linden said. "I don't think canceling a season looked that good to anyone."

Information from other news organizations was used in the report.

[Last modified February 20, 2005, 00:54:14]