Islanders/NHL Bits: Beating the Drums of Lockout

And so this tired play advances to its next act. The NHL CBA buzz this past week focused on commissioner Gary Bettman re-iterating publicly that the NHL would not hold any further games under the current collective bargaining agreement which expires Sept. 15.

Granted, both sides speak with guarded optimism about getting something done before then, but anyone who has read the current CBA knows that is one complex (and ridiculous) document to negotiate and verbalize through an army of lawyers in the next 30 days or so. (It would be nice if it were finalized with a little more logic this time too, but alas.) The "gulf" is ominous.

To be clear, the NHLPA has long known the NHL wouldn't want to play next season under current rules, so while due diligence and rebuilding their competence was the right course for Donald Fehr, the PA certainly -- and smartly -- took their sweet old time getting to the table. Since the PA doesn't have a lot of leverage and has no interest in a stoppage, that was one of the few tactical tools at their disposal: Wait long enough to engage so that the process would carry to the deadline, and the NHL would (correctly) carry the mantle of "bad guy" this time around.

And they will be the bad guy. Because the NHL ownership is a wide, disparate group that doesn't sound seriously interested in meaningful concessions to help each other.

The NHLPA's first counterproposal is expected Tuesday, and odds are it will be just as extremely slanted to the players' interests as the NHL's initial proposal was slanted toward the few common interests of all 30 owners. Odds are the NHL is willing to sacrifice some time -- though you'd think not the Winter Classic -- so the PA will probably call their bluff.

And fans will pay.

Other, More Hockey-Like Things

• Okay, one more CBA link: Great rundown of NHL labor history going back to the first strike in 1992 under Bob Goodenow and John Ziegler (for people who think Bettman is Satan Incarnate, Ziegler is the previous holder of the throne, with a short interregnum from Gil "Elect Me To The Hall" Stein). That article is particularly funny for the Bobby Clarke quote, since it was Clarke as a poor-team GM (the North Stars) complaining about rich teams, whereas today he's on the penthouse side and his team spends, spends and spends some more.
  
• Mark Streit one of the top five defensemen in the Atlantic?
• Some updates on the Canada-Russia Challenge; Ryan Strome scored in Game 2.
• Apparently it's the labor uncertainty that's keeping Mike Mottau unsigned. {blinks}
• Katie Strang said Charles Wang visited Gary Bettman the other day -- but perhaps not about the CBA.
• Why the Kings are for real. Still.
• And so is Jame Benn, like even more for real than before.
• Marian Gaborik's rehab is going well, so hey maybe he's healthy by the time games are played.
• This was pointed out in comments the other night, but ahh...Joel Ward, that's a lot of information.
• These are pretty bold, actually (Oilers make the playoffs?): 10 bold predictions for the NHL season – USATODAY.com

Finally, this was shared again recently in this FanShot, so we'll give it one more mullet-admiring look: