Such panic, so soon.
The earliest an NHL lockouts was settled was two months from tomorrow, Jan. 11, 1995, and still there was a 48-game season. The other lockout prompted the Feb. 16, 2005 cancellation of that 2004-05 season, which was revived momentarily until finally buried Feb. 19. It was settled July 13, 2005.
It’s Nov. 10, folks.
To expect this lockout settled this past week was to expect either the NHL or the Players Association to capitulate, despite the fact the sides have neared the 50-50 revenue split everyone outside believed would be the basis of a deal. Neither folded anywhere near this early before.
The eternity of an 82-game season — including the Winter Classic — and the price of those season tickets have been forgotten.
The NHL still can do a New Year’s Party if it wants to, and still do it well. It just won’t be able to wring every last dime out of it — so they won’t play. The sides met for a fourth straight day yesterday in multiple sessions, but the basic issues of slashing the players’ share of revenue from 57 percent and guarantees of contracted salaries remain unresolved. The NHL now wants an immediate plunge to 50-50, while the Players’ Association would get there eventually.
It’s always about this time the league starts suggesting the union isn’t keeping its players informed about NHL offers, and it was right on time yesterday. The last time, it succeeded in driving a wedge in the union, stars and agents becoming the accommodators.
Each side insists the deal progresses on each’s own terms. It’s as if one side favors a point-spread scheme, and the other side plays odds on win-lose, and neither will adjust. The sides discussed pensions, scheduling, and the main issues of revenue shares, revenue-sharing, make-whole of contracts and the salary cap.
The evening session concluded with bitter exchanges between players and owners in attendance, according to an ESPN.com report.