NHL & Players to Meet Tuesday But Season Could Be Already Dead

With Christmas just over two months away, any hockey fan would tell you all they want for an early Christmas present is to have the NHL back in action.  We’ve heard for the past few weeks that both sides have agreed to meet and try and negotiate a new CBA with the key word being trying.

Last week the two parties met for two days with no proposals changing hands and no future talks scheduled.  But there is some optimism if you look at it that way in that the NHL and the NHLPA will meet again this Tuesday to again negotiate the issues at hand.

A location has yet to be finalized and no word has come out yet on what the agenda will look like.  Last week, day two was centered around the secondary items leaving many to believe that the $3 billion dollar revenue sharing issue may not be resolved in time to save the season.

Bob McKenzie of TSN already thinks that the season is in serious jeopardy of being cancelled despite only the first two weeks of the season being cancelled.  Does McKenzie know something we don’t?  If you read his article you’ll see he’s going purely on what his beliefs are but he does make some valid points indicating that the two sides are farther apart than any hockey fan wants to admit.

The first and probably most detrimental is that Bettman and the owners want too much too quickly without having much regard for the players.  He makes a great point how the last CBA took seven years before it was in favor of the players and now the owners want it back in their favor in one short year.  Talk about not playing nice or fair.

McKenzie also brings up a great point in that both sides seem to think the other side will cave sooner than the other.  As soon as the players start missing a couple months worth of paychecks then the pressure will be on to salvage the season right? Well, if the 2004-05 taught us anything it’s that neither side cares if a season is lost and they seem hell bent on ruining yet another NHL year.

McKenzie goes on to mention many other valid points as to why he thinks the season is likely doomed for this year. The two points mentioned are two that ring loud and true and if any of the others follow suit, McKenzie is likely right on the money.

Settle in hockey fans, it appears this one could take a while.