Thursday, February 10, 2005

NHL: Deal now or forget season

Hockey league says agreement must be reached by weekend or play is pointless.

By Bob Wojnowski / The Detroit News

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DETROIT--This is it, the last gasping breath. An NHL season that has teetered for months is down to its final days, even its final hours, and nothing short of a hockey miracle can stop it from collapsing.

In strong, somber tones, Commissioner Gary Bettman said Wednesday night an agreement must be reached by this weekend or the season will be cancelled.

Thirty minutes later, NHL Players Association executive director Bob Goodenow, who rejected the league's latest proposal earlier Wednesday, described the chances of an agreement as "daunting."

So here we sit, precisely where we expected we'd end up, poised to see an entire season squashed by astonishing stubbornness and distrust from both sides.

No major professional sports league in North America ever has cancelled an entire season.

It's a trail to nowhere that NHL owners and players begrudgingly -- and amazingly -- seem willing to blaze. Although the sides agreed to meet late Wednesday or today, neither expressed any hope of a settlement.

"We're sorry we have to go through this, but we have no choice," Bettman said.

"It is clear to me, if we're not working on a written document memorializing our agreement this weekend, I don't see how we can play any a semblance of a season. We've given all we can give, and gone as far as we can go," Bettman said.

Asked if he would officially announce the season's demise after the weekend, Bettman was terse.

"I believe I owe it to our fans and business partners to make an official announcement," he said. "But in certain respects, I'm doing that now, because everyone understands the timetable."

Bettman called the owners' latest proposal a "compromise." Goodenow called it "transparent."

At this stage, the process has become a sham. Everything smacks of a public-relations gimmick because neither side is budging. The owners want cost certainty in the form of a salary cap. The players don't think it's necessary.

Frankly, it's silly to let the charade go on any longer, with little meaningful negotiation. That said, it's an unprecedented leap to dump the season. The results could be crushing for a sport that has been slipping from fans' thoughts since the impasse began in September. A recent poll in Canada found 40 percent there said they didn't miss the NHL.

In Detroit, emotions have rocketed between anger and apathy. Many fans, and most Red Wings players, have considered the cancellation inevitable for a while now.

Bettman said the league was prepared to start a truncated 28-game schedule by the end of February if the players agreed to the last proposal. In it, the owners offered to open with the union's Dec. 9 proposal, which included a 24 percent salary rollback. The deal would convert to the owners' Feb. 2 salary cap proposal if any of four economic triggers kicked in.

Goodenow flatly countered that one of the triggers -- three teams having payrolls higher than $42 million -- would take effect immediately, essentially allowing the owners to implement their plan almost immediately.

Goodenow said he'd continue talking with Bettman but doubted he'd present another proposal.

"Is there anything to build on? The answer is no," Goodenow said. "It's fair to say that neither side has been able to put something out there that either side feels can work. What they did was re-propose what we've rejected twice before. ... All things come to an end. Everyone's been forecasting when the end would be. This process is at the stage where it is."

If this is the end of the season, it's only the beginning of the danger. The NHL, an estimated $2.1 billion business before the lockout, would instantly be devalued.

In that regard, the players are taking a huge risk, maybe a foolish risk. But the owners have been so unyielding, there appears to be no out. It could get even uglier, with the stoppage potentially gobbling up half or all of next season.

"I think there'll be a tremendous amount of damage," Bettman said. "Revenues will obviously decline if we don't play. Therefore, anything the players would expect going forward would be diminished. The deal can only get worse, the longer we go. That's not a threat. It's just a reality."

If Bettman's goal is to push the players to the final pressure point, this is it.

But it's doubtful anyone's bluffing now, or holding back a magical compromise.

"I believe the owners have always felt the best way to soften up the players and get the best deal was to cancel the season," the Wings' Brendan Shanahan said recently. "I think that might backfire, and none of it will be good for hockey."

On that issue, everyone agrees. None of this is good for hockey. As strange as a shortened season would be, it would keep the sport alive, and it would mean an agreement was reached.

Everyone acknowledges the NHL has been in poor financial health. The difference is simple -- players think it needs some help; owners think it needs a lot.

"We're prepared to compromise on virtually everything," Bettman said.

"What we're not prepared to compromise on is the notion that we'll pay more than we can afford to pay. We lose less money this season than if we'd played. It's the harsh economic reality. We can't get to a common ground. It's frustrating, it's regrettable. It's a tragedy."

Yes indeed, in the next few days, or hours, hockey's greatest tragedy appears ready to unfold.

Bob Wojnowski's column appears regularly on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Reach him at wojofan@aol.com.