The Pittsburgh Penguins are the greatest common denominator in Tuesday's marathon labor negotiations. Its too early to call it right now, but we may wake in the morning to news that that the Board of Governors will be discussing the progress that was inspired by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
24 players. A galaxy of the brightest NHL stars, including: Crosby, Miller, Toews, Doan, and Richards. The plow horses are also represented by Pens grinder Craig Adams (he of a Harvard education, was also in the room), Jamal Mayers, George Parros, Mathieu Darche, and Kevin Westgarth to name a few.
6 owners, including Pittsburgh owner Ron Burkle is said to have had a profoundly positive effect on the discussions with the players.
Media reports confirmed that Mario Lemieux and Pat Brisson, Sidney Crosby's super agent were seen in the same hotel as the suddenly positive labor negotiations.
Could we be witnessing a Pittsburgh Powerplay? We may be crediting the Pens for saving this NHL season.
Mario Lemieux, one of the most respected figures in National Hockey League history, is in his 14th season as co-owner and chairman of the board of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Under the leadership of Lemieux and co-owner Ron Burkle, the Penguins have become one of the premier franchises in the NHL and in all of sports, leading the way in fan relations, youth marketing, community outreach and innovative technology while consistently putting a winning product on the ice – including six straight playoff appearances and a Stanley Cup championship in 2009.
The Penguins entered the 2012-13 season having sold out 254 straight games while setting new standards for local television ratings, merchandise sales, website traffic and social media.
Lemieux and Burkle were driving forces in the quest for a new multi-purpose arena for Pittsburgh and were proud to open CONSOL Energy Center in August, 2010.
Its hard to deny the success that Lemieux and Burkle have experienced in Pittsburgh.
Steve Fehr represented the players. Billy Daly repped the owners.
The players and owners met for five and a half hours. They took a brief break for dinner. They will reconvene and keep talking until they get this thing right.
"Cautious optimism" is the general consensus coming out of the Westin Hotel on Manhattan tonight.
Bettman and Don Fehr were scratched for this potential Game 7. Do or die time.
Fresh faces with new voices in the room have carried the day. Pittsburgh owner Ron Burkle, is being propped by some reputable reporters on the scene as being a constant voice of reason in the meeting.
These talks may end up going long into the night.
Love them or hate them, we all may be tipping our buckets to Sid, Mario, Burkle, and Brisson
come Wednesday.
More to come....
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'm not bragging, but....
Five of my six NHL powerball numbers have hit.
Ryan Miller, Sidney Crosby, Jonathon Toews, George Parros, and Shane Doan will be in the room today, along with 13 other NHL players. The only player on my wish list not to participate is Steve Ott.
Miller told the Buffalo News yesterday that he's looking forward to the opportunity to have dialogue with new owners to the negotiating process. The status quo landed the league into a ditch for 78 days of stagnancy. Miller hopes that the players and owners can make progress on all issues still left unsettled.
“A lot of guys want the opportunity,” Miller wrote. “I hope we all get a better feel of what each side truly needs. On our side anyone can talk to the media or attend meetings, so I am hopeful that having more owners join the conversation we can get somewhere and break up this monopoly 4-5 owners have had on deal making.
“I am really disappointed that no moderate owners have stopped the madness. Hopefully they will after the board of governors convene.”
Miller told Vogl that he and the players thought that once the players agreed to a 50-50 share of hockey related revenues that the CBA discussions would find a mutually beneficial agreement. Such has not been the case, as player contracting rights have been an obstacle of late.
“There has been a deal available for months,” Miller wrote. “We all expected things to fall into a negotiation after reaching 50/50 [in regards to splitting revenue] but it hasn't. The owners want too much from us and we have to make a stand. We appreciate the chance to play in the NHL but we have to protect our players.”
Here are the other NHLPAers: Craig Adams, David Backes, Michael Cammalleri, B.J. Crombeen, Mathieu Darche, Ron Hainsey, Shawn Horcoff, Jamal Mayers, Manny Malhotra, Andy McDonald, Brad Richards, Martin St. Louis, and Kevin Westgarth.
Curious how the Bruins will not have one representative in the room with their owner, Jeremy Jacobs.
The NHLPA-/Owner meeting is scheduled to take place at 2:00 PM ET at the Westin New York at Times Square.
Much more reaction to come throughout the afternoon.
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Look out, here come the Russians.
Fresh off their at-times dominant performances at the Subway Super Series, two Sabres studs have earned their invitations to Russia’s World Junior Championship preliminary camp.
Mikhail Grigorenko (Quebec Remparts, QMJHL) brings scoring, size and skill to Russia. His 25 goals and 21 assists in 27games make him Russia’s #1 centre for the tourney.
Grigorenko represented Russia at the 2012 WJCs. Here scored two gaosl and added three assists in six games. Russia earned the silver medal. As a member of Team Russia at the 2011 World Under-18 Championships, he led his team to a bronze medal, leading the tournament with 14 assists (4-14--18) in seven games. He also represented Russia at the 2010 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge where he scored ten points (6-4--10) in six games and was selected as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
Andrey Makarov (Saskatoon, WHL) shared the Russian net with Vasilevsky at the WJCs last winter. The tandem will back stop Russia again.
In 2011-12, Makarov went from the QMJHL to the WHL; joining the Saskatoon Blades after Lewiston folded. He skated in 54 games for the Blades – missing time to play for Russia at the 2012 U20 World Junior Championship. Makarov was named the team's MVP after going 29-23 with 2 shutouts. He posted a 2.01 goals against and .913 save percentage.
The Blades finished third in the East Division. In the Blades' four-game playoff series with Medicine Hat he was 0-4, with one loss coming in overtime, and had a 4.10 goals against and .872 save percentage. Makarov was 1-1 appearing in three games for Russia with a 0.88 goals against and .979 save percentage. Andrei Vasilevski played most of the tournament but Makarov got the start in the gold medal game against Sweden. Makorov stopped 57 of 58 shots as Russia lost to Sweden, 1-0, in overtime. He was invited to the NHL Draft Combine and ranked seventh amongst North American goalies in Central Scouting's final rankings prior to the 2012 NHL Draft.
Congrats to Freakorenko and Makky!
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Dan Catenacci has been invited to Team Canada's WJC camp.
While Jake McCabe has been inited to the Team USA camp.
Zemgus Girgensons has been invited to Team Latvia's camp, however, he'd need the permission of teh Sabres in order to play. He's nursing an upper ailment right now.
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