2012 NHL Offseason Thread: ROCK OUT WITH YOUR LOCKOUT

[Richybear]

You should control the headlines too. Like "Toews traded home to Winnipeg for Wellwood" etc

[bluefan]

Only have access to customer accounts unfortunately.

That reminds me....going to try all the Blackhawk player names tomorrow on break. And then right down all the addresses that pop up. And then send complimentary snacks to all the addresses when they play the Jets in the windy city.

Because they'll be laced.

With my special sauce.

[Wulfgang]

Bregor, please come over and find a way to freeze me until this is over.

[NynJa]

That reminds me....going to try all the Blackhawk player names tomorrow on break. And then right down all the addresses that pop up. And then send complimentary snacks to all the addresses when they play the Jets in the windy city.

I'm pretty sure, IF they register for a newspaper (I'm guessing thats what it is), they'd sign up under a false name, for these very reasons lol.

[Bregor]

Bregor, please come over and find a way to freeze me until this is over.

I will do no such thing, but I'm anticipating a story in the Sports Bog about how a hulking, Predators jersey-clad man drank Chinatown and Dupont out of alcohol.

[Brill Weave]

I will do no such thing, but I'm anticipating a story in the Sports Bog about how a hulking, Predators jersey-clad man drank Chinatown and Dupont out of alcohol.

Is that even possible?

[Wulfgang]

Is that even possible?

I could probably handle Chinatown or Dupont; both would be a stretch.

[Cail]

Bregor, please come over and find a way to freeze me until this is over.

http://www.fan2athlete.com/files/Frozen%20Cartman.jpg

[Deader2818]

At this point I really do blame the NHLPA. The NHL has made I think at least 3 offers and each one has gotten better while the NHLPA has only given one offer long time ago and as really done nothing to counter the last 2 offers.

[vagus]

Nope. I still blame owners. Owners are afraid 50/50 won't make nhlpa happy, but nhlpa has stated they would take it. Revenue isn't the main issue, the owners wanting I cut salary by a large amount is the main issue.

[Palin]

I blame both sides. Owners for being greedy shits and letting Bettman/Jacobs run the show, players for being idiotic twats and running their ignorant mouths off. Seriously the amount "why won't the NHL just let us negotiate and play wahh" tweets makes me want to punch a baby.

I might be the only one who's cautiously optimistic though. I see the owners starting to fragment - the reports coming out they are afraid Fehr will reject a 50/50 offer, that they realized it was a mistake to come in so low and that it just galvanized the players, etc. If both sides can start fresh and not let their egos get in the way, maybe we can start by Thanksgiving. It certainly sounds like there's a division of the owners who want to settle sooner than later.. the challenge comes in getting them to push it as the NHL's actual proposal, and then the PA smartening up and accepting a moderate proposal if actually given.

[Richybear]

maybe we can start by Thanksgiving. .

Yay, lockout ends this weekend for us north of the border!

[Callisto]

I don't think that you can say the owners giving three offers gets them any credit, because they haven't made any actual concessions. They asked the players to give up a massive amount, while offering nothing in exchange. They've since scaled back the demands, but they still are giving up nothing. They aren't trying to meet the players in the middle, just slightly less towards their side.

The star players and agents though, should hold a fair amount of responsibility for negotiating ludicrous contracts. Did Kovie really need $10m a year? Was 8 too close to poverty? The owners should not be trying to renig on contracts they already signed, but there needs to be some reasonable limits on contract terms.

[Palin]

More reason I think the sides are softening in Lebrun's blog:

http://espn.go.com/blog/nhl/post/_/i...t-cba-proposal

Both sides in the NHL’s labor impasse are a little gun shy with new proposals.

You have to think that will soon change, but there have been no new proposals tabled by either the NHL or the NHL Players’ Association since their dueling, rejected offers on Sept. 12.

The NHL has been front and center in saying the process won’t progress until the players bring forward a new proposal.

The NHLPA in return feels like it’s been the only side willing to compromise at all in any of its previous offers.

My sense, in speaking to various sources over the past few days, is that both sides, to a degree, are a little trepid to drop the next new offer for fear that the other side will simply pocket whatever compromise is included in that new offer and then use it as part of a future offer.

There’s history here.

When the NHLPA dropped a bombshell offer in December 2004 to roll back salaries 24 percent, the league indeed pocketed that juicy baby in every single version of its future proposals, and, when the lockout ended in 2005, the 24 percent rollback was part of the new CBA.

Hence, the trepidation, especially from the NHLPA, of moving too soon with more compromises in a new offer.

The players’ negotiating committee (60-plus players) held a conference call Monday in which NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr, according to sources, chatted with them about the fact the league wanted a new offer. The sense on the call was that the players feel like they’re negotiating against themselves at this point if they make another offer soon.

The league, conversely, will tell you it is the only side that has tangibly changed its offer three times, while the players -- in the NHL’s view -- keep offering a similar version of the same deal.

Regardless of the rhetoric from both sides, the only thing that will change this stalemate is a new offer with real compromise.

I think one of the theories on the NHLPA side is that because there’s no meaningful financial pressure until November on the players -- due to the fact the players are getting escrow checks from last season this month -- the league and owners are simply waiting them out.

Hence, when is the right time to deliver the next proposal?

Eventually someone will drop a proposal, but it seems there's a willingness to compromise on both sides, they're just scared of losing their offer immediately.

[Deader2818]

Think I might actually trade in NHL 13 already. I just don't find my self enjoying it as much as I used to.

[Richybear]

Just glue the box shut, and tell them it was so realistic, you couldn't even play a video game version.

[Deader2818]

lol, ill put one of those dairy journal locks on it and return it and say I got locked out.

[BadKarma]

Apparently NBC laid the smackdown on the NHL today

[Deader2818]

How so?

[NynJa]

Gonna spill the details...?