Post by Paul on Feb 15, 2005 4:29:55 GMT -5
This was just posted on TSN. I normally would be in bed at this hour on the East Coast, but I don't have to be anywhere until lunchtime.
Don't read too much into the title. Good news is that the two sides are seriously talking. WHERE WAS THIS MONTHS AGO?!
Like typical employer/employee union labor deals, everything goes to the absolute last minute for negotiations to seriously get going.
The players union finally gave in to the salary cap idea. But the ceiling was too high that is why the league rejected the proposal idea.
More to come later today...
The Sports Network's (TSN) NHL page (February 15):
www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?ID=114925&hubName=nhl
Report: NHLPA offers cap, NHL rejects it
TSN.ca Staff/CP files
2/14/2005
NEW YORK (CP) - The No. 1 issue that has plagued the NHL lockout went out the window Monday night when the NHL Players' Association offered a deal that included a $52-million US salary cap, The Canadian Press has learned.
The surprising move was made by NHLPA senior director Ted Saskin during his secret meeting with NHL executive vice-president Bill Daly in Niagara Falls, N.Y.
Daly began the process Monday by offering a $40-million salary cap without ''linkage'' - a fixed link between player costs and league revenues, which has long been the centrepiece of the NHL's bid for cost certainty.
The union counter-offered with the $52-million team-by-team salary cap, which was rejected by the NHL. The players' proposal also featured more aggressive payroll tax thresholds and tax rates on team payrolls.
''It is indeed unfortunate that with the major steps taken by both sides today we were unable to build enough momentum to reach an agreement,'' Saskin told The Canadian Press early Tuesday morning.
The union's offer also included the 24 per cent salary rollback on all existing contracts.
These latest developments came as the NHL announced a news conference for Wednesday at 1 p.m. EST in New York when commissioner Gary Bettman is expected to announce the cancellation of the 2004-2005 season.
While no talks were planned for Tuesday, the fact that both sides made dramatic moves from their longstanding positions Monday night could spur on more last-ditch efforts to save the season.
As it stands, the players have finally accepted a salary cap for the first time in their history while the league gave up on linkage. Now the two sides are separated by $12 million on their cap figures. And with the rollback, two-thirds of the league's teams would be under $40 million.
But is it too late?
Earlier on Monday night, the league sent out a statement saying talks between Daly and Saskin produced ''no progress.''
Bettman's news conference was originally slated for Tuesday, according to a source, but pushed back a day as Daly and Saskin met late into the night.
It all made for a roller-coaster day.
''I've said all along, until someone tells me it's over, it's not,'' Devils GM and CEO Lou Lamoriello said from his New Jersey office Monday. ''It's too easy to be negative.
''There's no question we have something scheduled at this point for Wednesday. It's looking very bleak right now but it's not over.''
The Devils boss also offered some advice.
''To me, let's get rid of all these buzz words (salary cap, luxury tax) and get something done that works for everybody,'' he said.
Should the worst happen Wednesday, the NHL will become the first major professional league in North America to cancel an entire season from start to finish. But Bettman says the damage the NHL will suffer as a result is worth it in order to get ''cost certainty'' for his owners.
The NHL and the union met for more than five hours with U.S. federal mediators in Washington on Sunday but still could not make any progress. Bettman and NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow were not at the meeting. Daly, the NHL's executive vice-president and chief legal officer, and outside counsel Bob Batterman represented the league while Saskin, the NHLPA's senior director, and outside counsel John McCambridge were there for the union.
So much of the season has already been scrapped. Through Monday, 824 of the 1,230 regular-season games have gone by the wayside.
If an agreement can still be reached, the league has a shortened schedule ready to go that would see teams play 28 regular-season games, playing only within their conference. The playoffs would stay the same and consist of four rounds.
Don't read too much into the title. Good news is that the two sides are seriously talking. WHERE WAS THIS MONTHS AGO?!
Like typical employer/employee union labor deals, everything goes to the absolute last minute for negotiations to seriously get going.
The players union finally gave in to the salary cap idea. But the ceiling was too high that is why the league rejected the proposal idea.
More to come later today...
The Sports Network's (TSN) NHL page (February 15):
www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?ID=114925&hubName=nhl
Report: NHLPA offers cap, NHL rejects it
TSN.ca Staff/CP files
2/14/2005
NEW YORK (CP) - The No. 1 issue that has plagued the NHL lockout went out the window Monday night when the NHL Players' Association offered a deal that included a $52-million US salary cap, The Canadian Press has learned.
The surprising move was made by NHLPA senior director Ted Saskin during his secret meeting with NHL executive vice-president Bill Daly in Niagara Falls, N.Y.
Daly began the process Monday by offering a $40-million salary cap without ''linkage'' - a fixed link between player costs and league revenues, which has long been the centrepiece of the NHL's bid for cost certainty.
The union counter-offered with the $52-million team-by-team salary cap, which was rejected by the NHL. The players' proposal also featured more aggressive payroll tax thresholds and tax rates on team payrolls.
''It is indeed unfortunate that with the major steps taken by both sides today we were unable to build enough momentum to reach an agreement,'' Saskin told The Canadian Press early Tuesday morning.
The union's offer also included the 24 per cent salary rollback on all existing contracts.
These latest developments came as the NHL announced a news conference for Wednesday at 1 p.m. EST in New York when commissioner Gary Bettman is expected to announce the cancellation of the 2004-2005 season.
While no talks were planned for Tuesday, the fact that both sides made dramatic moves from their longstanding positions Monday night could spur on more last-ditch efforts to save the season.
As it stands, the players have finally accepted a salary cap for the first time in their history while the league gave up on linkage. Now the two sides are separated by $12 million on their cap figures. And with the rollback, two-thirds of the league's teams would be under $40 million.
But is it too late?
Earlier on Monday night, the league sent out a statement saying talks between Daly and Saskin produced ''no progress.''
Bettman's news conference was originally slated for Tuesday, according to a source, but pushed back a day as Daly and Saskin met late into the night.
It all made for a roller-coaster day.
''I've said all along, until someone tells me it's over, it's not,'' Devils GM and CEO Lou Lamoriello said from his New Jersey office Monday. ''It's too easy to be negative.
''There's no question we have something scheduled at this point for Wednesday. It's looking very bleak right now but it's not over.''
The Devils boss also offered some advice.
''To me, let's get rid of all these buzz words (salary cap, luxury tax) and get something done that works for everybody,'' he said.
Should the worst happen Wednesday, the NHL will become the first major professional league in North America to cancel an entire season from start to finish. But Bettman says the damage the NHL will suffer as a result is worth it in order to get ''cost certainty'' for his owners.
The NHL and the union met for more than five hours with U.S. federal mediators in Washington on Sunday but still could not make any progress. Bettman and NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow were not at the meeting. Daly, the NHL's executive vice-president and chief legal officer, and outside counsel Bob Batterman represented the league while Saskin, the NHLPA's senior director, and outside counsel John McCambridge were there for the union.
So much of the season has already been scrapped. Through Monday, 824 of the 1,230 regular-season games have gone by the wayside.
If an agreement can still be reached, the league has a shortened schedule ready to go that would see teams play 28 regular-season games, playing only within their conference. The playoffs would stay the same and consist of four rounds.