CBC Radio interviews Bill Daly, and puts a 'yes' or 'no' question to him. Will there be hockey this season? Bill says yes. I'm pretty sure he had his fingers crossed when he said it.

Look, what was Daly suppose to say? He can't say, "nope, there will be no hockey." There's still time to fit in a 48 game schedule, so up until the minute the NHL officially pulls the plug, he'll still suggest there will be a season.

Of course, Donald Fehr was lovin' it. Fehr took interviews before the Steven Stamkos charity fundraising hockey game on Wednesday evening. Fehr's response was almost gleeful. There's been noise coming from the NHLPA all day that they're willing to negotiate. They've been asking the NHL back to the table, and as of yet, the league has yet to accept in the invitation. They won't.

People are dumb. Of course the NHL is going to say no to negotiations. The words spoken by Daly and Fehr on Wednesday were absolutely meaningless. This picture was painted weeks ago.

The NHL has made their final offer to the players. Everyone keeps pointing out "they haven't ended the season, so they're obviously still open to negotiations." Why aren't people paying closer attention to what has occurred? The NHL made a deal with the NHLPA a few weeks ago. The moderates on the NHL's side threw in an extra $100mil of Make Whole cash in good faith...as a way to ensure the deal took place. The NHLPA, under the advice of Fehr, turned it down. Since then, the NHL has clearly said they've made their final offer. The reason they haven't pulled the plug on the season is because they're giving the players time to change their mind. Negotiations are over.

When Daly says, "yes, we'll have a hockey season," he's actually saying the players will eventually come to their senses and take the deal. The NHL is extremely confident of their legal position, and there's zero chance they'll lose the Disclaimer of Interest challenge in court. Once the court declares the lockout legal and dismisses the player's attempt to disclaim, the players will have no choice but to sign. Look at how many players are coming back from Europe, completely disenchanted with hockey leagues not named the NHL. If the choice is between years of playing for other leagues and/or unemployment, or accepting the NHL's final deal, the players will accept the NHL's final deal. All they have been doing and continue to do is drag the situation out unnecessarily.

As for Fehr and the NHLPA, it's wishful thinking that all of this is going to turn into another round of negotiations. Keep in mind with the league's final offer, there were still significant details to be worked out. There will need to be negotiation with respect to the open points on the CBA. But with the main points, the NHL has offered all they will offer. It's a "take it or leave it" proposition. Anyone who thinks otherwise under-estimates how angry the owners are with the NHLPA. If anything, negotiations from the owners perspective will begin to offer less, not more.

The NHL and NHLPA speak daily on the phone, just to confirm nothing has changed. On Thursday, it's expected the NHL will officially cancel another stack of games. It's also expected the NHLPA will finalize counting votes on the Disclaimer question. Keep in mind the PA does not legally need to have a vote on this matter; they can disclaim any time they want. This entire situation is for the live studio audience; to make the PA appear to be united. The only hope Fehr and the gang have now is to turn back public opinion in their favor, as a way of putting pressure on the owners. It's not going to work.

The only real question I have at this point is, how long will it take before the players begin to turn on their own leadership. I, like all of you, hope for some sort of season to occur. But at this point I'm actually cheering more for Fehr to be removed from the union, and that might require an entire season being lost.

I wonder what Bill Daly would have said if he was asked if the removal of Fehr from the PA was a deal-breaker? I know what my answer to that would be.

Join the Discussion: » 213 Comments » Post New Comment

» Goodbye and Good Luck

» Ranking Top 5 Roster Groups - Blog #1

» Mods and Rockers

» The Reverse Psychology Blog

» The 10 Least Interesting Teams in the NHL