A call for common sense in NHL labor talks

Theres a reason that passionate, zealous followers of the National Hockey League exist as they do.

Arguably the biggest is that the players themselves are fearless, incredibly competitive, courageous, and stick up for one another without always considering the consequences or their own well-being. They refuse to take no for an answer, or be denied what they feel is rightfully theirs. Its what makes the sport such a spectacle, and joy to behold.

Which, of course, brings us to the current collective bargaining situation.

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Eight years ago, the players banded together and refused to buckle on their belief that a salary cap wasnt just unnecessary, but unjust. They said there was no reason to artificially restrict the open market despite a vast discrepancy between the biggest moneymaking clubs and those that were losing tens of millions of dollars annually.

They brought the same attitude to the negotiations that they do to the ice. And, they seem intent on doing it again this time.

Admirable? Absolutely. Misguided? No question about it.
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Now, Im not suggesting that the players dont have a right to be aggravated with the way the owners and commissioner Gary Bettman have handled things thus far. They definitely do. The hypocrisy of handing out gigantic contracts as recently as this summer, and subsequently asking for immediate rollbacks of those contracts is, well, pathetic.

Im also not suggesting that an immediate reduction in agreed-to contracts is fair, either. Which of us in our day-to-day jobs wouldnt kick up a fuss if our bosses suddenly demanded a 10 percent reduction in our salaries, which is what the NHL put on the table as part of its proposal on Wednesday?

But, there are a few aspects to these negotiations, and the overall state of the league, that I believe must be addressed. In the end, it makes the most sense for the players to at least negotiate off of the NHLs latest proposal and try and find common ground before the offers get worse.

And they will, if the NHLs tactics are at all similar to how it handled things in 2004-05.

Lets start with the biggie - revenue. The NHL has seen its bottom line increase from 2.2 billion in the year before the previous lockout to 3.3 billion today. Its safe to say that no one envisioned such a dramatic increase when the current CBA was agreed to in the summer of 2005.

The way many players and some agents are presenting things, though, youd think nearly every penny of those record revenues is ending up in the pockets of greedy owners. Thats obviously not the case. The NHL players average salary has risen 33 percent in the last eight years (according to James Mirtle) and now sits at a cool 2.4 million.

Meanwhile, a team like the Sharksnot a big or small market teamis losing 15 million a year (if you believe what they tell us, which I do). Thats despite selling out almost every game, as ownership outspends revenues to put a competitive (and expensive) team on the ice. Teams that have been less successful in the winloss column and at the gate are undoubtedly losing even more.

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Also, lets not forgetrevenues have increased under Bettmans watch. As a former team employee, I can say with confidence that the NHLs league office is run much more effectively and efficiently in terms of marketing, digital media, public relations and everything else as compared with 2004. The Winter Classic is the leagues signature event, and helped land a 2 billion TV deal with NBC. Bettman and his employees deserve some measure of credit for generating that kind of money, while large portions of said money have landed in the pockets of the players.

The point is that the players have benefited from a successfully run operation, and that league revenues havent just increased because the fans want to see them play. Its a joint effort. As much as some players direct their anger towards Bettman, as a disgruntled employee might towards his or her boss, they do owe him at least some gratitude for what hes done with the league. Indirectly, he's written them some pretty big checks.

Now, increased revenue sharing should be a part of the deal, for sure, as union boss Donald Fehr continues to insistbut thats something that should be able to be hammered out in negotiations, as the league has already agreed to increase the funds going from big markets to small markets by a fair amount.

Secondly, Fehr continues to reference the previous lockout in his media availability. On Wednesday he did it again, reminding the attending media that the players share before the last lockout was 74 percent.

Well, so what? Thats a disingenuous statement, because if the NHLPA had gotten what it wanted the last time around, there would likely be four or five teams that would have had to shut down operations immediately, resulting in hundreds of fewer jobs for the union.

The previous lockout was a necessity for the good of the league, and comparing that situation to this one is like comparing apples to doorknobs. CBAs have expiration dates for a reason, and this one has worked out better for the players than it has for the majority of owners. And, well, good on them. But Bettman and Co. do have a legal right to try and lower player costs now, after the union exercised its option to keep the current CBA in place for the 2011-12 season.

You cant tell me that there arent some whispers among the playersespecially with so many of them in the same placeto take whatever they can get now, and ensure they start getting paid from Day 1. Yes, theyll present themselves as unified no matter how much internal dissension there may or may not be, but theres almost certainly a fair amount (likely veterans that endured the last lockout) that want to expedite a deal as quickly as possible.

The NHLPA will make its unnecessary show of having nearly 300 of its members in town for meetings over two days, but that will not persuade NHL ownership in the least. It would be better served trying to get as much out of the ownership group as it can right now before paychecks disappear, never to be recovered. Hopefully, that's what they're discussing amongst themselves.

Again, Bettmans threat that the offers wont get any better is not an empty one. While its not a good idea to anger a hockey player, its also not a good idea to anger a successful businessperson that doesnt need NHL revenues to fatten his or her pockets. Another lockout wont sit well with the current owners as much as it wont sit well with players or fans. Didnt we learn that eight years ago? Successful billionaires are that way for a reason, and, like it or not, caving to labor demands usually isn't one of them.

Lets face it. As working employees, as many of us are, not all is fair all of the time. NHL players make a tremendous amount of money playing the game they love, and they deserve every last penny. But its hard to argue that a 50-50 split of revenues is unfair to either sideand thats something that it appears the NHL would be willing to take, with a little prodding. All of the other remaining issues can be decided from there. There is, in fact, a deal to be made here.

The owners shoulder the majority of the blame for where we are today, and should be downright embarrassed by some of their actions. Theyre the ones who have dished out illogical contracts, artificially raising salaries across the board. They seem reluctant to form a partnership with themselves, let alone the players, and thats just dishonest. Its easy to see why the players are as united as they are.

But, its still the owners that hold the keys to the carand its the only car on the block. For the players, theres a time to make a stand for what you believe in, and theres a time when levelheadedness must prevail. Hopefully, the latter occurs before everyone involved suffers a collective black eye, and we can appreciate hockey players for something elsecommon sense.