LOCKOUT: Day 56 – Right back where we started (*sigh*)
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m as close as possible to head down to New York under the auspices of my ordination and status as a licensed mental health counselor and seriously ask both parties what in the name of God and Bobby Orr is wrong with these people. This week started out so promising. The NHL and NHLPA were actually agreeing with each other this week. They were even making strides on the Make Whole proposal. Then the owner of the Boston Bruins, Jeremy Jacobs shows up, and all of a sudden it goes from respectful collaboration to Roman gladitorial combat.
The parties seemed to be determined to get a deal done this week. Sadly, Friday’s meeting ended up showing a difference of nearly four hundred million($380 to be precise) sent the whole negotiating process crashing down upon itself. Fehr expressed his polite dismay over the mild implosion of the talks. “We looked at some of the numbers on the various proposals and we thought we were much closer together on the structure of a deal than the suggestions were. They came back to us and said, ‘No, we’re very, very far apart on the structure of a deal.”‘
Fehr did take a moment to put an end to the speculation that it was the directed part of ‘Make Whole’ where the players’ union was holding the owners to fulfilling their lengthy(and moderately ludacrious) contracts.“If the notion is that they are honouring all of the contracts and everybody’s going to get paid everything they were supposed to be paid according to the letter of the contracts, it’s of course not true and never has been,” said Fehr. “I don’t quite know where that notion came from.” The owners had gone a spending bonanza signing career length, hundred million dollar contracts with players.(That very likely may not have been signed in good faith.)
On the other side of the fence, Commissioner Bettman was his own charming self. (You know, we’re really trying to make a deal, but the players are actually trying to hold the owners accountable for these insane contracts they all signed. If they didn’t think there would be a lockout, they would have never, EVER signed away this kind of cash… especially the Minnesota Wild!)“I don’t want to either raise or lower expectations,” said Bettman. “I won’t be happy until we get to the end result and that means we’re playing again. [We’re prepared to do] whatever it takes,(except negotiate in good faith) we’re available and as I said, we’re waiting to hear back from the players’ association in terms of when they’ll be ready.”
Does ANYONE else feel we just spent the last two months on some sick emotional roller coaster ride that has taken us back to the start point with nothing to show except frustration, resentment, and anger? Hey, at least Seguin is having an amazing season in Switzerland, and eleven members of the Bruins are getting in a lot of practical work time in the various European leagues.
On a positive note, Blake Geoffrion had successful surgery to correct a depressed skull fracture today. His condition is stable but remains in intensive care. He is expected to make a full recovery but will be out of the lineup indefinitely. Everyone here at Causeway Crowd and FanSided wish him a safe and speedy recovery. The man suffered a life threatening injury and skated off the ice under his own power. That’s what makes the differance between hockey and every other major professional sport.