from Larry Brooks of the NY Post,

Representatives from the union recognize the reality, though the players are of course under no obligation to adopt the NHL’s world view. But if the union continues to fight for guaranteed dollars, the fight more likely than not will spill out of the conference room on Sixth Avenue and into labor board hearing rooms and court rooms across the continent.

Understand, though, the union’s calculation of 50/50 is likely to be different than the league’s definition. The “make-whole” issue regarding existing contracts complicates the arithmetic. It can’t be 50/50 including all existing contracts (even if pro-rated) under escrow. The sides will have to agree on how to carve these deals out of the equation, no easy task, but obviously not impossible.

Despite the smorgasbord of contract systems restrictions the league has presented in an attempt to turn back the clock a couple of decades on NHL freedom, it is believed — but not confirmed — that the only two must-haves are elimination of front-loaded contracts and reducing entry- level contracts to two years.

Even if yielding on freedom issues in order to be allowed to take a smaller share of the pie amounts to a dog’s breakfast for the players, these specific areas should not represent deal breakers for the union’s rank-and-file.

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