Good-bye, NHL season?
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Flyers Report: Broad Street Bull
Good-bye, NHL season?
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
The NHL season seems on the verge of being canceled after talks with federal mediators broke off on Thursday without any progress.
The mediators were dismissed for the time being, meaning they had two whole days to intervene.
Two.
"We are disappointed the mediation process was not successful," said Bill Daly, the NHL's deputy commissioner, on the 75th day of the lockout.
On Twitter, fans roasted the owners and players.
Tweeted Flyer_Bully: "....flyer fan for over 35 years now, and I'm done, they can all shove it."
ESPN reported that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman proposed to Donald Fehr, the NHLPA boss, a meeting between owners and players _ without league or players' association officials.
Fehr and the players are apparently considering it.
Fehr did not address the issue when he released a statement, saying the mediators "informed the parties they did not think it was productive to continue the discussions further today." He added that the mediators would "stay in contact" and "call the parties back together when they thought the time was right."
This would be the second NHL season canceled in the last nine years.
There are numerous issues on the table, including how to divide hockey-related revenue _ it reached a record $3.3 billion last season _ free agency, arbitration, and length of contracts.
The NHL's latest offer was a 50/50 split of hockey revenue and $211million toward the "make whole" provision, which goes toward players' salaries. The players would agree to a 50/50 divide if it included $393 million.
But even if that issue is resolved, Daly said in an email, there are many other areas in which the sides are far apart.
There is a Board of Governors meeting Wednesday, during which more games could be canceled. As it stands, games have been canceled through Dec. 14.
Follow Sam Carchidi on Twitter @BroadStBull.
- "So they're being rewarded for this behavior -- at least, the owners are."
Yes.
Although in the short term 17 teams still have to service the massive debt they acquired in the leveraged purchase of the franchise with no revenues coming in.
Where they will get that money is an open question, but it's safe to say they'll be forced to take the corporate equivalent of a "payday loan" with its concomitant predatory interest. Which in the long term will put them in more debt. Which they will unashamedly blame on the players.
Take a look at the Forbes Magazine chart. Ignore everything but "Debt/Value" ration. Click on that colume to sort it by the ration and find a surprise.
Here is the chart: http://www.forbes.com/nhl-valuations/list/
Is there a Flame Broiler near Anaheim Ice? :-)
— backhand 
I guarantee Flyer_Bully will be watching Flyers games once the NHL resumes.— toph314- See ya, Flyers. I'm never watching another NHL game.— trungy
- Good. Now the owners can learn the difference between quibbling about 3-4% and losing an entire season of revenue. In fact, both sides should learn a valuable lesson from this. If the fans are smart , they'll take their good old time supporting this sport again when they come back in 2013; that's the 2nd time in a decade that the season is lost, and this isn't the NFL or MLB. Good luck at getting your fan base back, and buh-bye.— drbob1
- What an outrage! How will I survive without watching Leaky Leighton play? Seriously, it's sad to see Claude Giroux losing a prime season because of this mutual madness (more so on the part of the millionaire players, who cannot win against billionaire owners).— eagle1971
- Another Union Victory for the Common Man.— sillybilly
- As dumb as these guys have been, I can't see them actually cancelling the season over this. The owners are threatening it to get the players to cave as much as possible out of fear of losing another season of salary, but I don't think they will cave because of Fehr. This is just a cash grab for the owners, so they will grab as much as they can then start the season at the last possible second.— rums623
- I hope you are right.
If they cancel the season I would expect to see several teams forced into bankruptcy because of the massive debt load they are carrying. While not paying salaries saves them money, not receiving any revenue means they will have a harder time servicing that debt.
Since declaring bankruptcy triggers an automatic seizure of the franchise by the NHL (see Phoenix) it's unlikely the profitable franchisees would be willing to contribute more of their revenue to support them, as they are now with Phoenix.
We will see after the Board of Governors meeting.
— backhand - What a shame. The Flyers will be fine but more and more teams will be in financial trouble as people stop caring. The NHL better be careful before it becomes as small as Arena Football.— Phillies2008WSChamps
- I agree. They can all shove it. The players will lose a year of their athletic lives that they will never get back. Some will never play again. Their bodies will age, and they will have lost their ability. Hockey is barely more popular than horse racing. Who needs it. Let the sport die. Doesn't matter to me if they ever play again. I have found a lot more things to do with my time than watch a sport run by absolute, abject, greedy, self-absorbed morons. Hey, players and owners! Bettman and Fehr will continue to make their money. You won't. Are you that stupid that you would allow these two morons to destroy your investment? Your careers? Really? Unbelievable and unending STUPIDITY.— farside37
- The Hockey News reported in this week's edition that there are 95 current NHL players who will not be back in 2013-2014, due to the lock-out. This is over and above the normal turnover rate. They are all veterans in the last year of their contract.
More bad news: Not a single Flyer made their list of most-hated players in the NHL. We are slipping.
— backhand - Almost time to downgrade my comcast to bare basic service.can`t stand basketball.Can`t stand the big mouth on Eagles post game live any more.Phils will have to get hot to upgrade.— bill the pill
- Maybe if Fast Eddie Snider spent a little more time at the bargaining table and little less time chasing women younger than his daughter, the season might be saved.
— TexColorado - Touche' - I was wondering how long it would take for someone to hit on old "Eddie" — SpokaneFlyer
- What a minute. Are you telling me that owning an NHL franchise affords the opportunity of dating younger women?
You know, I was thinking, Tuscaloosa, Alabama is an untapped market for NHL hockey. I'm sure I could manage to leverage myself into a franchise there. I'm also sure I could get the good citizens there to build an arena with lots of luxury suites for me at their expense, because I would be creating jobs.A city can never have too many hot dog and cotton candy vendors.
Anybody have Gary Bettman's number?
— backhand
