This will be a long post but I want to post an article from the Columbus Dispatch that has an OSU management professor talking about the lockout. I'm editing it some but haven't changed the essence:

"Two things strike me: One, they're both very stubborn and, two, they're driven to that by the constituencies to whom they're accountable. Any concession looks like weakness and neither can afford to look weak. Their jobs depend on looking tough rather than compromising." ROY J. LEWICKI Ohio State professor, on NHL lockout.
The Dispatch called on Lewicki to assess the situation. We passed along a copious amount of reading material to Professor Lewicki and wait to see if he could find the key to ending the lockout. After a couple of weeks of immersion and consideration, and more than one interview, the good doctor summed things up thusly:
"One of three things has to happen," he said. "One, both parties are in enough pain to agree to come back to the table. Two, both parties have to respect someone enough to mediate. Three, both parties agree to let a group of eminently smart people sit down and listen to both sides and everyone agrees on findings."
At this point, not one of the three options is a consideration.
"If the rhetoric of September still holds, both parties are dug in and prepared for a long siege," Lewicki said.
The rhetoric of September, when the lockout began on the eve of training camps, still holds. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman recently indicated that mediation or arbitration is for situations when both sides don't understand each other - and that's not the case here.
Bettman and union chief Bob Goodenow understand each other perfectly. Bettman wants "cost certainty," a euphemism for "salary cap." He wants salaries tied to revenues. Goodenow and the union are dead set against any form of a cap. Goodenow this month convened a group of player agents to fill them in and keep his hard line indelibly drawn.
"Unfortunately," Lewicki said, "both have implied there's nothing any neutral party could do. Bettman said it explicitly. Goodenow fundamentally said the same thing. It's about control: Who's going to dictate what the cap looks like? Neither one wants to let anyone else have any influence.
"Two things strike me: One, they're both very stubborn, and, two, they're driven to that by the constituencies to whom they're accountable. Any concession looks like weakness, and neither can afford to look weak. Their jobs depend on looking tough rather than compromising."
Lewicki shed his professorial tone for a second and said, "It's a Mexican standoff."
It won't end, he said, until the sides have reached what Lewicki calls a "mutually hurting stalemate."
"(It's) when both parties have the point of view that they're in more pain without a settlement," he said. "I don't think they're there yet, for a couple of reasons: First, the owners aren't losing as much money (with the league shut down). Secondly, the players have other alternatives, be it playing in Europe or whatever. And it's apparent both sides have prepared for this."
In such a situation, a fourth possibility might develop. This has to do with outside pressure being exerted by those unaffiliated, yet invested, with the league. Lewicki mentioned arena workers, fans and even the Canadian government. Those groups have economic and emotional investments in the NHL.
"Interested third parties can bring leverage" when their pain becomes acute, Lewicki said.
When will the pain become acute?
"I think it will take to the dead of winter, post-Christmas," Lewicki said. "It won't be until people really begin to feel the consequences and are living with the situation in the middle of ice-and-snow season for it to get unstuck."
Lewicki's expertise has been used by companies such as Limited Stores, Siemens, Cardinal Health and Ross Laboratories. Here's a question, then: If he had the NHL and the union to deal with, what would he do?
"If I were the neutral party, I'd try to invite key representatives to some warm, remote island," Lewicki said. "I'd . . . take their credit cards and car keys. And their cell phones."

Why not!

I don't know if this means anything but it might. While the league is being pretty clear that an NHL luxury tax still won't work the fact that this sort of thing is being discussed rationally is, to me a positive sign.

A ridiculous personal attack from Tim Taylor on the Commissioner:

"I think the little guy at the NHL who is running this thing... it's a joke what he has made this day into," Taylor said. "I wouldn't be surprised after that thing is over that we play for some trophy other than the Stanley Cup. I really don't think he cares too much about the Stanley Cup."

I don't know, Tim. Who's the "little guy" here?

Another "funny" by-product of the locout is reported on Sportsnet.ca as NHL players residing in Canada will not have to pay tax on the lockout money they receive based on a Canada Revenue Agency clause.

If you love our game, you have to laugh at a "Slapshot" moment as ECHL forward Dan Sullivan of Toronto is suspended 12 games for mooning fans.

The NHLPA's mouthpiece has some more information this morning in the New York Post about a proposal that, depending on whom you believe, is forthcoming or not. Let's hope so: if Mr. Brooks' information is accurate, it may at least be a starting point as long as the players are willing to put some sort of teeth into the projected savings.

Funny story about a silver lining during this lockout as Sabres' wives make progress on labor front. Different kind of labor, but hopefully the other kind comes out as well.

Maybe some light at the end of the tunnel? The Philadelphia Daily News reports that NHL union working on proposal. If nothing else, maybe this will get both sides talking again. Whatever it may be, hopefully whatever cost controls it puts in place are guaranteed to some degree; otherwise, we're looking at a long, NHL-less winter.

Some fairly coherent thinking out there in the blogsphere comes via Ramble On: NHLPA Greed. I'd take issue with one point however. Too many players are not way overpaid - it's really only about 3% of the players. Makes one wonder on whose behalf the NHLPA is fighting.

This from a number of sources:

NHLPA members are expected to receive monthly lockout stipends of between $5,000 and $6,000 US starting this week.
The PA executive board has approved the payout, which will especially aid those who are not playing in Europe.
By Friday, players will have missed four pay periods. Their bi-weekly cheques would have commenced on Oct. 15.

Do the math. At best, we're talking about $72,000 a year prorated. $54,000,000 for all of the active NHLPA members if they all get paid. Not even what the Rangers spend in one season.

Give it up, guys. No one is asking you to play for less than a fifth of the minimum salary not should you be wasting your talents in beer leagues. The clock is ticking on guys like Brett Hull and Chris Chelios and for guys like Scotty Gomez who have their best earning years ahead of them, they need to be using their talents to get rewarded and not let the Union which "represents" them be an impediment. Those rewards may not be on the scale of some in the past, but at least they'll be in a business which is operating on a sound financial footing and which will be issuing checks to players which actually clear.

Oh, to be as all-knowing as Larry Brooks!
Larry, better known as Bob Goodenow's NY press agent, writes in the New York Post about the "lies" the NHL is putting forth and "reveals" how the league is NOT really trying to make a partnership with the NHLPA. Unfortunately, Larry can't read as well as he writes (which isn't too well) and is missing the point of most of what he "reports".
For example, he cites this:

"Article 5 - Management Rights. The League believes the growth of revenues to be shared by the players will be enhanced by the NHLPA granting the League greater flexibility in the operation of the business in various operational, financial and marketing areas."

as an example of how the NHL is trying to blow up the partnership. Schmuck. The NHLPA has zero marketing staff - the League as a big one. Maybe they could do a better job of growing the pie on behlf of both the NHL and the NHLPA.
Or this

"Article 11 - Standard Player's Contract. We propose to revise and simplify the SPC by moving many of its provisions to the CBA [and] revising provisions inconsistent with the goals of the new economic system."

. Read! It gives the CBA more weight and, therefore, the NHLPA more clout.
Or this

Article 18 - Commissioner Discipline. We propose to increase the Commissioner's fining authority and to improve current procedures."

See Ron Artest and David Stern.

Thoughtful column from Mike Heika in the Dallas Morning News about how 'unofficial' talks can serve as icebreaker for hockey. One can only hope that it would be so. However, I do disagree with one thing he wrote:

Both sides are being bull-headed in this, and with good reason. But the bottom line is nobody would have to care about Forbes or the Levitt Report or opening anybody's books if the league would just get off cost certainty.

. I think that cost certainty can come in a lot of ways and that can mean tied to revenue sharing so long as the results contemplated by revenue sharing are guaranteed. The NHLPA has been very public in shrugging its shoulders when asked what happens if the savings they project under their plan don't materialize. Guys, you're going to start losing teams if they don't happen, and fewer teams means fewer hockey jobs for your members. Has that part of being a "labor union" left your head?

I know, I've been a little slow this weekend. Sorry. Not that there's much going on anyway. However, in its reporting of the NHLPA decertifying an agent for ratting out their collusionary practices, TSN.ca caught my eye with a little item at the end of the article:

Meanwhile, in an unrelated matter, sources say the NHLPA is reviewing certified agent David Frost's status after he was banned from all Central Ontario Junior Hockey League venues after a recent exchange with an off-ice official.

So it's an immediate response to ban an agent if he shows the world how the NHLPA colludes but they need to "review" a guy who has ruined the lives of several young boys and drove a client to try and kill him which ended with the client in jail for the next 10 years. Guess Frosty has some friends in high places at the NHLPA.

I can't for the life of me believe that the NHLPA sold anyone on the validity of the Forbes "analysis" of the NHL and its losses. Here is a story this morning about the Hurricanes' finances over the last few years in which the key point about the Forbes thing is made: they had access to NOTHING while Levitt and his forensic accountants saw everything. What kind of looney tune accepts the former over the latter? Apparently, any one with an NHLPA card or an NHLPA agent's license.

Smoking that kind of weed is illegal where I come from....

I thought it would be a good time for a reminder about who is really suffering during this exercise. The Boston Herald has a nice piece on how the "little" people whose incomes are driven by hockey are suffering.

This from Bob McKenzie's column on TSN.ca:

A couple of agents are already saying that there has been an amendment proposed -- and I stress proposed; it's not put through yet -- that no player agent that is part of the NHLPA certification program, which is basically all of them at this point, would be able to negotiate with any league -- any generic league -- that doesn't have a collectively bargained agreement with a players association.

What that means, between the lines, is this: everybody assumes that there is going to be impasse and implementation and we may be looking at a National Hockey League with replacement players. If the proposal that is on the table goes through, that would prevent agents from negotiating new contracts with the NHL for replacement players or any players from the NHLPA that decide they might want to cross the lines.

Umm - last time I looked, agents worked for players, not for the NHLPA. Why would any agent side with a union which is putting something divisive in between them and their clients? If an NHLPA member wants to cross the picket line and play as a replacement, who is the NHLPA to say he can't have adequate representation?

Boo of the day......

IMG, the HUGE sports marketing concern (and which reps a nnumber of NHLers) announced the details of The Primus Worldstars Tour which will feature a numbers of NHL guys in some charity events.

Just a few questions: how MUCH of the proceeds will go to charity (which, by the way, is the NHLPA's charity)? What are the players making? If this is going to be high-quality hockey, why isn't the tour in North America? Lastly, won't the market in Europe be diminished for this since Europeans who care can now see NHL guys playing for real in their leagues?

Let's wait and see....

If you're waiting for any news out of the NHLPA meeting with the agents, don't hold your breath:

"It's going to be Forbes and propaganda," one outspoken agent who requested anonymity told ESPN.com shortly before jetting to Chicago. "It's going to be a love-in. I hate going but I have to go for my clients."

Nice to know you have a set there, buddy. It's this wall of silence among the players and their agents who are letting the NHLPA derail our game on behalf of the 3% of players who make the outrageous salaries. Speak up!

Good report from the Toronto Sun on today's NHLPA meeting with the agents. The news is that there won't be any news, at least not publicly.

The article also goes on to talk about an interview the paper did with Bill Daly in which he expresses the NHL's willingness to offer up more proposals.

The take on the meeting from the Ottawa Sun is fairly similar although they make it sound a bit more interactive as opposed to a lecture from Uncle Bob.

Denis Potvin weighs in as The Calgary Sun reports that Potvin pleads with politicians. Smartly, the article notes that when Clinton tried to intervene in the last MLB disaster he was totally rebuffed. Potvin does talk about the distrust over the team loss numbers that the NHLPA has. Fine. Make an impartial audit part of the negotiation and put its findings in place for the second year and beyond (it's not going to get done in 20 minutes). Meanwhile, you know that there is some level of loss and some level of asset appreciation.

Big deal. Forget all that: no business pays 75% of its revenues out in labor. None. In fact, even the Forbes numbers were close on revenues - $2.2 billion US. If you think those other things like suite income are being hidden, ask that they be included. Anything that casues a big alarm among the NHL ownership will tell you you're on the right track.

But there won't be much, if any. Because they're NOT LYING!

Interview with Gary Bettman in the Denver Post this morning. Not much news but not much rhetoric either. I don't know why the NHLPA keeps telling its members he's trying to crush the union when it's very clear in this article that he just wants a partner with whom he can negotiate. You don't have to be very bright (and the union leadership allegedly is) to know that negotiations are never about one thing - there are hundred. Give on one (the cap) and win on 99 (the pot, the percentage, meal money, free agency, etc.). Smarten up, boys!

I have a great deal of respect for the players like Brad Isbister and Jason Wiemer for going to play in a beer league rather than taking someone else's job in Europe. When these guys say they just want to play, they have credibility, unlike those other guys. As you can see from this piece in the Calgary Herald, they're really just playing to play.

Stephan Harris of the Boston Herald gets it right as the use of `scabs' crops up everywhere. I especially like this paragraph:

The players want guaranteed contracts that pay off in entirety, even if the quality of performance plummets. They also want the right to salary arbitration if they feel they're not being paid enough. Most players want an automatic, minimum 10-percent raise in every new contract. They want it all but assured they can't be sent to the minors. They want entry-level players to be paid a preset sum. They want total free agency at age 31.
That's some free market.

I wish more writers had this kind of insight.

Here's a load of crap to start the week - a report onthe Forbes article on NHL finances.

You have to love it when an article admits it didn't have access to the records it's reporting about. Why didn't they include "we're guessing" as part of their headline? If I'm reading this drivel correctly, the argument is that since the NHL owners make money in other ways, like when basketball is played at the United Center, the losses from the NHL teams shouldn't count, or at least shouldn't be taken as a problem since the owners really aren't going broke owning hockey teams.

Why not? And even if the NHLPA believes that crap, and they do, why not negotiate those revenues into the pool and then demand a signifcant percentage? The League has already said the players can have at least half of the dough and I'll bet they can get more than that. Nope. The NHLPA would rather enourage its members to go overseas and play under a cap system while taking away jobs from other hockey players.

The Levitt Report was put together by forensic accountants who had access to everything. Until something else comes along with the same access and the same credibility, I'm believing those guys, not some magazine with no access.

Better known as you can't fool all of the people all of the time, the 4-On-4 Original Stars Hockey League Is on Thin Ice. Guess these guys will have to go back to ripping off the NHL instead of the fans.

And the injuries keep coming. Byron Ritchie, who was playing for Rogle in the Swedish Second Division, is out up to six weeks after breaking his ankle. Up until the injury, he'd collected 20 points in 15 games.

There's a lot to think about in this piece from the Daily Herald. First, what is Chris Chelios smoking?

"I think a good indication of that is the way the (television) ratings and marketing have gone in the NHL for the past 10 years. (Bettman) doesn't have an idea or feel for it. There's a lot you can do to market the sport, but I haven't seen it over the last 10 years."

Gee, Chris, maybe if the league hadn't paid the players so much money, and lost so much in the process, they could do the kind of marketing that the NFL does? Maybe the investment in technology that the NBA and MLB have made would be possible without player costs that are killing the game?

The Union has to get out of the blame game just as the NHL has. What's done is done - the NHL, to their detriment, lived up to a CBA that was killing them and the NHLPA ignored all the pleas to fix it early. The league didn't complain then and it's not complaining now about what went on in the past - it's just wanting a guaranteed solution that works. Why is this so hard for the Union to tell the players?

It's starting to sound like a broken record but here are 2 more prominent NHL alumni speaking out...

Always a classy guy, nice to see that Mr. Beliveau has the smarts to go with that class.

OK, so he's a little vanilla here but he always has been, just as he'll always be The Great One. And this is exactly right:

Because it's not the NHL,'' he said. ``There's only one league, and that's the NHL

It can almost make you cry.

Here's Steve Poapst trying to be a good union guy. But if you read between the lines, it's pretty obvious this guy is getting screwed. A journeyman player who is probably not going to be playing more than another year or so. This guy should be playing hockey right now - $600,000 is a lot of scratch and he needs to be collecting it, not making excuses for union leaders who earn many times what he makes.

Yeah, the owners can't control themselves. But YOU can control them, eh Bob? At least you can COLLUDE and try to as one can see in this story out of Minneapolis - NHL: Hockey agents have no secrets.

Sure, let the NHL try anything like this and you guys file a grievance.

I hate hypocrites.....

Great piece this morning from the Edmonton Journal's John MacKinnon. Couldn't have said it better myself:

These are players said to be infinitely better educated under the regime of NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow than players were under his predecessor, the scabrous Alan Eagleson. Yet their pronouncements and actions suggest they're inconsistent if not incoherent about the economic reality they have lived so lavishly under. Not to mention the more austere reality that must come if the 30-team league is to survive.
For example, the players preach solidarity and say they fear a salary cap system would mean an end to guaranteed contracts. And they're having none of it, even as they travel across the ocean to hip -check European-based players out of their contracts which pay substantially less than the NHLers would earn under the cap system they so adamantly oppose.
Of course, some members of the NHLPA leadership aren't playing anywhere, and why would theyIf you were Vincent Damphousse, accumulated career salary $35 million, or Trevor Linden ($30 million), Chris Pronger ($48 million) or Bill Guerin ($32 million), would you uproot yourself to, say, Lulea, Sweden, and put your 30-something body at risk for peanutsOf course not. You'd soak in your Jacuzzi until the lockout ended.
But if modestly paid grinders like Pierre Dagenais or Mike Commodore-players in actual need of the more earthbound salaries they earn-should dare suggest that a cap system might not be hell on earth, well, an odious wave of peer pressure silences them.

You knew it was going to happen and now it has. A big NHL player get hurt while scabbing in Europe as Dany Heatley suffers an eye injury.

This is so unnecessary....

We're going on 52 days now. Almost 90% of the people replying to an ESPN poll say that there won't be any NHL hockey played this year.

Me? I'm an optimist. I think that more went on at the NHLPA meeting this week than the players or union are letting on. I think it will be especially clear after the PA meets with agents in 10 days or so.

You're starting to see the wear and tear on the guys who are playing, either here or in Europe. Some of the injuries are serious; most are just the normal dings of a hockey season. But it is a contact sport and people do get hurt. Which is why this quote from Joe Thornton is so puzzling:

.
"I'm happy, I'm playing hockey," said Thornton who came over with Rick Nash, a Columbus winger, because the NHL wasn't playing. "My feeling is it's not going to be played this year and maybe not even next year. I've got to play, and why not play over here?

Joe, most of the leagues over there have some sort of restraining mechanism on salaries: most have an outright cap. Why are you and 200+ of your peers OK playing under that system away from home (and away from the best players in the world) when you could make more money and sleep in your own bed most nights here? Heck, we'll even let you play without a half-shield (mandatory over there).

This is sooo dumb. 52 days and no end in sight. Come home, boys - we miss you. Just start listening to Dylan and forget Bob and Ted:

Don't follow leaders
Watch the parkin' meters

Great. About the quickest way to end an NHL career is to start down the concussion road. Looks like one of the Euroscabs may be headed in that direction.

Nice piece by Rob Parker of the Detroit News this morning on how the NHL lockout has left a void that not even the NBA can fill. Amen to that!

That's followed by a fan piece at ChicagoSports.com: View from a Blackhawks Fan. You may have to register to see it. The interesting thing is that common sense almost always cuts through the issues:

The players are responsible because they cannot seem to live on earning more money in one season than most fans will earn in a lifetime. The average player earns more than $1 million a year. Those that make less than that still make hundreds of thousands of dollars each year.

Ordinary folks feel that they deserve a certain pay level but also have to accept salary limitations. They don't expect employers to exist solely to pay salaries. Sometimes one has to take what they can get. Would it kill the NHLPA to do the same?

In short, the NHLPA has its hands around the neck of the golden goose and they seem to be doing the best to strangle it.

Amen again!

Markus Naslund sayshe's concerned for the future of the NHL.

Jeepers, Markus, aren't we all? Maybe if there was a little money left after the players took 75%....

More with respect to what I was saying this morning on guaranteed contracts being a target of the NHL. Turns out the Commissioner addressed this issue a week ago and yet the NHLPA is still lying to the members about it.

Wake up, boys!

A story this morning out of Chicago which affords some more players' takes on their NHLPA meeting. It's interesting how the facts seem to keep getting twisted when they come out of the mouths of the union leadership. I love this quote from Curtis Brown of the Blackhawks:

"Going to the meeting and getting educated on the issues and not just hearing what the media reports or what Mr. (Commissioner Gary) Bettman has to say, but really getting in behind the issues and see what's really going on, I came out of there supporting the union 100 percent," Brown said.

He goes on to say the NHL wants to take away guaranteed contracts, arbitration, and other things which have never been mentioned (at least that I can find) anywhere.

Curtis, if you want to find out what the NHL has proposed, ask the PA leadership for copies of what the League gave them. Don't just buy what they tell you if you want to see "what's really going on." You're being lied to, I'm sure of it.

Here's a guy who has played too much hockey without a helmet. 'No hockey this year': Turner Stevenson, who also says:

"The main goal [of the owners] is to make us suffer financially, and I don't think you're going to get that in three months," Stevenson told the Prince George Citizen. "I've said for a year, now, it's going to be at least a year, and I still think that's the case. No Stanley Cup handed out this year."

Hey genius - the main goal of the owners is to stop THEIR financial suffering. Where the hell have you been?

Here is yet another fine use (read: waste) of talent - a top NHL ref selling cars to make ends meet.

In a new poll from SES, both the Owners and players are panned by Canadians. That said, among those finding fault, the players overwhelmingly get the blame.

Lots to write about this morning on the heels of yesterday's NHLPA meeting. Firstly, a report on how the PA is to dish out stipend to fellow players within the next few weeks. Aww, how awfully generous of you guys. It's the players' money - maybe they SHOULD have it. In fact, if you'd quit being so obtuse, they'd have a lot more. Hopefully no one making over the $1.3 million average salary gets a dime - how about the NHLPA supports the little guys for a change?

Next up, the meeting itself. As the Union digs in, maybe Bob and Ted ought to think about letting their members know that Gary is not "a madman" and the NHL has some real issues which need addressing. Anyone who says the Commissioner is not "a fan of the game" has never listened to him speak on the topic. The interviews he did CBC and TSN as well as programs on ESPN should be required viewing before commenting.

Doesn't sound like much came out of the meeting, but what do you expect? Public capitulation? Hopefully some of the boys behaved like the great players they are and spoke their minds. Given the team mentalityin our game it's hard for any of these guys to go against the club (read NHLPA) but the union reps the members, not the other way around.

Oh man! When a team starts to lose the tough guys you KNOW you've got a problem. Good for you Georges Laraque for calling a scab a scab!

ESPN.com's John Buccigross writes maybe the best cloumn I've seen so far on the lockout. Hopefully the boys present it to their union as required reading.

Story this morning from the Philadelphia Inquirer raising the question "Why would the union schedule a meeting on such an important day in the United States? Can you imagine the outcry from Canadian journalists had something like this been done on a key election day in Canada? It's possible some reps won't get back in time to vote."

Good point and the article raises some others, although the focus on replacement players seems off base - for now...

TSN reports that the upcoming NHLPA meetings are set to show solidarity. Of course, there is no way to know what goes on in the room and you know there is no way they're going to come out of there and tell us that the players are in an uproar over the lack of progress due to the NHLPA's denial of reality (a.k.a. NHL clubs' losses).

Good story in the Detroit News on the upcoming NHLPA meeting. No question that hockey players don't like to be backed into a corner and challenged but I'm wondering why everyone assumes it's the League that's doing that. Seems to me that the NHLPA is doing a lot more of it.

About time.

The CP via Sportsnet.ca reports this morning that some of the major hockey player agents have been invited to a meeting on 17 November to discuss the lockout. That's good news.

Even better news is that 80-90 players are expected to go to the union meeting tomorrow - not just the player reps. The broader the player representation the more likely, in my opinion, we are to have the union leadership get the message: end this posturing, accept that the NHL has problems and enter into a partnership to help fix them.