BREAKING NEWS: NHLPA and the NHL to meet next week for negotiations

[Splaya]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=750 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=560><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=7><SPACER width="1" height="1" type="block"></TD></TR><TR><TD class=yspsctnhdln>NHL, union to resume negotiations for first time since September</TD></TR><TR><TD height=7><SPACER width="1" height="1" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>By IRA PODELL, AP Sports Writer
December 2, 2004

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=ysptblbdr2><TABLE class=yspwhitebg cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle>http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20041201/thumb.cgyh10212012345.nhl_lockout_bettman_cgyh102.jpg (http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/photo?slug=cgyh10212012345.nhl_lockout_bettman_cgyh102&prov=ap)
<SMALL>AP - Dec 1, 6:48 pm EST</SMALL>
More Photos (http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/gallery)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>NEW YORK (AP) -- The NHL accepted an invitation from the players' association on Thursday to return to the negotiating table in an effort to end the lockout that began nearly three months ago.

In a letter sent to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on Thursday, players' association executive director Bob Goodenow proposed that the sides meet next week in Toronto and said the union is working on a new proposal.

No official talks have occurred since Sept. 9, when the union made its last offer. The lockout reached its 78th day Thursday.

``We look forward to meeting with the NHL Players' Association next week,'' said Bill Daly, the league's chief legal officer. ``We are hopeful that the NHLPA's offer will be a meaningful effort to address the league's economic problems. When we receive the proposal, we will evaluate it closely and respond appropriately.''

The last offer by the NHLPA was a luxury tax-based deal that was rejected by the league, and the lockout began one week later. As of Thursday, 334 regular-season games, plus the 2005 All-Star game, have been wiped out.

The offer to resume talks came just hours before the league's general managers prepared to get an update from Bettman during a dinner meeting in New York.

The players' association said its new proposal should provide the basis for a new collective bargaining agreement.

<TABLE cellPadding=1 align=left border=0 hspace="10" vspace="5"><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle>ADVERTISEMENT
http://us.a1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/a/se/send_traffic/gotvmail-yahooros-rectangle070804.gif (http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=129j5kvtr/M=305450.5218589.6400342.1414694/D=sports/S=95861798:LREC/EXP=1102107310/A=2248837/R=0/SIG=1363u32s3/*http://gotvmail.com/?sendroicid=4847c5cd-9457-4cc6-884e-1838545b2a1f&sendroikwd=rectangleflashstatic)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>``Almost three months have passed since the players made their last proposal and we have yet to receive a counteroffer from the league,'' Goodenow said in a statement. ``We have been working hard at other creative solutions and believe our new proposal will provide a basis to end the owners' lockout and resume NHL hockey.''

Bettman has said that a luxury tax won't work for the 30 NHL teams, which he claims are losing money at a pace that makes it impossible for the league to survive under the current system. He is seeking ``cost certainty'' for the clubs, which the union says is tantamount to a salary cap -- a solution it refuses to accept.

The league has been operating under the same collective bargaining agreement since 1995, when the last lockout -- that lasted 103 days -- ended and a truncated 48-game schedule was held. That deal was extended twice. Bettman said teams combined to lose more than $1.8 billion over 10 years, and that management will not agree to a labor deal without a defined relationship between revenue and salaries. Owners claim teams lost $273 million in 2002-03 and $224 million last season. An economic study commissioned by the NHL found that players get 76 percent of all league revenues -- far more than the percentage for the other major team sports. The players' association has challenged many of the league's financial findings.

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Hopefully this will end the lockout :)

[Yashamaga]

hopefully

[MVP]

It's about time they started negotating again. I hate not being able to watch this season.

I'll settle for a truncated season.

[MoRcHeEbA]

it's not going to end

[asphyXy]

:(

[Mike the Metal Ed]

:mad:

[MoRcHeEbA]

the league should honestly fold then start up with the agreement they want and if players dont like it to bad.

[Mike the Metal Ed]

If they won't agree, then a restart would be a good idea, but then I haven't been watching long enough to grow attached to the way things were before this "season".

[Took]

No way, the league folding would suck ass. Would all the records and accomplishments of teams and players be lost? I'd hate that. Nah we dont have to go to those extreme lengths. Personally sooner or later someone is gonna give in, once the fact that they are clearly losing out on money through all this keeps persisting and shit.
I'm an optimist. Ya never know, these people are smarter then most give them credit for. Even though they just choose not to act that way at all, thanks to greed.

[John la Rock]

The NHL is FUCKED even if they resume play starting in January

[Arashi Kage]

I hope the NHLPA is coming to its senses. I really do not wanna see a system similar to MLB. If something could be worked out along the lines of the NFL, hockey is going to be great and we're going to see better competition.

The ultimate bonus would be a couple teams moving back to Canada. But I seriously doubt that it will happen anytime soon.

[samichna]

Whatever.

Fuck the NHL and fuck the NHLPA.

[John la Rock]

I hope the NHLPA is coming to its senses. I really do not wanna see a system similar to MLB. If something could be worked out along the lines of the NFL, hockey is going to be great and we're going to see better competition.

The ultimate bonus would be a couple teams moving back to Canada. But I seriously doubt that it will happen anytime soon.

Oh man if the Jets and Nordiques came back :drool:

[YOUR Hero]

the league should honestly fold then start up with the agreement they want and if players dont like it to bad.

Guy LaFleur

[MoRcHeEbA]

Jets only fuck quebec

[MoRcHeEbA]

fuck you cockring

[YOUR Hero]

I would like to see Halifax get a team, not sure if they could support one, but it would be great.

Winnipeg and maybe Quebec.

Guy LaFleur was first to state that the NHL owners should fold and start back up. I think it's a great idea.

Jadah, suck me.

[MoRcHeEbA]

YOU WISH, anyway Winnipeg can house a team still if there's a new system in place and since atleast three teams will most likely be forced to move anyway due to them basically gonna have to be folding because of the lockout. Winnipeg has sold out every moose game since our new arena opened. I honestly never understood why a city like Seattle never housed a team in the first place. Either way I'm sure it will all work itself out when the teams just bring in replacement workers next year if it's not settled.

[John la Rock]

Jets only fuck quebec

Quebec ownz all asshole

[Jesus Shuttlesworth]

Damn I am loving SportsCenter without the hockey highlights :(

[MoRcHeEbA]

Stima is whats wrong with hockey :(

[Triple A]

Damn I am loving SportsCenter without the hockey highlights :(
Yup.

[Penner]

yeah mlb got fucked by the strike

i hope that doesnt happen to nhl

[Bad Guy]

Whoever wins cup will have an * next to it this year. I'll still take it though. Go Wings. :cool:

[YOUR Hero]

Well the big surprise from yesterday's meeting was the players union's proposal to cut existing salaries 24%.

Sounds great, but to me, the salaries would just escalate again as player contracts expired. Short term fix.

[VonErich Lives]

Well the big surprise from yesterday's meeting was the players union's proposal to cut existing salaries 24%.

Sounds great, but to me, the salaries would just escalate again as player contracts expired. Short term fix.

There were a few things.

24% cut.
Luxury Tax
and there was something else they offered to control contracts.

That being said, my understanding was the things they offered were trials just to get in the rest of the season and were void after the season.

Maybe someone who's following more and correct me on this?

[Y2Ant]

Whoever wins cup will have an * next to it this year. I'll still take it though. Go <s>Wings.</s>Ducks :cool:

[MoRcHeEbA]

I think it was just a PR move by the NHLPA hoping to no longer look like the bad guys, since there's a good chance the NHL will counter with a hard cap. Time will tell I suppose.

[YOUR Hero]

VEL, everything the players union offered didn't adress 'cost certainty'. That's what the owners want. I do think this is going to only get uglier now. I say that because I see the owners still demanding that cap and the players in turn saying "fuck you" after preparing to give back so much. Well so much is a misnomer since that wouldn't effect the league down the line.

There is still too much "What about me??" attitude going on by the players. They still view everything from their own personal perspective and not the health of the league.

[BCWWF]

There is obviously something more to all of this then we know. What we know, for the most part is:

The players don't want a salary cap to harness their income despite the fact that the league doesn't have the money to pay current salaries.

There is obviously something more or else it would be done by now. Its the same as when in the discussion board people try to make claims that Bush lied under oath, well it may look like he did, but I guarandamntee you that if he actually did we would have known about it. Things are more complicated, and I want to know why.

[VonErich Lives]

VEL, everything the players union offered didn't adress 'cost certainty'. That's what the owners want. I do think this is going to only get uglier now. I say that because I see the owners still demanding that cap and the players in turn saying "fuck you" after preparing to give back so much. Well so much is a misnomer since that wouldn't effect the league down the line.

There is still too much "What about me??" attitude going on by the players. They still view everything from their own personal perspective and not the health of the league.

K, thanks.

Local radio had Harry Sinden on, and they blunty asked, if the NHLPA offered a hard cap and to play 3yrs for free would we have hockey this year, and Sinden kinda dodged around it, so they asked him if the Owners were intend on making the players sit this year as some sort of "pay back" for a previous union move the NHLPA had done and Sinden danced around it, but seemed to give it credit.

[The CyNick]

Bottom line is that when you have a luxury tax without a cap, its going to be even worse than it is now.

Teams like the Leafs and Rangers will outspend everyone else, and what youll be left with is the same thing as baseball, where only 2 or 3 teams can compete on a consistant basis. Everyone else just fights for scraps.

Ive basically accepted the fact that the season is done, and even though that sucks, I think its for the best for the health of the game.

When they come back, next Oct, Jan or whenever, they will likely go out of their way to make changes ot the game to entice people to come back to the games. And if they get the right deal, it will open the door for more real hockey towns (like Winnipeg) to get NHL franchises and get the NHL out of places like Nashville and Carolina.

I think what the NHL shoudl do is just start next season with replacement players. Yeah it might suck for the first year, but I guarantee they will break most of the union, and the majority of the players would return within a few months. For once I hope the NHL thinks long term, and not just about this year or next year.

[MoRcHeEbA]

owners have voted against the latest offer. Hard Cap or nothing it looks like. Bring in the replacements for next year :)

[Adder]

I think I could make a great replacement player, eh.

[Y2Ant]

I'll take the #26 jersey for Tampa Bay :cool:

[Penner]

the players should just suck it up

[BCWWF]

#10 on the Wild :rant:

[BabyHugger]

BREAKING NEWS: NO ONE CARES ABOUT HOCKEY

[Y2Ant]

BREAKING NEWS: NO ONE CARES ABOUT HOCKEY
Just cause your NY teams are shite.

(like the Giants)

http://www.tpww.net/misc/images/aim/aimwink.gif

[Y2Ant]

#10 on the Wild :rant:
is that Marian Gaborik

if so, you die :mad:

[BCWWF]

Fine Ant, if you really want to be Gabby you can, but then I call Willie Mitchell or at least Filip Kuba

[Gertner]

BCWWF the way the Wild play, you could suit up on their active roster and be on the #1 Powerplay unit.

[Mike the Metal Ed]

http://mikethemetaled.showyourmoon.com/pics/TPWW/hardkore3.jpg

:cool:

[BCWWF]

We were in the Western Conference Finals ir our third year of existance :rant: How about Ray Borque eh?

[Y2Ant]

http://www.btinternet.com/~livinglegend7/screenshots/gaborik.jpg

[Y2Ant]

Minnesota in the Western Conference finals, wasn't that when it took you until the fourth (and final) game to finally put the puck past Giguere just once? :naughty:

[Splaya]

HAHA, good one Ant :lol:

[road doggy dogg]

I haven't been keeping up to date with any non-Lions sports news anywhere. Anything further between the two sides at all?

[Y2Ant]

I just went on TSN.ca, the NHL rejected the union's offer because the NHL say it will lose them 500 million, the NHLPA blasted them saying it will make them 250 million, this doesn't look like it's going to happen.