Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Hockey Is Back And So Is Jeremy Jacobs

01/19/2013 at 6:48pm EST

from Fluto Shinzawa of Bruins Blog at the Boston Globe,

As chairman of the NHL’s board of governors, Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs played a critical role in the lockout. In hindsight, neither the NHL nor the NHLPA should be declared the victor, said Jacobs.

Jacobs cited his team’s situation – recent Stanley Cup winner, playing in a sold-out building, featuring a contending roster – as reasons why, as an owner, he would have been against a lockout. However, as board chairman, Jacobs said he had a greater responsibility. “I’m the last guy that wants to shut this thing down. Absolutely the last ones out there,” Jacobs said. “There’s a couple Canadian teams – I don’t have to name them – that irrespective are going to be very successful. This is a successful franchise. I don’t want this to shut down. Unfortunately, I play in a league with 30 teams. When I step back and look at what’s going on with the broadest sense, I’ve got to play a role productively in that way. My selfish interest definitely was to keep this going within the parameters of the deal that was out there. But it doesn’t make sense for the league long-term. We have a lot of people that were very tired of this. A lot of people that were promised we would right-size this. I had to play a role in it. From a leadership standpoint, I think I had to play a role. To be vilified, I don’t think is right. But what’s my opinion on something like that?”

more

added 7:46pm, from Andrew Gross of Rangers Rant,

Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs tried to hold a pre-game press conference to apologize to fans for the 113-day lockout – for which he’s been characterized as a bus-driving hard-liner – and instead wound up essentially saying the whole thing was the NHL Player Association’s fault.

He said the proposal the league made to save the 82-game season was essentially the same one the NHLPA eventually accepted – even though the October offer did not include the “make whole” provision for player contracts.

“There was no expression of desire to make a deal,” Jacobs said. “A lot of this is peripheral issues, I don’t disagree it was 100 percent [the same] but if somebody wanted to make a deal, we could’ve made a deal. If somebody doesn’t engage, you don’t offer.”

continued

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

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