9:37 AM:
- Bob McKenzie via twitter: NHL is still expected to cancel the Winter Classic today.
- Pierre LeBrun via twitter: LeBrun still expects the NHL to cancel the Winter Classic.
8:47 AM:
- David Shoalts of the Globe and Mail: The NHL will not be cancelling the Winter Classic today as it’s been speculated for some time. They are not expected to cancel the game before November 15th. Some sources are saying that the 15th is as long as the NHL can wait before cancelling it. Bill Daly would not comment, but a league source said that the 15th may not be the date an announcement is made. Nobody from the league or from the Red Wings and Maple Leafs would comment. If the NHL were to cancel the game today, it would only cost them $100,000 of the $3,000,000 they were to pay the University of Michigan for renting the Big House. A payment of $250,000 is due if they don’t cancel the game today. Two sources noted that there could be an agreement between the NHL and the university to extended today’s deadline by a week. If they end up cancelling the event this year, it will be rescheduled for next year.
- Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star: Mathieu Schneider puts out idea of capping escrow,
“If they’re willing to cap escrow, there’s something to talk about,” Mathieu Schneider — Donald Fehr’s special assistant at the NHLPA — told the Star on Thursday. “That would definitely be a step toward our direction, but that hasn’t been discussed.”
Bill Daly responds,
“The comment (from Schneider) is news to me, but the concept isn’t,” said NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly. “The subject has never been raised across the table to us, either in the form of a proposal or otherwise.
“It’s just another way of addressing the ‘make-whole’ issue.”
Players have lost an average of 3.5% of their salaries due to escrow. The NBA has a 10% cap on escrow.
“The owners want an immediate rollback and the players have felt all along that the contracts they signed should be honoured. It’s as simple as that,” said Schneider.
“The main issue now is: We expect the owners to honour the contracts. We’ve agreed to go to 50-50. When we get back to the table, what it’s going to (come down to) is how do we allow the owners to honour the contracts and get to 50-50?”
- Renaud Lavoie via twitter: The NHL and NHLPA had talks yesterday, but no CBA meetings are scheduled yet.
- David Pagnotta via twitter: People at Comcast/NBA are “beyond annoyed” about the NHL Lockout.
- Luke Decock of the Raleigh News & Observer: Some Carolina Hurricanes season ticket holders are demanding their money back. One full season ticket holder wanted to drop down to a 12 game pack, but when told he wouldn’t be getting the interest back on his money, he asked for a full refund. The Hurricanes said 1% of their 7,000 season ticket holders requested their money back. Ryan Lambert via twitter: That is only 70 STH holders out of 7,000. “Wake me up when we hit triple digits.”