[NHL] Bettman to cancel 2004-05 season

By Steffan
in The Sporting Arena

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Grand Master

Steffan

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NEW YORK -- With no miracle save in sight and a weekend deadline long gone, the NHL made plans for a news conference Tuesday to cancel what little remained of a season already decimated by a lockout.

A public relations executive, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press that planning was under way Monday for NHL commissioner Gary Bettman to make the announcement at a news conference in New York.

The Canadian Press, citing an unidentified source, said Bettman will cancel the season at the news conference.

The NHL would become the first major professional league in North America to cancel an entire season because of a labor dispute. This would mark the first time the Stanley Cup was not awarded since a flu epidemic canceled the finals in 1919.

Asked about The Canadian Press report, NHL spokesman Frank Brown said the league had no immediate comment.

After vowing not to reach out to each other after two days of talks broke off Thursday, the sides met Sunday at the request of a high-ranking federal mediator. Neither Bettman nor players' association executive director Bob Goodenow attended.

But that round of talks in Washington was also unsuccessful, with both sides saying that no progress was made.

Neither side has been willing to budge on the salary-cap issue -- the NHL has said it is necessary in any new deal, and the players' association has rejected it as a solution.

NHL chief legal officer Bill Daly was joined Sunday at the five-hour meeting by outside counsel Bob Batterman, with players' association senior director Ted Saskin and outside counsel John McCambridge on the other side.

The sides were assisted by mediators twice before, as recently as a Feb. 2 negotiating session in Newark, N.J. Sunday's meeting was requested by Scot B. Beckenbaugh, the acting director of the U.S. Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service.

Neither side thought mediation would help end the stalemate that has lasted five months.

The lockout reached its 152nd day Monday, a day after the NHL was to hold its All-Star game in Atlanta.

Bettman said the sides needed to start putting a deal on paper by the weekend if the NHL was going to hold a 28-game season and a 16-team playoff.

The NHL said its 30 clubs need to know what their costs would be, and the only way that could be achieved is with a salary cap that linked league revenues to player costs.

A cap was an automatic deal-breaker for the union even though it agreed that the financial landscape had to change. The players' association contended that there are many other ways to fix it.

The sides have traded proposals throughout the lockout that started Sept. 16. But the salary cap has always been the sticking point. Other issues such as arbitration, revenue-sharing, and rookie caps, never reached the true negotiating stage because the sides couldn't agree on the big issue.

On Friday, the NHL sent a memo to its 30 clubs, allowing them to contact players -- something that was previously forbidden. The memo also allowed team executives to speak publicly about the lockout.

Source: ESPN

I'm sad that the season is going to be cancel, but it should have been done a while back. If they would have gotten a deal done this weekend, it would have been a 28 game season. :angry: :argh: :boo:

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Grand Master

L3thal Veteran

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yay! can the cancel the NHL forever?

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Best thing they can do in my opinion. Just let the fans, or lack there of, know that the NHL is officially over.

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Grand Master

mattmatik

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Well...

Dan Patrick just reported Bettman will announce an abbreviated season with a full playoff schedule tomorrow.

Apparantly, alot of the players are ****ed off because late last night the players agreed to the cap when they could have done it 7 months ago (the words of Matthew Barnaby).

It's going to be interesting, hopefully it will work out.

In my personal, twisted mind, something inside me is thinking a few people are glad for all of this publicity to get the NHL some newsplay. Really, they were on life support as it is, now they've got alot of media attention coming down to the 11th hour.

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Grand Master

mattmatik

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no, he said that melrose thinks bettman will do that.  but dan never said that ;)

i'm at work watching right now :)

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Oh, ok, thanks for the correction, Bro :)

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brucebeh

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It wasn't last night, the agreement of a cap was just this afternoon!!

They are agreeing to a cap, so all they have to do is work out the numbers now, and if all goes well, tomorrow's press conference may just be a beauty and we will see the new schedule!

Source: http://tinyurl.com/4ea3u (globeandmail.com)

I pray that they will have a deal so we can have a short season!! Something is better than nothing!

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BroChaos Veteran

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Oh, ok, thanks for the correction, Bro :)

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hehe, no prob :)

work is sloooooooooooooooow so i just sit here and watch HDTV on our 27", 30" and 32" lcd tvs in the lab :)

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BMac

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Here's where it stands as of now.

TSN.ca Staff

2/15/2005

The NHL has filed a counter-proposal to the NHL Players' Association offer, upping the salary cap to $42.5 million.

The NHL has told NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow that it's a final offer with no flexibility or room to negotiate and must have a response by Wednesday at 11am.

Details to follow.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?id=115048

For more info on the meeting last night read this article.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?id=114925

As one who has been following this very closely I'd say that the chances of this deal being accepted are minimal. I do hold hope that because the NHLPA offered a cap to the NHL at 3 AM (EST) this morning that there is a chance but realistically I think that the meeting tomorrow at 1 PM (EST) will announce the end of the season. It is all in Bob Goodenow's hands now.

In summation, if this deal is accepted we get hockey. If not the season is dead!

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Favvi

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Here's where it stands as of now. 

http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?id=115048

For more info on the meeting last night read this article.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?id=114925

As one who has been following this very closely I'd say that the chances of this deal being accepted are minimal.  I do hold hope that because the NHLPA offered a cap to the NHL at 3 AM (EST) this morning that there is a chance but realistically I think that the meeting tomorrow at 1 PM (EST) will announce the end of the season.  It is all in Bob Goodenow's hands now.

In summation, if this deal is accepted we get hockey.  If not the season is dead!

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i truly hope the nhlpa rejects this and the season is cancelled

i love hockey, im sure we can wait till next season!

with this deal there is no revenue sharing correct? [unless im missng this somewhere]

a 42.5 million cap wouldnt really help the smaller market teams [enough]

i hope they reject, we dont need some last-minute-band-aid fix, i know a whole lot of people who are angered at the removal of the revenue-linkage.

[[forgive me for what i have just said, if there is indeed revenue sharing on the NHL's final proposal, as i may have missed it. ]]

decline :no:

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Fred Derf Veteran

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A shortened season is fine. It just needs to be long enough to justify the playoff order.

We need a season to know what's going to happen with the draft.

Perhaps some clubs should tank and hope to draw the #1 pick for Sydney Crosby. :ninja:

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Fred Derf Veteran

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Canucks better get Crosby... We traded Kesler already (I'm pretty sure about that?)

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The Canucks would need to have a pretty bad mini-season and miss the playoff badly to have any chance of receiving the #1 draft. Unless they plan to trade for it.

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Ayepecks

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The Canucks would need to have a pretty bad mini-season and miss the playoff badly to have any chance of receiving the #1 draft.  Unless they plan to trade for it.

585478871[/snapback]

Heh, exactly. Saying the Cancuks will get Crosby is pretty silly...

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NEVER85

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yay! can the cancel the NHL forever?

585473066[/snapback]

Typical American ignorance. Cancel the NFL or MLB and see how you deal with it:whistle:e:

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Snipe

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Typical American ignorance. Cancel the NFL or MLB and see how you deal with it. :whistle:

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I have no problem with cancelling MLB, bunch of roided up tools anyway.

The vast majority of Americans (sports fans or not) don't give a rat's a$$ about the NHL.

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mikey1001

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Typical American ignorance. Cancel the NFL or MLB and see how you deal with it. :whistle:

585479169[/snapback]

Man, don't start about "American Ignorance", alright? The guy isn't a big fan of the NHL and voiced his opinion on that, so don't run with that and lable American's as ignorant.

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Ayepecks

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I have no problem with cancelling MLB, bunch of roided up tools anyway. 

The vast majority of Americans (sports fans or not) don't give a rat's a$$ about the NHL.

585479392[/snapback]

Then leave the topic, buddy. No one likes a troll.

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brucebeh

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League rejects NHLPA's $49-million (U.S.) salary cap offer late Tuesday; news conference called for Wednesday at 1 p.m. EST

AHHH!!!

WHAT THE HELL!!!!!!!!!

There is like a SUPER Slim chance where they are going to get a deal at this point!

New York ? Bob Goodenow offered a $49-million (U.S.) salary cap, but Gary Bettman chose to reject the offer late Tuesday.

Earlier, the NHLPA rejected the league's final offer, but submitted the counterproposal on a night of frenzied activity that came as both sides tried to prevent the cancellation of the 2004-05 season.

The NHL delivered its ultimatum earlier on day when the union broke its long-standing vow to never accept a salary cap. All that's left is see if Bettman cancels the season at a press conference called for 1 p.m. EST Wednesday.

I am super ****ed off about this, i thought they could work something together the last minute, but it looks like Bob Goodnow will either have to take the 42.5 million or nothing. This is really stupid, i really doubt hes going to drop his 49 million down to 42.5million! All I can say is this sucks!!

Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...BNStory/Sports/

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BECAUSE I AM GOING TO LOOK AT THINGS THE GOOD WAY...

we still have a little chance, Bettman sent another letter to Bob after the proposed deal from Bob, and states they raised the cap to $44.7 million and they can still accept the offer by 11:00am Tomorrow EST.

so guys, please continuing praying for this, or do whatever you possibly can to hope we can still have a season!!!

srouce: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...5/BNStory/Front

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