I'm not counting on there being a season. Bettman went to the Jerry Reinsdorf School of Negotiation, which is to just dig in your heels and say "no, fuck you" until you get exactly what you want and not a shred less. Nice gig if you can get it. The problem is that Donald Fehr has more respect for himself and the people he represents than Fabulous Jim Thompson ever did. "That guy's tough!"

You know it's lockout time when no one currently in the union appears on league/team websites. The main pages for the NHL and Blackhawks seem scrubbed. The Jets' homepage still shows Evander Kane. I don't have the patience to check the rest.

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They did the same thing when the NBA was locked out a year ago at this time.

The Chicago Teachers Union went to that school as well.

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I remember 6-8 months ago, after the owners had agreed to the realignment, the players rejected it, and the only reason anyone could think of was that it was for negotiation leverage... I remember the discourse at the time being that it wasn't going to be nearly as bad as THE lockout the previous decade, and all of a sudden I don't know, I mean the players already made the major concessions that they had to in 05, it feels like this shouldn't even be in the same ballpark as that lockout, and yet here we are.

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team Mully & Hanley
team Meatpants

Based off of the Forbes numbers:


Yikes... Ok I'm starting to see the light. Contraction time.

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team Mully & Hanley
team Meatpants

I almost always support the owners in these disputes, but this time the owners are most at fault. They supposedly won the last time, and now they say that system is unfair.

The reason I usually support the owners is that the players make money no matter what while the owners take all the business risk. As noted in previous posts many teams routinely lose money, and that doesn't seem right in what is essentially a monopoly on the pro sport. People always whine to the owners to stop spending money, but in their next bout of whining they complain about a given team being too cheap. I have come to the conclusion that sports are just a public good and that people who own teams can't run them like a regular business. If they try to, they will eventually turn a monopoly into a money losing venture. You have to own a team with the sole goal of winning a championship. Trying to make money along the way is fine but should not be expected.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Multiple teams are laying off employees due to the lockout that the owners themselves are enforcing. I'd put the owners in the DBOTW section, but I know no one gives a f about hockey

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Team Cutler.

How many strikes/lockouts is this for Bettman?

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Third. The 94-95 lockout cancelled 36 out of 84 games, the 04-05 lockout cancelled the whole year. The last strike was under Ziegler, and only lasted a few days.

People think three lockouts are three strikes against Bettman. They're not, as far as his bosses go. Owners prefer lockouts because they have all the leverage. The last round of CBA negotiations was just Bettman telling the union to go fuck themselves until the owners got each and every last thing they wanted. You can do that in a lockout, and he's doing it again. Interestingly, he tried to do that in Lockout #1, but enough powerful owners actually did an end-run around him and got a deal done so they could get back to business. The deal, of course, omitted payroll control and revenue sharing, and was a nail in the coffin for Quebec City, Winnipeg, and Hartford.

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The Blackhawks are NOT planning to layoff any employees despite the lockout, according to CSNChicago.com's Tracey Myers & the Chicago Tribune.

Meanwhile, the Capitals' Alex Ovechkin isn't all that optimistic, and believes that the NHL's latest lockout might claim the entire 2012-13 season, just like in 2004-05:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/ho ... 9380.story

From Twitter:



They're starting to crack. I bet Mark Chipman is really feeling the heat, bringing the Jets back home only for the league to shut down soon after.

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You shouldn't be surprised by this. The NHL has cancelled all preseason games before September 30th.

The NHL has cancelled the entire 2012 preseason schedule. The NHL Players Association & the owners are supposed to resume talks in New York tomorrow. The start of the regular season next month might be the next to be cancelled if progress isn't made.

The chopping has begun. According to Tribune Blackhawks' writer Chris Kuc's Twitter, the NHL officially has cancelled the first 2 weeks of regular season games October 11th-24th. More to come?

Fucking piece of shit NHL owners and Gary.

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Team Cutler.

The hockey season is about 30 games too long anyway. Good news!

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I have a feeling this is only the beginning of regular season cancellations. The big question, much like the NBA did in tipping off the crammed 66 game regular season on Christmas Day last year, is will the NHL drop the puck on a condensed regular season on New Year's Day 2013 with the annual Winter Classic? Right now, it's not looking too good.

I am really starting to get pissed now. If I was a violent psycho Bettman would need to be looking over his shoulder.

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When I am stuck and need to figure something out I always remember the Immortal words of Socrates when he said:"I just drank what?"

What do you mean if?

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I am laying some plausible deniability. in case an "accident" happens.

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When I am stuck and need to figure something out I always remember the Immortal words of Socrates when he said:"I just drank what?"

From http://www.ottawasun.com/2012/10/07/nhl-nhlpa-try-to-set-up-talks-for-sunday


Pegula is the rook in a small market so I don't know how much sway he really has. But some pretty heavy hitters are mentioned. Rocky's a "spend money to make money" guy so hopefully he's in this group pressuring Bettman to get the fuck moving.

The NHL & NHLPA are scheduled to meet in New York Wednesday, says Philadelphia Inquirer Flyers' scribe Sam Carchidi's Twitter @BroadStBull. However, the league's financial issues, Sam says, aren't on the agenda...for now.

Oddly enough, Snider is on the record as a hardliner this time around. So is Ilitch. Big change from 1995, when they--along with Dolan and a few others--went behind Bettman's back to get a deal done. If I had to guess, I would say the guys who want to get moving are...
Rocky Wirtz
Mark Chipman/David Thomson (Winnipeg)
The Molsons (Montreal)
MLSE (Toronto)
Jim Dolan (New York)
Terry Pegula (Buffalo)
Francesco Aquilini (Vancouver)
Eugene Melnyk (Ottawa)
Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh)

Notice something?

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I think your list pretty spot-on. I wonder which side a guy like Ted Leonsis is on. He was apart of the "winning" side for the NBA lockout which might make him a hardliner.

I don't have the pulse of DC sports landscape but am guessing his Wiz/Caps have fallen way behind Skins/Nats and even the O's. Pretty significant as the Caps were the hot ticket the past few years. Being able to fill the barn is so key with NHL teams so dependent on gate. But there's only so much demand in a down economy I wonder if he wants this lockout over so he can get the Caps back into the DC sports convo.

I wonder if those owners are ready to tell NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman to get lost...

Canada/northern teams, beer owners, no basketball team for the building(except NYC and Toronto). That's all I got, enlighten me CH.

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CSFMB: Home of the small minded

Was wondering same thing. CH is my hockey guru.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Yeah, pretty much. Just hammering home the point that the NHL should stick to its base. No hockey league needs Raleigh.

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Given that the players are leaving in droves to play in Europe, I don't see this being settled any time soon.

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The NHL Lockout might also provide a reason for companies to save their money and forget about buying season tickets...

http://www.csnchicago.com/hockey-chicag ... 805076-914