Kukla's Korner Hockey
Commissioner Bettman chirps about CBA, concussions and Brendan Shanahan
by George Malik on 01/19/12 at 05:49 AM ET
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NHL commissioner Gary Bettman attended the game between the league-owned Phoenix Coyotes and the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night, and he offered what I suppose is a predictable level of snark regarding his imminent interactions with Donald Fehr and the NHLPA while speaking to NHL.com’s Curtis Zupke:
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said he expects the League to begin talks with the NHL Players Association on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement sometime after the All-Star break. Bettman wouldn’t elaborate on the subject when he met with local reporters before Wednesday night’s Phoenix-Anaheim game, but indicated the ball will get rolling soon. The current CBA is set to expire on Sept.15.
“My guess is, at some point, we’ll probably sit down—assuming the union’s comfortable doing that,” Bettman said. “There’s a pretty steep learning curve in terms of the business and the union’s standpoint (of) what the players are focused on, and we’ve been respectable of that process. Whenever they’re ready, we’re ready. We’ve been ready.”
Bettman said he was only passing through the area and his presence did not have anything to do with the Coyotes’ ownership situation. The League owns the franchise and is trying to sell it with a priority on keeping the club in Glendale, Ariz.
Bettman did not characterize a timeline to remedy the situation and said, “Our hope is that we can bring it to a conclusion in the not too distant future. Nothing imminent, but it’s still a work in progress and there’s no significant development that I’m in a position to report. We think we’re doing the right thing. We’ve had tremendous support by the city of Glendale. It’s a complicated process, and we’re going to continue to pursue it.”
Continued with chatter about concussions and Brendan Shanahan, and the gents from Pro Hockey Talk have more as well (as James O’Brien points out, the Orange County Register’s Eric Stephens posted a 9-minute video of Bettman talking to the press)...
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