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A storm is brewing, the likes of which the collective hockey world has never seen before. Right now the NHL and the NHLPA are on a collision course, with potential two of the worst leaders at the helm.
The NHL is led by a universally disliked, cocky lawyer who has no qualms about making a hockey issues – his own personal war.
Gary Bettman took over as commissioner of the NHL in ’93 after a lengthy run as senior vice-president and general counsel for the NBA. Since he’s taken over the NHL has increased its revenue by roughly 600% and the league expands to 30 teams from 24. He’s seen teams fold, and be relocated only to continue to fail in their new market. He’s approved multiple “unfit” owners and has somehow managed to almost alienate an entire country. (Canada – separate argument)
Atlanta, Nashville, Florida, Tampa Bay, and Phoenix (more them below) have been nightmares (save for a season or two each – minus Phoenix)
The Jets move to Phoenix is the poster child of Bettman’s failures (for now). When the Jets moved to Phoenix, the logic was Phoenix could and would support the NHL franchise better. That hasn’t been the case yet, and based on Phoenix’s fiscal results, the franchise would potentially have been better off staying in Winnipeg (but that’s a separate debate). While the Glendale arena has seen improved crowds since the new year, the team is still slated to lose another $20+ million – unless they have a lengthy playoff run – which would probably help them break closer to even for once.
Somewhat related Bettman’s handling of the brash Jim Balsillie has/was a PR nightmare for himself and the NHL. It shed a horrible amount of light on the many problems in the NHL, which had just been speculation until then.
Bunghole or not, Balsillie would have been an improvement over many of the current and past owners. Again for a league with so many struggling/failing ownerships, you’d think a guy with limitless resources and an unwavering love for the sport would be welcomed despite his arrogance. Instead Bettman went out and made it a personal war with Balsillie, and while he has managed to ‘win’ over JB so far, the damage to the league and Bettman’s reputation is virtually beyond repair.
Instead of finding a common ground with Balisillie, he is approving Tampa Bay’s third owner since the lock-out, while Atlanta’s owners continue to wage a public and legal battle with each other, Nashville and Minnesota gets saved by – basically – part of the L.A. Kings ownership (who are rumored to be the front runners to get the next franchise in Kansas.) and a handful of other franchises are having financial issues. Adding one rich bunghole to a group of them would have stabilized, at least one team directly and potentially more indirectly – but apparently the pissing contest was more important.
All this without touching on the looming MLSE pissing contest. I can’t wait for that one.
On the other side – the NHLPA continues to implode and is the laughing stock of pretty much all unions, as the continue ripping through staff faster than Nortel. The best weapon the union had is now long gone, as they forced Paul Kelly out because of what translate to a minor e-mail slip-up and suggestions from an undereducated ‘clique’ of members who thought he was too chummy with the league.
Kelly was brought in to be a calmer leader and that’s what he was – a strategic, and clever leader who was looking ahead to the new CBA, instead of getting into schoolyard fights over trivial issues. He would have been formidable opponent for the NHL come CBA time, instead he’ll be watching with us as the storm brews.
Because instead of Kelly leading, the NHLPA continues to limp along, and fight with the NHL over anything it can – the latest being a rule that improves the safety of its union members.
Now they’re trying to convince their new consultant Donald Fehr to take over as their union boss after he drafts a new constitution for NHLPA – which will actually outline/re-establish the new executive’s power with-in the NHLPA. So basically he is drafting the new guidelines and power structure to ultimately his future position. When has that worked out well for everyone else involved…….
Fehr was tremendous at his job as MLBPA boss, in fact that’s why baseball players are paid so ridiculously well and why the MLB has no salary cap, which bodes well for the NHLPA. It doesn’t bode will for NHL fans though.
Fehr is a hard-Donkey, he’s probably bolder and headstrong than anyone the NHLPA has ever had and is likely willing to fight a war over any issue the players want.
So what we potentially have brewing is new CBA talks, that were going to fairly contentious to start with, led by two headstrong non-hockey men.
While the NHL’s participation in the 2014 Olympics was originally going to be a bargaining chip for the NHL to ‘concede on’ to the NHLPA, it won’t have any goodwill reception from Fehr, it’ll be a must have.
So with that nice tool for the NHL off the table, what leverage do they have now when it comes to talks about relocation/expansions, player contract lengths, NMC/NTC’s and future disciplinary /suspension guidelines? Conceding to new guidelines for player wealth fare will only get them so far and with Fehr it won’t be far enough, the guy has an all or nothing attitude.
The dream/hope of a minimal to tension-free CBA negotiation that died with Paul Kelly’s outing, is now on a collision course for talks that will be more heated and minute-detail focused than any previous CBA talks.
It is looking like it will be a battle between a headstrong union boss who is famous for getting players more than they could dream of against a man who, puppet or not, takes any and all confrontations as a question of his power and turns it into a pissing contest.
The NHL can’t survive another lock-out. The looming KHL would be in a better position to poach star players, and they would. Already bleeding franchises would basically go on full league support and whatever remained would be a shadow of what the league once was
It could just me fearing the worst, and it's possible that - either Fehr doesn't get or turns down the job, or that he and Bettman have a better relationship than expected. But this is what I see on the table right now.
The NHL is led by a universally disliked, cocky lawyer who has no qualms about making a hockey issues – his own personal war.
Gary Bettman took over as commissioner of the NHL in ’93 after a lengthy run as senior vice-president and general counsel for the NBA. Since he’s taken over the NHL has increased its revenue by roughly 600% and the league expands to 30 teams from 24. He’s seen teams fold, and be relocated only to continue to fail in their new market. He’s approved multiple “unfit” owners and has somehow managed to almost alienate an entire country. (Canada – separate argument)
Atlanta, Nashville, Florida, Tampa Bay, and Phoenix (more them below) have been nightmares (save for a season or two each – minus Phoenix)
The Jets move to Phoenix is the poster child of Bettman’s failures (for now). When the Jets moved to Phoenix, the logic was Phoenix could and would support the NHL franchise better. That hasn’t been the case yet, and based on Phoenix’s fiscal results, the franchise would potentially have been better off staying in Winnipeg (but that’s a separate debate). While the Glendale arena has seen improved crowds since the new year, the team is still slated to lose another $20+ million – unless they have a lengthy playoff run – which would probably help them break closer to even for once.
Somewhat related Bettman’s handling of the brash Jim Balsillie has/was a PR nightmare for himself and the NHL. It shed a horrible amount of light on the many problems in the NHL, which had just been speculation until then.
Bunghole or not, Balsillie would have been an improvement over many of the current and past owners. Again for a league with so many struggling/failing ownerships, you’d think a guy with limitless resources and an unwavering love for the sport would be welcomed despite his arrogance. Instead Bettman went out and made it a personal war with Balsillie, and while he has managed to ‘win’ over JB so far, the damage to the league and Bettman’s reputation is virtually beyond repair.
Instead of finding a common ground with Balisillie, he is approving Tampa Bay’s third owner since the lock-out, while Atlanta’s owners continue to wage a public and legal battle with each other, Nashville and Minnesota gets saved by – basically – part of the L.A. Kings ownership (who are rumored to be the front runners to get the next franchise in Kansas.) and a handful of other franchises are having financial issues. Adding one rich bunghole to a group of them would have stabilized, at least one team directly and potentially more indirectly – but apparently the pissing contest was more important.
All this without touching on the looming MLSE pissing contest. I can’t wait for that one.
On the other side – the NHLPA continues to implode and is the laughing stock of pretty much all unions, as the continue ripping through staff faster than Nortel. The best weapon the union had is now long gone, as they forced Paul Kelly out because of what translate to a minor e-mail slip-up and suggestions from an undereducated ‘clique’ of members who thought he was too chummy with the league.
Kelly was brought in to be a calmer leader and that’s what he was – a strategic, and clever leader who was looking ahead to the new CBA, instead of getting into schoolyard fights over trivial issues. He would have been formidable opponent for the NHL come CBA time, instead he’ll be watching with us as the storm brews.
Because instead of Kelly leading, the NHLPA continues to limp along, and fight with the NHL over anything it can – the latest being a rule that improves the safety of its union members.
Now they’re trying to convince their new consultant Donald Fehr to take over as their union boss after he drafts a new constitution for NHLPA – which will actually outline/re-establish the new executive’s power with-in the NHLPA. So basically he is drafting the new guidelines and power structure to ultimately his future position. When has that worked out well for everyone else involved…….
Fehr was tremendous at his job as MLBPA boss, in fact that’s why baseball players are paid so ridiculously well and why the MLB has no salary cap, which bodes well for the NHLPA. It doesn’t bode will for NHL fans though.
Fehr is a hard-Donkey, he’s probably bolder and headstrong than anyone the NHLPA has ever had and is likely willing to fight a war over any issue the players want.
So what we potentially have brewing is new CBA talks, that were going to fairly contentious to start with, led by two headstrong non-hockey men.
While the NHL’s participation in the 2014 Olympics was originally going to be a bargaining chip for the NHL to ‘concede on’ to the NHLPA, it won’t have any goodwill reception from Fehr, it’ll be a must have.
So with that nice tool for the NHL off the table, what leverage do they have now when it comes to talks about relocation/expansions, player contract lengths, NMC/NTC’s and future disciplinary /suspension guidelines? Conceding to new guidelines for player wealth fare will only get them so far and with Fehr it won’t be far enough, the guy has an all or nothing attitude.
The dream/hope of a minimal to tension-free CBA negotiation that died with Paul Kelly’s outing, is now on a collision course for talks that will be more heated and minute-detail focused than any previous CBA talks.
It is looking like it will be a battle between a headstrong union boss who is famous for getting players more than they could dream of against a man who, puppet or not, takes any and all confrontations as a question of his power and turns it into a pissing contest.
The NHL can’t survive another lock-out. The looming KHL would be in a better position to poach star players, and they would. Already bleeding franchises would basically go on full league support and whatever remained would be a shadow of what the league once was
It could just me fearing the worst, and it's possible that - either Fehr doesn't get or turns down the job, or that he and Bettman have a better relationship than expected. But this is what I see on the table right now.
