Do we have a CBA strife thread yet?

[IPostedWhat]

Now I might be a bit biased here, but I like my Bettman podium 'shop a lot better than the other one.

 

[flyersfan4706]

Steve Burton ‏@WBZSteveBurton
From sources inside the PA, expect the #NHL season to start late december/start of january. PA very close to accepting current NHL offer.

Retweeted by Dustin Leed

The amount of brain cells I have lost in the past 48 hours...

 

[mattola]

The amount of brain cells I have lost in the past 48 hours...

more from him at least he sticking to his story

Steve Burton ‏@WBZSteveBurton
Yesterday's #NHLPA offer was a "hail mary" so to speak. To see if they could scrounge any bit more thrown in. This thing is done in days.

Steve Burton ‏@WBZSteveBurton
From sources inside the PA, expect the #NHL season to start late december/start of january. PA very close to accepting current NHL offer.

Steve Burton ‏@WBZSteveBurton
#CBA meetings are derailed for the time being, both sides to meet Monday morning Deal will be signed thats very similar to #NHL last offer.

 

[SLY]

Meh.

 

[flyersfan4706]

Really, fuck him for letting me get my hopes up again. Now I am hyped in the back of my mind, but I know it will be ruined in no time.

 

[flyersfan4706]

Account is fake, my bizzle.

The Lebrun tweet is still legit though

 

[forty_three]

Tonight, me and the boy went to watch OSU v Robert Morris.

The hockey was nearly as good as NHL hockey. The atmosphere with the OSU marching band filling up the end seats was phenomenal (they even did script Ohio on the ice). There were close to 6000 in the arena, and tonight all youth hockey players who wore their team jerseys got to go into the locker room after the game and meet the players. And one of the coaches, who just so happened to be the Umbergler.

No idiots shooting T-shirts at the crowd. No spandex bimbos shaking pom poms when the wrong team scores. No exaggerated OOOOOON THEEEEEEE POOOOOOOWEEER PLAAAAAAAY or "we're not gonna take it" video clips when the other team scores. Just good, hard fucking hockey and an experience my boy is buzzing about.

Tickets, parking and food for the two of us to sit in club level just below a skybox cost less than one 300 level seat at Nationwide. I could get lower bowl season tickets for less than a pair of lower bowl single game for the Jackets. 10 Games left this season. Buying the rest tomorrow.

So yeah... Fuck you NHL. Do what you want. Don't expect a lot from me from now on.

The differences are pretty stark when you only have one side at a time to look at.

 

[Eddie_Shack]

Tonight, me and the boy went to watch OSU v Robert Morris.

The hockey was nearly as good as NHL hockey. The atmosphere with the OSU marching band filling up the end seats was phenomenal (they even did script Ohio on the ice). There were close to 6000 in the arena, and tonight all youth hockey players who wore their team jerseys got to go into the locker room after the game and meet the players. And one of the coaches, who just so happened to be the Umbergler.

No idiots shooting T-shirts at the crowd. No spandex bimbos shaking pom poms when the wrong team scores. No exaggerated OOOOOON THEEEEEEE POOOOOOOWEEER PLAAAAAAAY or "we're not gonna take it" video clips when the other team scores. Just good, hard fucking hockey and an experience my boy is buzzing about.

Tickets, parking and food for the two of us to sit in club level just below a skybox cost less than one 300 level seat at Nationwide. I could get lower bowl season tickets for less than a pair of lower bowl single game for the Jackets. 10 Games left this season. Buying the rest tomorrow.

So yeah... Fuck you NHL. Do what you want. Don't expect a lot from me from now on.

The differences are pretty stark when you only have one side at a time to look at.

I have never brought anyone to a college hockey game who didn't walk away impressed. Even die hard football cement heads who think Budweiser Select is a craft beer and hockey is just soccer on ice. I could easily survive on CCHA/Big Ten hockey.

 

[IPostedWhat]

So on a number scale from 1 to Auspicious Aardvark, how confident are you that we will see them play some games this Season?

 

[Comeds]

I have never brought anyone to a college hockey game who didn't walk away impressed. Even die hard football cement heads who think Budweiser Select is a craft beer and hockey is just soccer on ice. I could easily survive on CCHA/Big Ten hockey.

Wow, feelings hurt. This was me taken earlier.

 

[Eddie_Shack]

Wow, feelings hurt. This was me taken earlier.

Do you think they make that shirt in a Red Wings version? Or is that Montreal exclusive?

 

[TiLoBrown]

I have never brought anyone to a college hockey game who didn't walk away impressed. Even die hard football cement heads who think Budweiser Select is a craft beer and hockey is just soccer on ice. I could easily survive on CCHA/Big Ten hockey.

Hey now, "Soccer on Ice" was the line a friend and I used to convince our hot Haitian friend to come to the game with us. She's been hooked ever since.... it also could have been fact that she got to see a fight, a shootout, and a win in her first game too....

 

[Jimmy_the_Tongue]

Tonight, me and the boy went to watch OSU v Robert Morris.

The hockey was nearly as good as NHL hockey. The atmosphere with the OSU marching band filling up the end seats was phenomenal (they even did script Ohio on the ice). There were close to 6000 in the arena, and tonight all youth hockey players who wore their team jerseys got to go into the locker room after the game and meet the players. And one of the coaches, who just so happened to be the Umbergler.

No idiots shooting T-shirts at the crowd. No spandex bimbos shaking pom poms when the wrong team scores. No exaggerated OOOOOON THEEEEEEE POOOOOOOWEEER PLAAAAAAAY or "we're not gonna take it" video clips when the other team scores. Just good, hard fucking hockey and an experience my boy is buzzing about.

Tickets, parking and food for the two of us to sit in club level just below a skybox cost less than one 300 level seat at Nationwide. I could get lower bowl season tickets for less than a pair of lower bowl single game for the Jackets. 10 Games left this season. Buying the rest tomorrow.

So yeah... Fuck you NHL. Do what you want. Don't expect a lot from me from now on.

The differences are pretty stark when you only have one side at a time to look at.

I think they play again tonight at Robert Morris. Robert Morris plays their home games at the ice complex on Neville Island, which is in walking distance from my house. Might check it out.

 

[sbb122]

I think they play again tonight at Robert Morris. Robert Morris plays their home games at the ice complex on Neville Island, which is in walking distance from my house. Might check it out.

I'll be there...

 

[Jimmy_the_Tongue]

I'll be there...

I'll look for ya, Steve..

 

[Dacks]

This is a great article explaining the players rationale, quote Backes. I'll quote some of the more relevant parts:

Backes, however, said Friday that the players didn’t view the NHL’s make-whole offer of $300 million – $50 million of which would be earmarked for pension funding – as being contingent on the contract issues.

“It wasn’t positioned that way, first of all,” Backes said. “They indicated that they had things that were important to them ... That’s great. They’re important to us, as well. So what they’re saying is that we need to give up (contract) rights that we had previously, and in exchange for that, they will give us an extra $89 million, which we already had (under the previous agreement) ...they’ll just agree to take less from us.”

Since Thursday, many fans have wondered why the union is so opposed to a five-year limit on contracts. Currently, no Blues have a contract longer than five years. T.J. Oshie signed a five-year deal last offseason and Backes and Roman Polak would be playing out the second year of their a five-year contracts this year.

But Backes explained the rationale, saying: “If (Sidney) Crosby is an unrestricted free agent and signs a five-year deal for $8-12 million (per year), then everyone is slotted under there. If Crosby gets five years, I’m lucky if I get two. If he’s making $12 million and doesn’t take term to have security in exchange for lower numbers at the end, then his salary-cap hit is that high number and you end up with a basketball system where you have LeBron (James), (Dwyane) Wade and (Chris Bosh) making all the money. Hockey is not like that. You can’t play five guys the whole game.”

...

Why wouldn't the players want a longer CBA?

“It’s tough to predict economics,” Backes said. “It’s tough for us to bargain a deal for guys that aren’t in the league right now. The league wants to lock in a longer-term deal in our eyes because this is going to be a great deal for them. Why not have six plus two? What are they scared of?”

The answer to that question might be Fehr.

While the league may not be “scared” of the union leader, owners are certainly fearful of the path on which he’s leading players. That’s why after two successful days of negotiations with Bettman and Fehr out of the room, owners told players that Fehr’s inclusion Thursday would be a deal-breaker.

“That was very confusing to a lot of the guys,” Backes said. “Don and (assistant director Steve Fehr), they are the people we chose to represent us. We’re not well-educated businessmen; we’re hockey players. We expressed our views, had some phenomenal discussions with the owners. But we’re not billion-dollar businessmen that cut deals in boardrooms all the time. That’s why we’ve hired Don Fehr.”

...

“When you only see two of them, you think they’re not taking it very seriously and they don’t want a deal,” Backes said. “The money was agreeable by both sides, the pension was agreeable by both sides. What was keeping this deal from being signed, sealed and delivered was how long an individual player contract could be, what the variance in that contract could be and how long the term of the (agreement) was going to be.

“You’re telling me that we’re going to blow up the season, blow up everything that we have in front of us, potential sponsorships and (tick) fans off more, for not being able to agree to those certain things. I just have a hard time believing it. Is that not close? You wonder why guys were getting antsy ... we thought the deal was done.”

 

[banditshcky11]

This is a great article explaining the players rationale, quote Backes. I'll quote some of the more relevant parts:

I totally agree with everything he's said. Hockey players shouldn't be making a deal of this magnitude without representation. The players hate Bettman yet he's still there and they have to deal with him. What makes the owners so special that they feel they can dictate who can and can't represent the players?

I'm honestly waiting to see the NHL make a single concession form the agreement that just ended.

 

[pixburgher66]

The owners clearly hate Fehr because he's a threat. He knows what he's talking about, and that scares them. This isn't like the NFL CBA issues where the players rolled over and very few knew what they were talking about. The NHL players are standing up for themselves. As pissed off as I am with Fehr for that ridiculous PR move that was his meeting, it was in response to the Bettman Burkle move. The players still have more of my empathy overall. I'm pissed, but you can't deny that they're the only ones giving up anything. The owners are merely taking less from the original asinine offer.

 

[Dacks]

The owners clearly hate Fehr because he's a threat. He knows what he's talking about, and that scares them. This isn't like the NFL CBA issues where the players rolled over and very few knew what they were talking about. The NHL players are standing up for themselves. As pissed off as I am with Fehr for that ridiculous PR move that was his meeting, it was in response to the Bettman Burkle move. The players still have more of my empathy overall. I'm pissed, but you can't deny that they're the only ones giving up anything. The owners are merely taking less from the original asinine offer.

That's basically my stance as well. Both sides have their faults, both have pulled some PR bullshit, but at the end of the day, I can't side with the owners; they have all the power, they are asking for all the concessions, and they are the only ones who can ultimately end the lockout.

 

[forty_three]

Wow, feelings hurt. This was me taken earlier.

YOU'RE CHIP FOOSE?