|
August 26, 2004
Ken Warren
The Ottawa Citizen
The National Hockey League and the players' association appear no closer to
reaching an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement.
However, at least representatives of the warring factions could stand side
by side after the first of two days of meetings in downtown Ottawa
yesterday.
Bill Daly, the NHL's chief legal officer, and Ted Saskin, senior director
for the players' association, took a mid-afternoon break from the meetings
to say they would withhold comments until after further talks today.
"We're going to have more discussions (today)," Daly said. "We're not going
into the substance of the meetings."
The big issue centres on the NHL's demand for "cost certainty" -- a
euphemism for a salary cap -- for its 30 teams.
In a July meeting, the NHL presented six ideas for a new system, but the
NHLPA dismissed them all during a meeting Aug. 17 in Newark, New Jersey,
claiming they all amounted to a salary cap.
Yesterday, however, it's believed the NHLPA was asking for a more detailed
analysis of the losses reported by clubs. The NHLPA disputes the financial
figures that have been floated by the NHL, including a report in the spring
that the teams had combined losses of $273 million U.S. during the previous
fiscal year.
The existing collective bargaining agreement expires on Sept. 15. Without a
new deal, NHL owners are prepared to lock out players for the entire 2004-05
season.
If there was any positive from yesterday's meeting, it was that it marked
the sixth time the sides had met since April 29, including three times this
month. However, Daly and Saskin didn't offer any reason for fans to get
excited about an imminent agreement.
"It's just a two-day session, as opposed to a one-day session," Saskin said
of the Ottawa talks.
The meetings began ominously. While NHL commissioner Gary Bettman showed up
on time for the noon-hour start, NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow was
an hour late.
While nothing was resolved yesterday, a group representing NHL fans says
it's time the league and the players' association to bring in outside help
to try and resolve the dispute.
Jim Boone, president of the 22,000-member NHL Fans' Association, has sent an
open letter to Bettman and Goodenow, asking that an independent mediator be
brought into the discussions.
In the past, Boone has spoken to Bettman on various issues, including the
escalating price of tickets in the past decade.
"We haven't heard a peep from them," Boone said yesterday. "I sort of half
expected to get an answer, with them saying it might be something they would
look at. They certainly use arbitrators to work out player contracts. It's a
common thing, mediation, when two sides are entrenched in their positions.
Why not apply it to this scenario? At least have someone at the table.
There's so little risk."
The fans' association didn't get a chance to discuss the issues with
Bettman, but the players are getting brought up to date by Goodenow. He met
with players on the United States team for the World Cup of Hockey yesterday
and was scheduled to talk to Canadian players today.
Yesterday's meetings took some of the attention away from last night's
exhibition game between Canada and the U.S. at the Corel Centre, but Saskin
hopes that is not the case as the tournament kicks off next week.
"Hopefully, it doesn't take anything away from the tournament," he said. "It
should be terrific hockey ... more exciting than this."
| 
