Time is Ticking For NHL Season & Still No Meetings Planned

With the holiday season rapidly approaching, the NHL lockout is continuing to thrive on the lack of negotiations taking place between the owners and players.  Not only is there no new meetings planned, the clock continues to tick and with every passing day where no meetings are held, the reality of losing yet another NHL season becomes ever so possible.

Maybe that’s the troubling part; the fact that neither side is trying to propel or kick-start negotiations again, leaving the talks in neutral.  With all this legal talk and how one side is going to file this complaint while the other side will react by filing a different complaint, it all gets real tiresome, really quickly.

Michael Russo of the Star Tribune said it best when he stated the only lingo the two sides are speaking is “see you in court.”

But does it really have to be that way?  The two sides were apparently so close to a deal yet not close enough where talks can’t even resume.  The whole thing is confusing and becoming beyond frustrating.

Currently the players are voting on whether they will allow the union to make the decision to dissolve.  The NBA went through the same process and twelve days later a deal was struck.  Some feel that this could happen with the NHL lockout while others say if they dissolve the whole situation is headed for the courtroom and that process is sure to wipe out this season, possibly part of next.

To make matters worse, it appears neither side is willing to swallow their pride and ask the other party to return to the table.

Russo, who received an email reply from both Bill Daly and Steve Fehr outlined their responses and neither are willing to shoulder the responsibility.

Daly wrote Russo and said they prefer the player’s return to the bargaining table while Fehr countered with the slap in the face statement of “the player’s never left” saying the owners were the ones who said last Thursday they have nothing new to say.

Can someone please man up and take charge of the situation?  Or has it truly become that personal between Donald Fehr and Gary Bettman that neither side will blink in fear of losing out on a better deal.

If the league hasn’t already become the laughing stock of professional sports over this latest lockout, it’s surely to happen in the next few weeks when the two sides are surely to break for the holidays.  Meaning any hope of having a deal in place by January 1 is becoming a pipe dream.

This has become so frustrating I find myself thinking about golfing and that should only become a thought when the playoffs are over.  My goodness.