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Source: Possible the NHL Extends the Lockout Deadline and Camps Open? |
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Some quick history...
Talking to players this summer there was a rather strong under-current of belief that it was possible the NHL and NHLPA would agree on a deal that would enable both sides to play under the current CBA and avoid a lockout while they negotiated a new CBA...
I want to say I was mostly hearing this in mid-late June...It started as a very hush-hush type of thing, but began to grab some serious momentum and when July hit quite a few players were saying they were hearing it and by July 10th momentum had built to the point where I was almost expecting this to be the outcome...
And then, on July13th the NHL put their first proposal out there. And the first proposal was so strong for the NHL and so far from the players wishes that many began to say things like, "Well the NHL's proposal was a definite message to the NHLPA that they weren't going to play under the old CBA and negotiate."
Shortly thereafter Bill Daly came out and directly stated there was no way they would play under the old CBA and negotiate.
And there we stood...until last week when I was told there may be a strategy change underway and I was told "off the record" the NHL may extend the September 15th deadline and not lockout the players from day 1. However, I was told this off the record and I was told it was just "a consideration."
Today, well just a few minutes ago actually, I was told it is still a consideration but was given the go-ahead to write about it.
What does this mean?
One source put it this way...
"Each side has a few tricks up their sleeves here and we have yet to see either side pull out any of their bags of tricks. The NHLPA has a major move they could make (still off the record) and the NHL has the simple fact that they don't HAVE to lockout the players on September 15th...they could wait a few weeks, get the guys into camp and away from Europe and Russia, build up the excitement, and play to the real world deadline of Opening Day. They could even start the season. The first checks for the players don't come to them until October 15th."
Of course. Why wouldn't they do this? The players would be much more apt to settle this thing if they were indeed already skating with their teams and getting excited about playing.
As one source put it, "It would kill the leverage the players are using by going to play in Europe. They would have to report this weekend to camp."
NHL teams are indeed preparing for a normal camp start until they know it won't happen. Players have for the most part returned to their cities and are working out...Just because the NHL has said they will lock them out on September 15th doesn't mean they can't say, "Well, we really want to get this done for the fans so we will open the camps, open the pre-seasons, and spend the next two weeks intensifying talks."
The Board of Governors meets on Thursday.. There is nothing stopping the governors from telling Bettman to extend the deadline and forced the players to camps...the players would then have to strike to get leverage back.
And they have done this before.
The 1994 lockout began on October 1st and ended January 11th. The players came into camp and played the preseason and then were sent home. In 2004 the league locked the players out before going to camp on September 16th and an entire season was lost.
At the time the inside reason the NHL did it prior to camp was because in 1994 the NHL felt bringing the players together for camp actually helped unify them. They felt it was a better strategy to make communication harder for the players in 2004 and not bring the players together to talk....
However, in 1994 communication and the way news spread was an entirely different animal than we have today. In 2004 the internet was a much bigger factor. In 2012, the age of social networks and twitter does it really matter if the players are together or not? They are communicating and getting information far more easily today.
So the thinking is...why not bring them together and get them thinking about playing hockey instead of sitting at home and thinking about labor disputes?
I am not saying it WILL happen, but don't be surpirsed if it is the next card played..
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