Into The Great Unknown

Never before has a major North American sports league taken the kind of leap into the great unknown that the National Hockey League took today. Because of this, there is no existing benchmark for which to measure the severity and stupidity of this landmark decision. When Gary Bettman stepped to the podium at the Westin New York Hotel at 1pm ET and delivered the final blow to the 2004-2005 campaign, it marked the first time in North American professional sports history that a league had a season go from beginning to end without a single game being played.

After both sides came off their hard line stances on Monday, ones that they said would never be compromised, great optimism arose that a deal would be worked out in time to save a portion of this season. In the end, the NHL and the NHLPA let the season slip away over a $6.5 million difference in salary cap limits. The NHL was prepared to live with a $42.5 million limit while the NHLPA would go no lower than $49 million.

As the lockout stretches on, further damage will be done to the game, primarily damage in the public relations department. Fan interest will continue to decrease and resentment will continue to build causing even more serious economic issues to arise as time moves forward. League revenues will drop and, as a result, it is only conceivable to believe that the cap limit of $42.5 million offered by the league will drop severely the next time a proposal is tabled. As revenue decreases, quite simply there will be less money to go around; therefore, it is extremely difficult to theorize how the NHLPA believes it can achieve a better collective bargaining agreement by dragging this process out longer. The best deal the NHLPA was going to get was sitting on the table until 1pm ET today. They chose to turn smugly and walk away.

It is entirely possible that NHL dropping salary-linkage and the NHLPA agreeing to a salary cap on Monday was not in an attempt to forge an agreement but rather done as a ploy to appear as though they are bargaining in “good faith.” Legally, the two sides must bargain in “good faith” or risk having an impasse declared. Should that occur, a collective bargaining agreement could be imposed upon the NHLPA and create a situation where players could decide whether or not they would agree to play under the particular system put in place, better known as “breaking the union.” While Bettman has denied from the outset that breaking the union is his objective, he also has shown that the league is not willing to give into the players this time around and that the owners stand committed to obtaining an economically sustainable landscape for the league. Breaking the union would allow the league to dictate the kind of economic system to be put in place but admitting to that as being his main objective would not be bargaining in good faith.

It is frustrating to many people that the two sides appeared to come so close to an agreement only to fall short in the end. Undeniably there has been damage done to the NHL. One can only hope that Bob Goodenow and Gary Bettman are intelligent enough to realize that a deal must be accomplished in time to begin next season on time. If not, it will be clear they are looking through rosy-coloured glasses and either do not see or do not choose to acknowledge the likely irreparable damage that is being done to the game. One thing is for sure though. In the NHL record book, under Stanley Cup Champions, beside 2004-2005, two words will forever leave an indelible mark of incompetence, futility and gloom on this great game: “not contested.”