NHL, players’ union resume talks
Posted Sep 28, 2012 5:14 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The NHL and NHL Players’ Association resumed formal negotiations Friday, for the first time since the lockout began almost two weeks ago.
It’s believed these talks focused on “secondary economic issues,” avoiding the issue of how to split hockey-related revenue.
On Thursday, the league cancelled the remainder of the pre-season schedule.
But what kind of message is the league sending to its players by slashing the rest of the pre-season just before talks are set to resume? Sportsnet’s Doug MacLean said it’s not good politics.
“I didn’t like it and I don’t see the value in doing that. They could have done it Monday; let’s go through these meetings and see what happens. It just isn’t good optics, but look, $3.3-billion in revenue — too much at risk, too many dire consequences not to be at the table working through this,” MacLean said.
The regular season is set to begin on Oct. 11.
David Alter with Sportsnet 590 The Fan weighs in on when the NHL may begin to cancel these meaningful games.
“If there is no signs for an agreement by Oct. 5, you’re going to see the NHL come out and start to cancel the first couple of weeks of the season. If you want to go by the time frame of what they did eight years ago, it would be around that time,” Alter said.
Scott Moore, the president of Rogers Broadcasting, has directly asked fans on Twitter what they would like to see if NHL regular season games are cancelled, and says junior hockey and the AHL seem to be favorites.
The NHL and the players’ union are expected to meet through the weekend.
