Shawn Gates: NHL's Latest Concession Does Not Pass The Stink Test

I have to say, I think this is all spin doctoring and anchoring. The League keeps adding in these poison pills to otherwise still subpar deals just so they can pull them out later and say "Hey, look, we made a concession!"

Unfortunately, there is a very large contingent of fans out there who say "Wow, look at all the things the NHL is giving up, and the Union isn't budging!" Luckily for the players, said group of fans doesn't have any control whatsoever over negotiations.

I've been on collective bargaining committees. Management throws dozens of terrible clauses into their offers in hopes that the employees will somehow think it either benefits them or will have no effect on them and thus ignore it. Then, when it gets turned down, they can go on and on about how unreasonable the union is being.

I'm still at a loss as to how an employer could request salary rollbacks during what is undoubtedly the brightest financial times the company has ever seen. What a bunch of cheapskates.

With a lot of the things I've read and heard, a large reason the classic was cancelled was from pressure from the Detroit camp. And really, it makes sense. Detroit could make much more money if they had three months to merchandise for the event instead of, what, 6 weeks? But from what I've gathered, the league was extremely hesitant to cancel the classic, but pressure from Detroit (starting as far back as two weeks ago) caused the league to jump ship and cancel the classic.

The real question is... who cares? Both sides are spewing BS everytime they say something. Anything that comes out to the public is carefully and strategically put out there, the idea that we have any clue as the the inner workings doesnt make sense to me. There is no genuine desire to bring the game back, it's just gonna go on until the numbers make sense to both sides, most likely when the players bank accounts begin to dwindle and their quality of life decreases. Until the numbers hit that spot, there will be no hockey. To me, it's not psychology, its just math.

.025% of 10,000,000 is 2,500

Your reasoning makes sense if you consider the NHL as one entity. I, however, do not. The NHL is 28 separate entities and who's to say the Classic cancellation was the last straw for Illich and whoever the hell owns the Leafs now along with some other owners who up until now were willing to silently sit on the sidelines and let this play out. Perhaps this move pissed off a lot of money people the league hasn't heard from yet (NBC, HBO) and they pushed the league to make this move.

.025% of 10,000,000 is 2,500
- osee115

*hangs head in shame and humbly thanks you for pointing out my horrible math error*

I still stand by my arguement though!

Very good blog Shawn.

Very good blog Shawn.
- Cfser

Thank you sir. I appreciate the kind words...

I think another strong possibility is that the league knew, if they made a concession to get talks going, the players would use the league wanting to get a deal done quickly for the sake of the classic as something to help them secure further concessions. Now the players can't use classic having time to happen as a deadline the owners want to meet to get a deal done.

So let me get this straight...

The offer doesn't pass the stink test because we don't have all the answers, but you have suspicions?

I agree it may all be bogus, but there is nothing of substance in your blog. Frankly, the blog did not pass the stink test. (by the title I thought you had some NEW information on what stinks about the owners' offer )

I think another strong possibility is that the league knew, if they made a concession to get talks going, the players would use the league wanting to get a deal done quickly for the sake of the classic as something to help them secure further concessions. Now the players can't use classic having time to happen as a deadline the owners want to meet to get a deal done.
- Antilles

Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner!

This makes the most sense.

So let me get this straight...

The offer doesn't pass the stink test because we don't have all the answers, but you have suspicions?

I agree it may all be bogus, but there is nothing of substance in your blog. Frankly, the blog did not pass the stink test. (by the title I thought you had some NEW information on what stinks about the owners' offer )
- Aetherial

For what it's worth, I qualify everything by saying how it appears to me. Others will have different opinions which you obviously do. I don't pretend to have inside information. My job is to offer my opinion or take on the news which is what I've done.

If you think the blog stinks, that's your perogative to think so. I was rather happy with it, but also knw that I'm never going to have everyone sharing that opinion. I'm sorry I couldn't have had you feeling like you hadn't wasted your time! I hope you will come back next time and perhaps feel differently about it...

I think another strong possibility is that the league knew, if they made a concession to get talks going, the players would use the league wanting to get a deal done quickly for the sake of the classic as something to help them secure further concessions. Now the players can't use classic having time to happen as a deadline the owners want to meet to get a deal done.
- Antilles

Could very well be! This is what I enjoy about this whole process: Getting other opinions and spins on events...