Labour disputes and negotiations are at their worst when they lack definition and apparent direction. I have a ton of people asking me the same thing right now.

"The NHL and the Players have never had it better than they do right now. They are getting huge numbers on TV, the Salary Cap is rising every year, and since the last lockout the NHL has experienced it's biggest boom ever. Why would they risk that with any form of strike or a lockout at this point? What could either side possibly be upset with?"

I will tell you that the players, for the most part, would agree with that statement as well. It has made life a little tricky for both sides leadership. The end of the current CBA is an opportunity to try and get something else without giving up too much. In order to do that negotiators on both sides are looking for two things.

Both sides desperately want to control these negotiations. The old saying in business is "he who controls the debate that is had, wins the debate." It's like when you are buying a car. If you can walk away, you control the negotiations. If you need the car desperately...the dealer controls it.

Control is why the NHL put forth the statement this week that they are unhappy with the CBA and it will be re-negotiated. The way it worked was the CBA would just continue on unless either side said they wanted to change it. The NHL said that this week and therefore they can begin this process out from their point of view.

Control is why the NHLPA nixed the re-alignment from the NHL a few months ago. The re-alignment was a funny issue. Funny because I talked to PA people who didn't even know they had a say in the alignment issue and frankly thought the alignment plan was about the most fair plan the owners could put forth. And some of the owners put the player's travel schedule ahead of their established rivalries. The NHL didn't put forth re-alignment with an agenda. They were trying to make it better. The players put more travel into their lives by nixing it.

The NHLPA nixed it for two main reasons.

#1. Because they COULD nix it and get some control...a chip to use down the line...don't be surprised when sometime in October we hear something like, "The NHLPA has agreed to accept the owners original re-alignment plan in exchange for X." It's all a game, because if the NHL had the league like it is now and were refusing to move Winnipeg out of the Southeast, the players would be fighting like hell for the alignment.

#2. Donald Fehr saw an opportunity for the rallying cry he knows he needs badly. The NHLPA rallying cry is "respect and inclusion." If the two sides are going to be partners the players want more say in the day to day. Currently many players will tell you they feel the owners can pretty much do whatever they want to do and the players HAVE to go along with it all. The Board of Governors is all owners and team people. They can approve a team to open the season in Europe and the players go. They can approve who will be in charge of suspensions and the players have to listen. The amount of travel. The times of games. The TV contract that is accepted. If they are required to do shows like 24/7. The Escrow. If the cap rises or falls..etc.

It is a smart rallying cry for Fehr to try and bring more players into the fray...There really are NHL players who feel they have been very respectful to their owners and they aren't getting the same in return.

The NHL feels they have been more than respectful and point to the fact the average salaries are way up and the current floor sits above the initial negotiated ceiling after the last lockout.

It is a typical story..

You won't find a person alive who immediately felt, following the last lockout, that the NHL owners had gotten the players to cave and had won the negotiation. However, when you really look at it the players are making more money, getting more exposure for their personal brands, and getting to be UFA's as young as 26.

My hope is the NHL is aware of this rallying cry and remembers that this cry is only as strong as the appearance of the NHL leaving out the players. If the NHL can be more inclusive Donald Fehr will have a much harder time getting support for any drastic actions he might want to use in order to get something more out of the next CBA.

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