From the NHL:
“The National Hockey League announced today the cancellation of the 2012-13 regular-season schedule through November 1. A total of 135 regular-season games were scheduled for Oct. 11 through Nov. 1.
The cancellation was necessary because of the absence of a Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL Players’ Association and the NHL.”
Courtesy: Canadian Press
Necessary? Coffee is necessary. This is just stupid.
The NHL rejected three offers from the NHLPA just a day after their own proposal – the first formal proposal since September 15. Gary Bettman says that both sides are still very far from each other in getting a new deal done.
“The Players’ Association came back and basically made three alternate proposals on the players’ share, all variations, to some degree, of the one proposal that they made over the summer and really haven’t deviated from since, and none of the three variations of players’ share that they gave us even began to approach 50-50 (revenue split) either at all or for some long period of time and it’s clear that we’re not speaking the same language in terms of what they came back to us with.”
So I guess we’re back to square one.
Some are still optimisic that something can be reached before November 2, the deadline the NHL gave the PA to start a full 82-game schedule. With 12 days remaining, and with the lack of effort I’ve seen in the past few months from both sides, I can’t see this happening. However, I do imagine something being nailed out before American Thanksgiving and we’ll have a shortened season. If nothing is done by the end of November, then the NHL will probably pull the Winter Classic and start threatening the remainder of the season – that’s just my guess.
Hopefully there will be more to come…
Courtesy: ESPN.com
In other news, Roberto Luongo might be a Toronto Maple Leaf once an agreement is reached. Rumor has it that the Vancouver Canucks and the Leafs are closing in on a deal that would sent Lu over to Toronto post-lockout. Not sure what the details are on this, but I think it could very well happen. Luongo has been high on leaving Vancouver as Cory Schneider has pretty much taken over as number 1. Lu’s first choice was to head to the Florida Panthers, where he became a star early in his career, however, the Canucks asking price was way too high for Dave Tallon and the Panthers. So will Luongo be the savior that Toronto has been waiting for? I guess we’ll just have to wait and find out what happens on the negotiating table.
Back to my necessary coffee.
