from Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail,

Fehr is a new player in the game, and they are still trying to figure him out - thus far, without much success.

Presumably, that Fehr of fear is the primary reason the league to put its offer out there - in the hopes that members of the players union will read it, consider it, try to understand it and then internally start asking questions about some of its more complex elements.

The material is dense and complicated and the numbers are all predicated on an unknown variable - what revenues may look like down the road. Specifically, can the industry growth of the past seven seasons be sustainable in the years ahead?

But here’s the risk from the NHL side. If the players see it is a divide-and-conquer strategy, then it could easily blow up in the league’s face.

Soon after Bettman unveiled his offer Tuesday to generally hopeful reactions,I suggested there were more reasons for pessimism than optimism. Few wanted to hear that.

Then Fehr circulated a letter to the players, outlining his objections to the proposal - a document made public by TSN’s Bob McKenzie - and suddenly, more people have leapt to this side of the debate, joining the nattering nabobs of negativity as Spiro Agnew once memorably said.

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