I sure hope they can find some common ground on atleast a few points. Any thing like this can go a long way to getting more done.

Posted by NIVO from underpants gnome village on 08/28/12 at 12:14 PM ET

George, thanks for the PxP. I can’t get Twitter at work, so this helps a great deal.

By the way, one thing we should all keep in mind is that they can move forward with camps/pre-season if the NHL allows. Which means that an agreement doesn’t have to be a full, signed agreement, just a handshake understanding of what the big concepts are. Remember, the actual legal paperwork for the last CBA didn’t get finished until a few months in the 05-06 season.

That means that even if it’s September 14 at 11:59 PM, as long as Fehr and Bettman go “Ok, let’s do it”, then there’s no lockout.

Posted by Mike Chen on 08/28/12 at 12:29 PM ET

I sure hope that’s how things will work out…Really hope so. I don’t buy this, “Oh, the NHL can afford to lose some games, October and November don’t count” crap for a second.

Posted by George Malik from South Lyon, MI on 08/28/12 at 12:37 PM ET

I don’t buy this, “Oh, the NHL can afford to lose some games, October and November don’t count” crap for a second.

Why not?  If the NHL gets the NHLPA down to 50% they can lose a whole season and make it back in 6-7 years tops, far less if you just look at profit instead of revenue.

On top of that, the NHL will get their 200 mil from NBC whether they are playing any games or not, and until there’s an actual contract they keep 100% of that money.

Not only can the NHL afford to ‘lose’ September and October, they can lose November, December, January, February, March, April and May too.

Posted by HockeyinHD on 08/28/12 at 12:54 PM ET

By the way, one thing we should all keep in mind is that they can move forward with camps/pre-season if the NHL allows. Which means that an agreement doesn’t have to be a full, signed agreement, just a handshake understanding of what the big concepts are. Remember, the actual legal paperwork for the last CBA didn’t get finished until a few months in the 05-06 season.

It’s a good point and a reason for optimism, but even as a supporter of Don Fehr, I’m not sure we’re going to get to the point where there are just technicalities to hammer out before this season starts losing games.  I think the league is terrified of letting Fehr have the leverage to strike.

Then again, “we promise not to strike if you promise not to lock us out” is valid as a handshake agreement (although I’d rather see it put in writing, myself).

Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 08/28/12 at 12:55 PM ET

I sure hope that’s how things will work out…Really hope so. I don’t buy this, “Oh, the NHL can afford to lose some games, October and November don’t count” crap for a second.

Posted by George Malik from South Lyon, MI on 08/28/12 at 12:37 PM ET

agreed, not to mention also that by not having those games under their belts, the winter classic game wont be what it could have been.

Posted by NIVO from underpants gnome village on 08/28/12 at 01:38 PM ET

big market teams must have hijacked negotiations and told small market teams and bettman to shut up

Posted by FlyersFan on 08/28/12 at 02:35 PM ET

Posted by Mike Chen on 08/28/12 at 12:29 PM ET

Fair point, but the owners’ biggest piece of leverage over the players is their ability to keep the players away from their world-class facilities and all the amenities that come with a NHL camp and preseason as compared to players using their own dimes to hit the local rinks and work out at home. That’s not to say you’re wrong, it’s more to add to your point, and say that if they get far enough in negotiations to where they allow camps to move forward as scheduled, I think that would be a great sign that we’re getting 82 games of hockey.

Posted by Nathan from the scoresheet! on 08/28/12 at 02:50 PM ET