No news is bad news
SEASON MELTING AWAY, WITH NO SOLUTION IN SIGHT
WHEN THE NHL ended the 1994-95 lockout, the agreement it forged with the players after an all-night bargaining session was considered a season-saving, 11-hour deal.
Considering the 10th anniversary of that agreement was yesterday, and that this is Day 119 of the current lockout, the question is what time is it now?
"That's a good question," Flyers general manager Bob Clarke said yesterday morning. "I don't know and I'm not very optimistic. We're in the middle of January and I haven't heard anything, good or bad.
"Unless there is something going behind the scenes that's being kept quiet, I don't see [the season being saved]. [The league] has been trying to put things together for 4 or 5 years now. Are they going to get it done overnight now? I don't think so.
"We've been sitting here optimistically getting ready for a camp, just hoping, probably not addressing the situation that might arise if the season is canceled."
On Dec. 14, the NHL rejected a proposal by the players and then had its counterproposal turned down. Over the past 2 weeks,
rumors have popped up that the league is working on a new proposal.
Not one person I've talked to, on or off the record, believes that is true. And the league's Board of Governors meeting, which had been scheduled for Friday, has been canceled.
Yesterday, Carolina Panthers owner Peter Karmanos Jr. told the
Canadian Press that he believes the season is cooked.
"My gut feeling is that this season's gone,'' Karmanos said. "I know personally that I'd be willing to risk another season. I'm enough of a hockey fan to realize that once we got it straightened out, the fans would come back.
"But there's the risk they wouldn't. Even with that in mind, I feel very, very strongly that if we don't get it straightened out, we don't have to worry about the NHL existing anyways.''
Publicly, both the players union and the league have denied that either is working on a season-saving effort, and have only traded barbs in the media, each blaming the other for the depth of the impasse.
Nothing wrong with that; as in any unfathomable situation, there is plenty of blame to go around. Neither side walks away from this clean.
Blame the owners for the rich contracts they granted and for the fact that they can't trust each other to the point that they need a self-imposed hammer on salary levels.
Blame the players for not facing the reality of that situation and their death-grip stance on a salary cap.
So now what?
That depends. Employees around the league who rely on the game to make a living and kept working while hope for a season existed now are faced with the task of finding something else within their franchises or outright unemployment.
Players who aren't already playing will either have to find places to do so or take a year off. Coaches not drawing full salaries also will have to make decisions. Aging veterans and unsigned free agents might just be facing early retirement.
Many of the league's stars and big-contract holders are 34 or older, and many are free agents without contracts.
If the season is canceled, whenever play resumes, it could be a much younger league.
And even if it is saved soon, that could happen. If by some miracle a deal were struck today, it will take time to get players in game shape. A season of under 40 games could be won or lost
depending on what kind of start teams get. Which means a chance for AHL and junior players, depending on how the new rules are written.
General managers know this.
"We're getting close, in my opinion, very close to the edge," Clarke said. "Even if you got a deal within a week, you've still got to get players back [who are playing in Europe] and get some kind of a training camp and try to get in half the season. I don't know if there's enough time.
"It's an awful thing to say, but if you had to start in a week, [Phantoms goalie Antero Niittymaki] would be ahead of [Flyers goalie Robert Esche]. This kid has already played 20 games and Esche hasn't played any. I love Esche, but if you started a year from now, you would have to play [Niittymaki]."
And that goes for the other younger players now with the Phantoms, including Patrick Sharp, Dennis Seidenberg, Joni Pitkanen and the two hot juniors, Jeff Carter and Mike Richards, both of whom were outstanding in Team Canada's recent victory at the World Junior Championships.
If the league allows juniors a chance to play in a shortened season this year, both will push for roster spots.
"Darn right," Clarke said. "They're going to push these guys right off the map because they're ready to play. And that's not a threat, that's a reality. These kids are ready to go because they're been playing and they're good players."
Hybrid Mode
