LOCKOUT: Day Thirty-Six- Did we just lose the season?

For the second straight day, representatives on both sides of the lockout had telephone conversations. I’m sure they agreed on things that are important in the negotiations. I’m sure they’ve agreed that hockey is played on ice, and with skates. They have also probably covered that only the goalies should wear face masks and pads, and that they are in fact, called goalies. There, snarky frustration moment over.

Once again, members of the NHL hierarchy went to the media to report that nothing happened. “We had a conference call today to answer some of their questions,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told The Associated Press in an email Sunday. “No bargaining. And no bargaining meetings scheduled.” “We had a conference call today to answer some of their questions,” Could there be any hope of getting things back on track? Daly answered directly. “No bargaining. And no bargaining meetings scheduled.”

So, let’s all give a hand to the NHL. They gave us hope. For one day, the NHL looked like they were going to be the heroes here. They came up with an offer that sort of made sense, and they were willing to keep the lines of communication open. For one day. Then Fehr and the players’ union saw the latest in a series of royal screws that were headed their way. They tried to negotiate. They even came up with three different models of proposals to offer the league. The last one would have given the owners most of what they wanted.

But they got shot down. All three proposals shot down. In ten minutes. The NHL exposed themselves as the villains, but not before adding a touch of black to the NHLPA. Now a lot of fans believe they’re both to blame, and they’ve burned through many fans’ patience. How can the NHLPA negotiate in good faith with an organization that has shown itself more than capable of de-railing itself every CBA? How can we expect to see any kind of season now? I don’t know.

There is a brightspot to all this somewhere. At least the Toronto Maple Leafs can still claim to be tied for first in the NHL.