] The NHL had warned the NHLPA after canceling the season
] on Feb. 16 that future offers would be smaller because
] the business, itself, would very likely be smaller.
]
] The NHL delivered on that promise Thursday, by offering a
] hard cap of $37.5 million ($5 million less than
] previously offered), or, if the NHLPA would prefer, a
] fixed link between league revenues and player salaries at
] 54 percent of revenues (it was 55 percent previously).

The boat is just gonna keep sinking. The PA has GOT to get its head out of its ass.

Labor dispute far from over

] The $2.1 billion league that existed at the end of last
] season, when Auburn Hills mogul Bill Davidson's Tampa Bay
] Lightning won the Stanley Cup, could shrink to half that,
] NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman told the head of the
] players' union when the season was canceled.
]
] Tom Wilson, president of the Davidson company that owns
] the Lightning, has said as much publicly, warning that
] the league could shrink to $800 million if a deal isn't
] done by the start of next season.

This is the most telling prognostication. No matter what happens, the market that the NHL will return to will be even smaller than the one it left behind under duress. With that as an almost indesputable fact, how can the NHLPA expect to get a better deal than what's already been proposed?

The likely scenario is that star players like Iginla, Lidstrom, Jagr, and Kovalev will be LUCKY to make 1/2 of their previous revenue under any situation when the league returns. And ultimately, that screws the little guys - the Tootoos and Heatleys and journeymen in the league that don't even make enough to find adequate agents.

So in the end, the PA (more specifically Goodenow) has done nothing to help the players cause and in fact, has pretty much destroyed their credibility altogether. Whatever deal ends up getting ratified will be the same deal that could've been ratified before the 04/05 season even started and all this damage could've been avoided. Instead, they'll get a shoddy deal which gives them a smaller piece of a much smaller pie. Thanks Bob!

Owners see 6 ways to save the NHL

] ``It's almost to the point that it isn't the union. It's
] Bob Goodenow. We can't get a deal with Bob Goodenow.''

One piece of good news for hockey in Nashville is that Leipold is a key driver on the board of governors and is highly respected amongst the owners. I don't believe the league will contract (it can't afford to, since that will damage any TV deal, possibly making it unworkable) and I don't believe that the league will take away the linkage again. The PA should've taken that last deal and ran with it. It will be the best deal they could've gotten.

Preds owner: Hockey will be played this fall

] Citing sources, the Toronto Star said Bain Capital and
] GamePlan LLC, a Houston-based firm that specializes in
] sports franchises, pitched the plan to NHL commissioner
] Gary Bettman and other league and team representatives on
] Tuesday.

odd, but could solve many of the current problems.

Report: NHL Gets $3.5 Billion Buy Out Offer

] Markus Naslund, the Vancouver Canucks forward and
] teammate of Todd Bertuzzi, criticized Colorado forward
] Steve Moore after Moore launched civil suits against
] Bertuzzi and various members of the Canucks.
]
] Moore was severely injured by Bertuzzi last Feb. 16 in an
] incident that continues to mar the NHL. Bertuzzi and the
] Canucks publicly said there would be retribution after
] Moore had injured Naslund a couple of weeks earlier.
]
] Naslund said Moore was "suing everyone so he can make
] money."

More proof that the idiocy of western Canadians has fully penetrated the psyche of the dirty Swedes.

Markus Naslund sucks

] Former Colorado Avalanche player Steve Moore filed a
] lawsuit against the Vancouver Canucks forward Todd
] Bertuzzi, who pleaded guilty to assault after slugging
] Moore in the head from behind during a game last season.

There's the Hockey Code, and then there's this shit. I hope Moore cleans Bert's clock financially.

Former Av sues Vancouver player for 'unprovoked hit'

] "I know, as do you, that the 'deal' we can make will only
] get worse for the players if we cancel the season,"
] Bettman's letter to Goodenow said.

no truer words have been said about this.

Hope flickers as NHL talks go to overtime

] In a surprising development, the NHL Players' Association
] offered the NHL a deal that included a $52-million US
] salary cap. But it was rejected, The Canadian Press has
] learned.

Holy crap!

NHL rejects $52M US salary cap offer: report

] Now the owners are pushing for massive pay cuts and a
] salary cap. It's like dropping 10 grand in a casino and
] then calling for the abolition of blackjack. Still, it's
] the right idea. I believe NHL players should make $10 an
] hour, maybe $12. And we should be able to buy two
] tickets, park, throw down some beers and dogs and brawl
] in the bathroom for no more than $70 per person. Everyone
] would live happily ever after.

AMEN!!!

The forgotten lockout

awesome

NHL Lockout T-Shirts