from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

We’re not suggesting that an MLB-type public squabble is going to break out during the NHL’s negotiations with the NHLPA as the parties attempt to craft a safe, sane and equitable way to put hockey’s 24-team tournament on the ice this summer, but no one should expect the players to simply roll over and accept Sixth Avenue’s wishes as dictates.

This is going to apply to the big stuff, as in: A) How to design protocols that protect the players’ health and safety as much as possible through training camp then through the tournament; B) How to craft regulations that allow players to have some reasonable sort of independence while bivouacked in a hub city for up to 10 weeks for those who make it to the finals; and, C) How to manage what will be a 2019-20 escrow burden of an additional 14 percent if the tournament is indeed played to completion.

But it is going to apply to some of the small print stuff, as well, and may I say right at the top that disagreement between the two sides does not automatically equate to the NHLPA being obstructionist, greedy or selfish in the midst of a pandemic that has shattered the continent’s ecosystem.

Always remember. It takes two sides to fight over money. It takes two sides to fight over regulations that are included in the CBA. Being “collaborative” is welcome if the effort is mutual. Being “collaborative” is the means to an end, not an endgame unto itself.

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