January 3, 2013 6:11 PM

NHL proposed HRR change miffs NHLPA, league stands firm on salary cap, court battle ramps up peripheral to CBA talks

BY Pat Leonard

Throw out the “Hockey New Year!” signs. If the NHL and players’ union are going to reach an agreement to save their season, it may not come until the 11th hour.
 
Negotiations soured Thursday, on Day 110 of the NHL lockout in the fifth straight day of in-person meetings in Manhattan, while a peripheral court battle heated up.
 
The union objected to the league’s attempt in its most recent proposal to remove or alter major penalties on teams that hide or do not report their full, annual Hockey Related Revenue (HRR). The NHL withdrew its proposed change after hearing the players’ objections in a small-group afternoon meeting, but the union viewed the NHL’s attempt at changing the HRR language as sneaky.
 
The union followed that up by filing a motion in the U.S. District Court of New York seeking to dismiss the league’s Dec. 14 class-action complaint that had sought “a declaration confirming the ongoing legality of the lockout.” Judge Paul A. Engelmayer scheduled a “status conference” for 9:30 am. Monday in order to “set a schedule and case-management plan” that is “constructive,” according to the court document obtained by the Daily News.

NJ DEVILS’ OWNER JEFF VANDERBEEK BUYS OUT PARTNERS, REFINANCES TEAM DEBT

The league and union had a second small-group session Thursday night to discuss pensions but did not reconvene for a large-group negotiation or talk to the media. Meetings were scheduled to resume Friday at 10 a.m. with a mediator present, as there has been all week.

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January 3, 2013 2:27 AM

NHLPA opts not to file disclaimer of interest as union, NHL press on into Thursday with mediator present in New York

BY Pat Leonard

The NHL players were poised to disband their union if necessary by the Wednesday night deadline, but they opted instead to continue marathon negotiations into Thursday morning at the league’s office in Manhattan that at least kept the bargaining process alive.
 
Mediator Scot L. Beckenbaugh, the deputy director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, presided over talks throughout the day, including a four-hour, 45-minute evening bargaining session that did not wrap until 1 a.m.
 
Beckenbaugh requested the NHL and union return to the office at 10 a.m. Thursday for a fifth straight day of in-person negotiations.
 
“The parties moved closer together on some issues, there is still a ways to go if an agreement can be reached, and we’ll consider where we are in the morning,” players’ union boss Don Fehr said.
 
“There has been some progress but we’re still apart on a number of issues,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said. “But as long as the process continues, I am hopeful.”
 
Though Fehr’s comments were cryptic – after all, he did say “if” an agreement can be reached and not “when” – it was significant that around 11 p.m. Wednesday the league and union had neared a standstill, and by midnight they had pushed through the threshold without the union disbanding to file anti-trust lawsuits against the league.
 
Midnight was the deadline for the union to file disclaimer of interest based on a 706-22 player vote in late December that authorized the executive board to take action. The passing of Wednesday’s deadline does not mean the union cannot take another vote and disclaim interest in the coming days, though time is running out. The NHL’s deadline to reach a deal is Jan. 11 in order to open a shortened, 48-game season by Jan. 19.

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January 2, 2013 5:25 PM

Player pension plans, issues of funding take center stage of NHL & NHLPA meetings Wednesday in New York

BY Pat Leonard

The NHL players’ association responded to the NHL’s New Year’s Day offer on Wednesday afternoon following small group meetings on the now-pivotal issue of player pension plans.

The union and league each have made two proposals since Thursday afternoon, when the NHL delivered a revised 288-page offer to create momentum toward four straight days of in-person meetings beginning on Sunday in New York.
 
The continuous negotiations have spurred optimism that the parties can seal a new collective bargaining agreement by Jan. 11 – the league’s deadline to open a shortened, 48-game season on Jan. 19. But the issue of how player pensions will be funded is rearing its head as one of the keys to a deal as time ticks away.
 
On Dec. 6, when union boss Don Fehr told the hockey world they were close to a deal and commissioner Gary Bettman shot that claim down with a rant for the ages, Fehr said: “We believe and we hope we have an agreement on the pension plan for the players, which will be funded out of player money. We have an agreement on it. That’s a good thing.”
 
Player-funded pensions would mark a significant difference from the recently-expired CBA, in which the NHL clubs were responsible for 75% of pensions and the NHL players’ association kicked in 25%, according to Article 21.3 of the agreement.
 
Bettman said on Dec. 6 that the owners had been willing to address the players’ concerns about pension funding but wanted concessions in other specific areas first and never received them. Therefore, when the NHL presented its revised proposals Thursday and Monday that moved closer to the union on some issues, the league included a few new wrinkles in the pension area.
 

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January 1, 2013 11:00 PM

NHL makes 'comprehensive response' to NHLPA counteroffer, Gary Bettman says league agreed to player requests on some issues

BY Pat Leonard

The NHL delivered a “comprehensive response” Tuesday night to the players’ union’s counteroffer from New Year’s Eve, union boss Don Fehr said outside the league office in Manhattan, and the parties planned to reconvene for a fourth straight day of in-person negotiations on Wednesday, Day 109 of the NHL lockout.
 
Commissioner Gary Bettman said the league’s new offer agreed to player requests on some issues but stood firm on others. Both parties are trying to reach a deal no later than Jan. 11 to save a shortened season.
 
“In our response, there were certain things that the players’ association asked for that we agreed to,” Bettman said. “There were some things that we moved in their direction (on), and there were other things where we said no. But that’s part of the process.”
 
The players have until 11:59 p.m. Wednesday night (tonight) to file a disclaimer of interest and disband their union if they feel it’s necessary to gain leverage in bargaining, but Bettman said the looming potential legal action is “not something we’re focused on.”
 
Instead, real bargaining has taken place, and the hope is the union does not feel that disbanding is necessary, leading to more meetings and eventually a successful conclusion to these collective bargaining negotiations.
 
In smaller group sessions during the day Tuesday prior to the night’s large group negotiation session, the NHL and NHLPA discussed and clarified each other’s positions on various issues, including revenue sharing between the league’s 30 clubs and the pension plans available to players. The issue of pensions was thought to be resolved, but the NHL revisited the details, perhaps as the league balanced giving up in some areas but pulling back in others.
 

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December 31, 2012 6:00 PM

NHL players' union makes counterproposal to NHL on New Year's Eve, league plans to respond on New Year's Day

BY Pat Leonard

The NHL players’ union delivered a counterproposal Monday in Manhattan to the league’s 288-page offer from Thursday, and commissioner Gary Bettman told reporters on a bustling Sixth Avenue that the NHL would review the details and respond on New Year’s Day.
 
“They have come back with a comprehensive response, which is why we need some time to analyze it, just like they needed three days to come up with a response before they came back to us,” Bettman told reporters just hours before the ball was scheduled to drop a few streets away.
 
The NHL and union have shown a sense of urgency since the league issued the ultimatum that hockey must begin by Jan. 19 for a minimum 48-game season to occur. The league made its proposal Thursday, and after speaking on conference calls, the parties shared information in a Sunday meeting in New York before reconvening Monday for the players’ official response.

Jamal Mayers (Chicago Blackhawks), Rick DiPietro (Islanders), Ron Hainsey (Winnipeg Jets), Martin St. Louis (Tampa Bay Lightning) and Chris Campoli (free agent) all attended Monday’s meeting to represent the players.
 
The union has until Wednesday to file a disclaimer of interest that could disband the union and open the league to anti-trust lawsuits from individual players. The NHL has court filings of its own in place to try and block that attempt if it occurs. The preferable route - the one that would save the season - would be to avoid the courtroom and settle a deal at the bargaining table.
 
“Players still retain all the legal options,” union executive director Don Fehr said Monday.
 
Thankfully, for at least one day, they seemed to be talking about the real issues, even though the legal options are lurking.
 

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December 30, 2012 5:09 PM

NHL and players' union meet face-to-face Sunday and plan to reconvene Monday, discussing league's recent CBA proposal

BY Pat Leonard

The NHL and NHL players’ association met face-to-face Sunday morning in Manhattan to discuss the league’s most recent collective bargaining proposal and plan to meet again on Monday. It marked the first in-person meeting since their second failed attempt at federal mediation on Dec. 13.
 
The league’s 300-page offer, delivered late Thursday afternoon, made clear that hockey must begin by Jan. 19 to save the 2012-13 season. The players’ association has until Jan. 2 to dissolve the union through a disclaimer of interest filing that would allow individual players to file individual anti-trust lawsuits against the league. But the union and league reportedly have been in conference calls since Saturday discussing the NHL’s latest offer, as time ticks away, and the union could make a counterproposal in Monday’s meeting.

Have a question about the Blueshirts or a comment? Find Pat on Twitter at @NYDNRangers.

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December 28, 2012 1:37 PM

NHL makes new proposal conceding compliance buyouts, awaits NHLPA response, wants hockey by Jan. 19 or 20 to play season

BY Pat Leonard

The NHL quietly sent a revised proposal the players’ union’s way late Thursday afternoon that moved on several issues, including a concession that teams be allowed one compliance contract buyout each – a previous “non-starter” for the league and its owners in these collective bargaining negotiations.
 
HockeyBuzz.com first reported the NHL’s proposal early Friday morning, on Day 104 of the NHL lockout. The players’ union was deliberating Friday and is expected to respond, but the NHL's proposal was 300 pages long, so no immediate response was expected.
 
In the NHL’s offer, details first reported by HockeyBuzz.com and confirmed by the Daily News include:
 
1. Capping player contract lengths at six years instead of five (and seven-year maximums for players re-signing with their own clubs)
2. Increasing the maximum variability of a player’s year-to-year salary from five percent to 10%
3. Keeping the Make Whole amount of $300 million on the table
4. Allowing the compliance buyout of one player per team before the start of the 2013-14 season.
 
The compliance buyout allows a team to buy out a player’s contract without incurring the contract’s hit on the club’s salary cap (think the Rangers and Wade Redden). According to ESPN, though, each buyout cost still would be charged against the players’ 50-percent share of league revenue, rather than occur outside of the revenue system.

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December 27, 2012 12:50 PM

NHL's Bill Daly: 'We have not discussed convening a meeting recently and nothing new is planned at this point'

BY Pat Leonard

There have been “multiple contacts” between NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly and NHL players’ association special counsel Steve Fehr recently, according to Daly, but they have scheduled no new meetings to try and form a new collective bargaining agreement.

Daly was asked in an email whether the NHL and NHLPA were planning to resume meetings and now just discussing the details of who/when/where, or whether hope is bleak that they will get back together soon.
 
“We have not discussed convening a meeting recently and nothing new is planned at this point,” Daly said in an email to the Daily News.
 
Thursday was Day 103 of the NHL lockout. All games through Jan. 14 are cancelled, including the Winter Classic. The All-Star Game is also cancelled. Daly confirmed on Dec. 19 on Toronto radio that hockey needs to begin “sometime in mid-January” for a season to take place. The 1994-95 season shortened by a lockout that contained 48 games began on Jan. 20.

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December 23, 2012 9:26 AM

NHL players overwhelmingly pass vote authorizing union's executive board to file disclaimer of interest by Jan. 2

BY Pat Leonard

The NHL players’ association passed a vote late this week, as expected, to authorize its executive board to dissolve the union through a 'disclaimer of interest' filing anytime until Jan. 2.
 
The vote passed in overwhelming fashion, 706-22 (96.9 percent), according to the Associated Press.
 
Dissolving the union would allow individual players to file anti-trust lawsuits against the league that could result in punitive damages of up to three times each player's salary. The NHL acted preemptively to protect itself against such lawsuits and damages last week with two of its own legal filings. Hopefully nothing actually goes to court, though, or else this season will be history.
 
All games through Jan. 14 already are cancelled. If the parties do not reach a deal likely by mid-January, expect commissioner Gary Bettman to cancel the season – the second in eight years – while telling you he regrets doing it.
 
BOOK IT
Quick note on a fun read for all you Rangers fans to pick up: ‘Battle on the Hudson: The Devils, The Rangers and the NHL’s Greatest Series Ever’ by Tim Sullivan (Triumph Books, Oct. 2012). Sullivan is a sports editor and the executive hockey editor at the Associated Press and recounts the legendary 1994 Eastern Conference finals. Stephane Matteau (“Matteau! Matteau! Matteau!”) is even provides a forward.
 

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December 20, 2012 4:21 PM

NHL cancels games through Jan. 14, has fewer than 30 days to work with players' union to save 2012-13 hockey season

BY Pat Leonard

The NHL fired its final warning shot Thursday, cancelling all games through Jan. 14. Now, fewer than 30 days remain to save the 2012-13 hockey season.

Commissioner Gary Bettman has no interest in assembling a regular-season schedule of fewer than 48 games. Deputy commissioner Bill Daly confirmed Wednesday on Toronto radio that meant hockey had to begin "sometime in mid-January."

The 1994-95 season shortened by a lockout that contained 48 games began on Jan. 20. That is 31 days away, but the NHL and NHL players' association would need to strike a deal earlier to create time for a brief training camp prior to the season. Daly and NHLPA special counsel Steve Fehr spoke briefly through back channels on Tuesday, but Daly told the Daily News Thursday that he had not spoken to Fehr since and that there were no further negotiations scheduled.

The season still can begin prior to Jan. 14 if the league and union sign a new a collective bargaining agreement sooner. Thursday's announcement also does not mean a season must begin exactly on Jan. 15. But it means the NHL has no more room to cancel chunks of games to create bargaining leverage. The next cancellation will announce the second lost NHL season in eight years.

The NHL cancelled games through Jan. 14 on Thursday in anticipation of the union passing a vote to authorize its executive board to file for 'disclaimer of interest' and disband the union altogether. The board would have until Jan. 2 to disclaim interest, and doing so would turn the union into a trade association, from which the 700-plus individual players would be able to file anti-trust lawsuits and collective punitive damages from owners amounting to triple each player's salary.

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