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Make Whole, Not War (CBA & Lockout Discussion) XIX
Jesse Spector @jessespector
Here's the thing I keep coming back to: Why is the all-night meeting happening right after they axed the Winter Classic, not before?
1) PA realized the NHL is NOT bluffing
OR
2) PA succeeded in crushing revenue flow on the owners, using the Winter Classic's axed revenue flow as a message to stop locking them out over future CBA's... Side note, I'm sure they are frustrating the hell out of Bettman by letting him axe the winter classic, and I'm sure Red Wings and Leaf owners are incredibly upset to have their Outdoor Classic game cancelled as well
If you peeps are going to hold a vigil here, I don't want to wake up to a mess on the boards. If you can't take the ups/downs-- don't get on the roller coaster.
Oh, and don't post any of those random tweets. Mainstream media only please and those we know are connected to the league or PA.
Jesse Spector @jessespector
Here's the thing I keep coming back to: Why is the all-night meeting happening right after they axed the Winter Classic, not before?
This is kinda my suspicion ... there's still a chance to save the Winter Classic and start the season on Dec. 1 or even around US Thanksgiving.
Unless the stadium has already been booked for another event on Jan. 1, I don't think it'd be too hard to get it back up and running.
That may be giving both sides more incentive to really negotiate hard right now.
This is kinda my suspicion ... there's still a chance to save the Winter Classic and start the season on Dec. 1 or even around US Thanksgiving.
Unless the stadium has already been booked for another event on Jan. 1, I don't think it'd be too hard to get it back up and running.
Nah, the game is done even if a deal is struck in the next 20 minutes. Could you piss off a fan more if they canceled their hotel/flight plans and then they put the game back on?
why hasnt anyone at least tweeted the meetings are still going or are done??
Aaron Ward was the main guy tweeting. Either the meetings are still going on or Ward and other sources have called it a night and hope to break something in the morning. Hard to say.
From the PA side, the proposals that they have presented have all had the backing of the NHL players, so how do you progress so far (as it seems today) without getting the players feedback? Or is it progress that the PA thinks is good enough that the players will agree on?
Nah, the game is done even if a deal is struck in the next 20 minutes. Could you piss off a fan more if they canceled their hotel/flight plans and then they put the game back on?
I think they cancelled the game because there's not going to be any interconference play once you reach the point of no return.
They could play a full conference schedule and play 64 games. Having the WC between those two teams is a huge scheduling problem, even if you had a small crossover against random teams it effects travel.
I would say no... They've already given Cancellation notices out to ticket holders, and people have most likely started receiving either refunds or cancelled their hotel rooms...
Besides, why do a Winter Classic with only a 60 game season? I know the revenue stream will be shortened, but something just don't seem right
Yeah, as soon as something is cancelled it's just that; cancelled. Ticket holders and people involved with the event would be pretty angry at being jerked around like that.
Lets be realistic here; although it would be some kind of Saturnaya miracle to wake up to a new CBA, what we should hope for is some kind of statement along the lines of "progress made, meetings scheduled with all parties for Monday/Tuesday etc. etc."
From the PA side, the proposals that they have presented have all had the backing of the NHL players, so how do you progress so far (as it seems today) without getting the players feedback? Or is it progress that the PA thinks is good that players will agree on?
Perhaps it's not so much an exchange of new proposals, as agreement and hashing-out of details on things that have been proposed already. If enough agreement exists, perhaps the idea is to generate the first version of an "endgame" document and present it to both sides for reaction and modification.
Which is to say, it won't end tonight. But this could be the beginning of a relatively quick finish.
Could you imagine if they tried to salvage it(the WC) and had a half full stadium for the game? It'll be played next year in front of 100,000plus guarenteed, full capacity with all the other bells and whistles. If it wasn't Detroit, i'd say they maybe could pull it off but theres so much going into this one in particular.
There is zero chance they uncancel the winter classic. Not only would it be a PR disaster now that people have canceled tickets and hotel rooms but also you have to remember Ilitch wants it done right and he doesn't want the taint of this lockout to be on the winter classic.
Nah, the game is done even if a deal is struck in the next 20 minutes. Could you piss off a fan more if they canceled their hotel/flight plans and then they put the game back on?
That's true, but at this point I'm thinking the NHL knows they've already pissed off pretty much all of their fans
You know who would be very happy about the game being back on? NBC. And various sponsors.
They could probably reimburse those who cancelled travel arrangements with free tickets and/or merchandise to other games or something as a "sorry we screwed up".
If I had tickets and had to cancel a hotel room, I'd be irate sure, but some free tickets and an autographed jersey would go a long way in soothing the pain.
Yeah, as soon as something is cancelled it's just that; cancelled. Ticket holders and people involved with the event would be pretty angry at being jerked around like that.
On that note, if this is indeed the end of hostilities, I wonder what role the "verbal offer" earlier this week might have played.
Pure speculation: it seems like this meeting happened really quickly after everyone found out the owners had budged on Make Whole three days before the Winter Classic was cancelled, yet the offer was kept under Fehr's hat until after the fact of cancellation. Perhaps that was enough to break a significant number of players' confidence in his ability to recoup their losses by continuing to draw out the process.
