- Renaud Lavoie via twitter: Expect that there will be more discussions today regarding when and where the next CBA meetings will be.
- Bob McKenzie took to Twitter last night to give us some of his thoughts on the lockout.
“My instincts say we’ll lose the whole year but we’ve still got a month or two to salvage a Dec or Jan start up, so we’ll see. I suspect we’ll see our first real movement from either side in coming week but whether that creates legit traction for talks, who knows? At this point, I don’t doubt either side’s resolve. That may be the problem. Owners think players will cave. Players think owners will cave. I think, like last time, we’ll lose the season before anyone blinks. I’m dismayed that the NHL is insistent on getting such a significant and immediate clawback (57 to 50 per cent). Too much, too soon. But it’s equally discouraging that we are cancelling games and players are still stuck on notion of not taking any tangibe dollar reduction. Maybe it’s posturing to get best deal possible at right time but if players insist on no tangible reduction to actual $, turn out the lights. I don’t doubt players’ resolve, but I am surprised at how many players think Bettman and/or owners will blink. Maybe they will, but… …But of all the thingsI’ve learned in 30+ yrs covering this game, Bettman, Jeremy Jacobs and Ed Snider don’t strike me as bluffers. And last time I checked, Don Fehr isn’t a guy who shies away from a fight. So that pretty much brings us to where we are. Fans, as angry as they are, have no voice in this dispute, at this moment. But once dispute is over, they have the only voice that matters. I’m not saying you shouldn’t voice frustration/anger now, I’m saying the only real impact you have is by not spending your $$$. As for most frequently asked questions: if lockout goes all year, players lose or burn that year of their contract… Biggest fear, and maybe this why it won’t last all season, is if it goes whole season, prospects of 2nd season being affected are high IMO. If season is lost, I can see NHLPA putting salary cap back on table. Then we have a fight that makes this one look like Boy Scout Jamboree.”
- Tom Gulitti via twitter: “NHLPA doesn’t want to make next proposal even though NHL made last one . And that’s their right even if it’s not helping things along. It if it’s not about winning, as Daly said, and NHL wants to play full season, NHL will have to make another proposal and make it soon. If phased-in 50/50 split of HRR with no initial cut of player salaries is end game for NHL, it needs to offer something close to that now. And I understand why players were angered by owners’ initial offer, but if they’re going to make a deal and play, they need to get past that”
- Elliotte Friedman via twitter: Friedman would be shocked if there were any games before November 15th. A worst case scenario is if there are no games before January 1st. The players are so mad at the NHL right now, that the process might need a timeout. The biggest problem right now may be that both sides want to test each other a bit to see if the other side will bend, and that could take some time.
- Josh Rimer via twitter: An NHL player, “No one wants this done faster then we do so I gotta assume we will have one (New Proposal) sooner then later.”
