from Stu Hackel of the Red Light,

One has to wonder if, in fact, the NHL’s frequent apparent missteps might not be blunders at all, but intentional ploys designed to drive the two sides further apart. We generally have assumed that the league wants to make a deal and, as many observers and even some labor experts have pointed out, there seems to be one that can be made now that both sides have roughly agreed on a 50-50 split in revenue.

But what if the owners have concluded, despite their claims that to the contrary, that their interests would be better served if they were to not make a deal, repeating the way they acted in 2004? That would explain any number of strange things that the league has done until now, starting with its first unacceptable offer to the players.

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