So Rangers owner James Dolan will not attend Tuesday afternoon’s NHL owners-players meeting in Manhattan, but the Bruins’ Jeremy Jacobs will.
And what else does anyone need to know about Canceler-in-Chief Gary Bettman’s agenda as Lockout III enters Day 94?
The meeting that will he held within a mile of Madison Square Garden will not include the MSG owner who was instrumental in ending the 2011-12 NBA lockout and whose desire to join these talks was reported on Saturday by The Post, but rather will feature NHL Board chairman Jacobs, who has cast a militant shadow over all of the previous bargaining sessions in which he has participated.
With the Board of Governors set to convene on Wednesday, the five other owners tabbed by Bettman for Tuesday’s conference are Calgary’s Murray Edwards, who, like Jacobs, is on the league’s negotiating committee; Pittsburgh’s Ron Burkle; Toronto’s Larry Tannenbaum; Tampa Bay’s Jeff Vinik; and Winnipeg’s Mark Chapman.
Though neither Bettman nor Players’ Association executive director Don Fehr will attend, league and union staff will participate in the discussion. With deputy commissioner Bill Daly set to represent the league, counsel Steve Fehr is expected to participate on behalf of the NHLPA.
“There will be owners attending this meeting who have not previously done so, which is encouraging and which we welcome,” Fehr said in a statement. “We hope this meeting will be constructive and will lead to a dialogue that will help us reach an agreement.”
Jacobs, Edwards, Washington’s Ted Leonsis and Minnesota’s Craig Leipold are the only owners who previously have been permitted by Bettman to attend bargaining sessions that have been open to every player in the NHL.
The NHLPA had not designated the six players who would represent the union at the meeting as of early last night. Logistics were more of an issue for the union than the league given that the owners had previously been scheduled to fly into New York.
Dolan, of course, was already here. And he will be here on Wednesday for the Board meeting. Of course, there’s always the chance that Bettman might turn off the Ranger owner’s microphone.
You never know.