NHL and NHLPA to meet Wednesday By IRA PODELL, AP Sports Writer
January 17, 2005 NEW YORK (AP) -- The NHL and the players' association will meet Wednesday on a scaled-down basis in an attempt to restart stalled labor negotiations.
On Monday, the 124th day of the lockout, NHLPA senior director Ted Saskin called Bill Daly -- the NHL's chief legal officer -- to invite the league to a small gathering in what could be a last-ditch effort to save the hockey season.
The idea was hatched by players' association president
Trevor Linden, and Saskin called Daly on behalf of the
Vancouver Canucks' center. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and players' association Bob Goodenow, who have butted heads throughout the process, are expected to sit this session out.
Linden, Saskin and outside counsel John McCambridge will represent the players on Wednesday.
Calgary Flames part owner Harley Hotchkiss, the chairman of the NHL's board of governors, Daly and outside counsel Bob Batterman, will be present on the owners' side.
``We think it is appropriate and hopefully useful to engage in these discussions at this time,'' Saskin said in a statement. ``We are not meeting to present a new proposal and remain committed to reaching a fair deal that does not include a salary cap.''
The NHL also is not expected to make a new proposal at this latest get-together to be held at a yet undisclosed location.
The sides have not met since Dec. 14 when the NHL rejected the union's proposal -- made five days earlier. A counteroffer made by the league also was rejected by the players during that session in Toronto.
The players' association got talks restarted in December, after three months of silence, with a proposal centered around an immediate 24-percent salary rollback on all existing contracts. Owners rejected that plan and countered with a salary-cap structured offer.
The NHLPA is adamant that it will never accept a salary cap. The union's offer featured a luxury-tax and revenue-sharing system. Bettman has said that he has no interest in a luxury tax.
If a deal is to be struck that would allow the NHL season to be played this year it will have to be reached soon.
During the 103-day lockout that disrupted the 1994-95 season, an agreement was reached on Jan. 11, 1995, allowing for a 48-game season that began nine days later.
If the season is wiped out, it would mark the first time in 86 years that the Stanley Cup wasn't awarded. A flu epidemic canceled the 1919 final series between Montreal and Seattle. No North American sports league has lost an entire season due to a labor dispute.
The NHL has resisted announcing a drop-dead date in which a collective bargaining agreement must be made to save this season. But with 650 regular-season games plus this year's All-Star game, already canceled, it appears that time is short to make a deal and play a legitimate season.
Updated on Monday, Jan 17, 2005 6:55 pm EST
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