NHL and NHLPA end Friday meeting
TSN.ca Staff with files
2/4/2005
Sudden-death NHL labour talks ended badly Friday.
A source close to the talks said things did not go well in a four-hour meeting in New York between the NHL and NHL Players' Association that wrapped up at 3 p.m. EST.
"The major stumbling remains the league's insistence on a hard cap system," NHLPA senior director Ted Saskin told The Canadian Press from New York.
NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow was also pessimistic.
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"We met the last couple of days, tried to cover some issues and maybe a few new issues to see if there was a possibility of some common ground and some traction, but that isn't the case," Goodenow told reporters in New York before leaving.
"The parties agreed to stay in touch but there's really no progress to report of any type. That's the reality."
No further talks were planned, although the league left the door open.
"We had extensive and constructive talks over the past two days," executive vice-president Bill Daly said in a statement. "While there are no future meetings scheduled, we have agreed to keep the lines of communication open.
"Despite several media reports to the contrary, we have no intention of making any further announcement relating to collective bargaining or the status of the season at this time."
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman did not immediately comment.
New Jersey Devils CEO and GM Lou Lamoriello, a member of the league's negotiating committee, said time is of the essence.
"We're getting closer and closer and there has to be a decision one way or another soon," Lamoriello told The Canadian Press from New Jersey. "You can't go any higher than the two men (Goodenow and Bettman) who are now involved. We have to leave it in their hands right now to make that decision.
"I don't know how much more time is left."
But Lamoriello hasn't totally given up on the season.
"It doesn't sound or look good at this point but no one has told me the season is over," he said. "Until they do that, Yogi (Berra) still lives in New Jersey and I see him often, he's a good friend - it's never over until it's over."
With the season on the line, the two sides resumed discussions following nine hours of talks the previous day but headway was not made.
The meeting was supposed to be at a secret location but Canadian television networks tracked down the site in Manhattan.
Bettman and Goodenow were involved in the talks for the first time since mid-December but 13 hours of talks did not produce the miracle agreement.
Few expected any good news to come out of the meetings Thursday and Friday after the NHLPA rejected the NHL's latest offer Wednesday.
The lockout, which reached its 142nd day Friday, has forced the cancellation of 775 of the 1,230 regular-season games. In fact, during the last two days of talks alone, 13 games flew out the window.
The sticking point remains the same since talks began in January 2003. The league wants a salary cap system that links player costs with revenues. The union insists it will never play under such a system.
The league did soften its stance Wednesday, compared to its Dec. 14 offer, re-introducing salary arbitration, offering joint audit of team finances with stiff penalties for the cheaters, profit-sharing with the players, dropping the unrestricted free agency age to 30 from 31, and adding an owner-player council which would together decided ways to improve the on-ice product.
But the salary cap remained a huge obstacle.
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