http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=402741

wtf

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"Counting all the assholes in the room, I'm definitely not alone!" ~ Michael Poulsen, Volbeat, Still Standing.

Bye-bye season. I may have to get Winterhawks seasons and not go back to the NHL if this happens.

in june: its early! itll get done! worry about it if its not done by mid august
in july: still lots of time. itll get done! worry about if its not done by mid august
mid august: oh. shit.

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i was thinkin the same thing, mike

It's harsh language, that's for sure.

First time I've been worried about it.

Not the first time we've seen the owners demands. Doesn't take a conspiracy theorist to see that we're fucked if they're halfway serious about this "fundamental economics" of players' share of revenue.

The owners set a bar during the last talks in terms of player share of revenue. They got their cap. The whole "fundamental economics" argument might work if it was a fresh issue, but it's not. You can't say, "last time we got A so you got B, but we messed up and realize now that we need B too". The real issue is that owners can't play nice in their own sandbox and come up with a fair revenue sharing plan. Maybe it is indeed a more fair equation to have the players share drop from 57%, but owners can't possibly expect them to agree to 46% (or 43% based on their new definition of HRR). That's just being pig-headed and willing to throw seven solid years of recovery down the drain, and ruin the fanbase and viability of the sport to become mainstream.

A lockout should be the owners absolute worst fear and last resort...no option at all really.

They better get something done, or else I'm going to go crazy not being able to watch the NHL.

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Yeah I will be mad if they decided to lockout the season cause Lord knows that the Bills will disappoint me half way through the season and I will be looking for some relief...

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LETS GO BUFFALO!

I'm fairly optimistic about this. Both the owners and players have a lot to lose financially if this goes to another lockout, in the short term revenue and salaries, respectively, and in the long term with regards to the viability of the league after suffering a second lockout in such a short period of time. There's a lot of big talk right now, and I think it's just to get both sides sitting down and seriously discussing changes that will be made to the CBA.

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What a bunch of morons!!!! This should have been settled weeks ago. Me and four other guys from this forum could have done the job at no charge. 1. Cut the players share to 52%.2. Leave free agency and arbitration alone. (its just an owners negotiating ploy anyway.) 3.Length of contracts limited to 10 years and not the 5 the owners want. 4.I don't know what income the owners don't want to share any more (is it concession and parking income?); find a fair split. 5. No renegotiating of contracts unless both sides agree, or it's written into the original contract. 6. Scheduling and configuration of the league is the province of the owners. Apparently only 9 teams make any profit. The players can't cite increase in franchise value or favorable tax features such as depreciation. Those advantages belong to the investors or owners. The players have no more rights to those features than the owners have to the players endorsement income. The bottom line is there is no excuse for a lockout. This would be the third work stoppage in the last 18 years. It would be dumb, but that's par for both sides.

apparently todays meeting was productive and civil. the PA opened with a compromise. supposedly.

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Im really looking forward to this season (knock on wood) our teams made some awesome changes this offseason including the draft. So common Bettman & Fehr get something done that's reasonable for both sides. Another lockout is just going to kill revenues anyways...

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"If you want to know what I've been doing lately, I've been driving around from Tim Horton's to Tim Horton's, rolling up the rim. Haven't won anything yet. Thanks." - Lindy Ruff

I'm expecting something like the NBA did last year.

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Girgensons for captain. Team Keep Nick DesLauriers forever.

@TJLuckman550

It's not Bettman, it's the Owners.

Bettman works for the owners.

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I'm getting equal parts depressed and angry watching this bullshit unfold.

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Hold my beer and watch this...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian ... of-hockey/ Hey fear!! why don't you read this. Several teams on the verge of bankruptcy-The Devils, Phoenix, Carolina. A lot of teams are losing money. Leafs, Rangers, Canadians collectively earn more than the rest of the league combined. The players share in the NFL is 48% and the NBA is 50%. Fear is a horses pass who will shut down the season and blame it on the owners. He keeps saying that the season can continue under the old agreement while negociations continue. I think several owners feel they are better off financially not playing under the old rules. Look for fear to go to court crying that there is some kind of antitrust rule the owners are in breach of, if the season doesnt start. He will find some judge freindly to labor and cause a lot of grief.

I haven't been following the situation a lot. Is a lockout more likely than a full season? How far apart are "Fairy" & "Batman"?

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I honestly am not worried at all. If the NFL could get a deal done, there is no reason the NHL can't. The NFL was literally the biggest mess in the world, and they were able to do it with only losing a portion of training camp and preseason. From someone who has studied labor law, and is fairly familiar with union contracts, I feel like right now it's very similar to the NFL situation, each side playing hardball, but in reality, neither side can afford to take a year off.

Especially with there being several teams on the verge of bankruptcy. They need the season, or the league will not only lose revenue, but the league will potentially lose 3 or 4 franchises with it.

Also, I wouldn't be too concerned about that hardline September 15th date, it doesn't mean the season is canceled, that's just the start of training camps. You may potentially see something like what happened with the NBA, we lose 15 or so games in the regular season, or have to push back the start of the season into mid October.

I think everything will work out just fine in the end. I'm not ready to panic until there is something to panic about.

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"She's like plan C after an 18 pack"

Squanto 7/27/2010

my dad and i had this conversation tonight:

hey, mike! western plays buffalo in football on saturday, nov.... and then that night, the sabres play colorado! wanna go?!

me: dad dont get excited. theres not going to be a season.

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