Players meet, still won't accept cap
Canadian Press
6/11/2004
TORONTO (CP) - The only cracks in the NHL Players' Association were in the sandwiches set out during a buffet luncheon as North American members wound up two days of annual meetings Friday.
With the collective bargaining agreement with the league to expire Sept. 15, talk of a possible lockout by the 30 club owners was a main topic of conversation, and it was obvious that solidarity was intact.
There were 167 players at the Royal York Hotel sessions, and another 75 are expected when European players gather next month. These were the first full association meetings since it made proposals to the NHL last Oct. 1.
``We broke off into small groups so we could have some more in-depth discussion, in groups of 10 to 12 guys,'' association president Trevor Linden, the Vancouver Canucks forward, said in an interview in describing the meetings. ``I had a lot of guys say they were surprised at how much we offered Oct. 1.
``They were surprised we went ahead and offered a five-per-cent rollback (in salaries) and changes to the entry-level (salaries) and a luxury tax. There were a lot of guys who were concerned with how far we went and they certainly feel we've really tried hard to have a negotiation.''
The players are going to stick to their guns, he said.
``Any time you deal with 700 players, there are a lot of different opinions but hockey players showed in '94 they'll stick together,'' said Linden. ``Hockey players have shown they're fair, too, if there is a solution in the middle somewhere but they're willing to fight for what they believe in.''
A lockout in 1994-95 reduced the number of games played to 48 from the usual 82. The worry this time is that at least a full season could be lost.
``We have listened to the issues they have and we feel we have addressed their issues and have made an attempt to bridge the gap,'' Linden said of the NHL's position. ``We've worked pretty hard at doing that.
``We feel like we've taken their issues and dealt with them and put in a plan that would solve the problems. But we are not going to talk about a hard cap system, and that's what we've kept getting shown to us.''
Linden said his organization is serious about fighting a had salary cap system.
``The players are prepared to talk about a market-based system,'' said Linden. ``That's what we're committed to. I think, definitely, guys are very adamant about what we believe in.''
Still, the membership is frustrated, he said. No talks with the NHL are scheduled at this time.
``We've worked hard at it but the fact is this isn't a negotiation right now,'' said Linden. ``It's basically a take-it-or-leave-it situation.''
Linden and Ted Saskin, senior NHLPA director for business affairs and licensing, wouldn't go into specifics about their proposed luxury tax.
``I'm not going to get into details but they had an issue with five or six teams that were, in their mind, spending too much money and we put forth a luxury tax system that would take funds from teams that were in that category and funnel that money back to the lower-revenue teams,'' said Linden. ``Our system of revenue sharing and our luxury tax system would generate close to $200 million (US) that would have been dispersed to lower-revenue teams and would have made a huge difference to those teams, and it was at a level that was probably a lot lower than you think.''
A report done for the league during the winter stated combined losses for teams were $273 million US for a single season.
Had the NHLPA proposal been accepted, ``They would have seen a significant change in their bottom line. We offered to do that a year before we had to. They would have had a year of effect already but we didn't get our proposal through. We were handed one piece of paper so the message was pretty clear.''
Added Saskin: ``It was very clear at the end of the day that they're far too committed to only one option and one solution in their mind, which is the cap, and that is not something that is going to lead to an agreement.''
Meanwhile, players are beginning to look to Europe or a reborn World Hockey Association, which has plans to begin operations this year, as possible outlets to continue playing if the NHL is shut down.
``Guys are more educated, more informed,'' said Linden. ``Guys are making plans.
``In '94, I made the mistake of staying by the phone. This time, I think guys will get on with their lives, whether that's playing in Europe, or playing in the WHA, being a full-time dad or going back to school or whatever. I think guys will be more prepared than they were in '94.''
Neither side is bending in what the NHLPA membership views as a one-issue stalemate.
``Certainly the NHL has positioned itself as such because they're not prepared to talk about anything other than a salary cap,'' said Saskin. ``They've made it a single issue.
``We're open to discussing a lot of different ways that you can address their stated concerns but it has to be in the context of the marketplace. For us, it's a single issue only because they've made the single issue the salary cap, which is a non-starter for us.''
Bill Daly, executive vice-president and chief legal officer of the NHL, reacted to the comments by saying the NHLPA ``has again mischaracterized the negotiation process and the proposals that were offered on both sides.''
``Self-serving and misleading rhetoric will not further the process and will not address the problems confronting the league,'' Daly said from New York in an interview.
He accused the association of engaging in ``a campaign of misinformation regarding both the history of these negotiations and the current state of the league.''
The league first approached the association five years ago suggesting there were serious economic problems and that modifications were urgently needed because the problems would only worsen if not dealt with, said Daly.
``So, when I hear that the league is not willing to negotiate, and that it's a take-it-or-leave-it situation, it is obvious to me the union is not telling people the full story.''
If the NHLPA is so confident the adjustments they proposed will work, they should guarantee the results, he said.
``That's what we asked them to do and they refused,'' said Daly. ``I guess guarantees are only acceptable when they are used to guarantee player compensation.''
What the association calls a salary cap, the NHL calls a partnership.
``I wish they would explain to me, just once, why that's a bad thing,'' said Daly. ``Why doesn't that work for them?''
A system that entitles the players to 75 per cent of the revenue the industry generates just doesn't work, Daly added.
``The union is the party responsible for making this a one-issue negotiation. We've offered a variety of options for cost certainty and they have accepted none. All they have offered are Band-Aid changes to the status quo - a system that is so seriously flawed it can no longer be maintained. That's not what I call a willingness to negotiate.''
Cheers,
Aquaman