Bettman, Goodenow to continue NHL labor talks
NEW YORK (AP) – NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and players’ association executive director Bob Goodenow will hold labor negotiations today and Thursday instead of going to Austria for the world hockey championships. The change in plans occurred Tuesday after a 31/2-hour bargaining session in New York, the eighth official meeting between the sides since Bettman canceled the entire hockey season on Feb. 16 because of the lockout.
“No progress to report,” NHL chief legal officer Bill Daly said.
After eight hours of meetings last week, and contentious comments made by both sides through the media about the other, the negotiating atmosphere seemed to be poor. But the principle negotiators decided to at least delay – and maybe cancel – their European trips and remain in New York for further discussions.
“The parties met today in New York City, and at the conclusion of the meeting they agreed to set aside time for additional meetings (Wednesday) and Thursday,” union spokesman Jonathan Weatherdon said in a statement.
Originally, the sides planned to talk about a new collective bargaining agreement on Monday and Tuesday in New York, but that was cut to just Tuesday after two days of discussions last week. They had already scheduled meetings for next Wednesday and Thursday, likely in Toronto.
“The union has agreed, at our request, to remain in New York to continue meeting in smaller groups over the next several days on a variety of sub-issues that need to be addressed in connection with a new CBA,” Daly said.
Bettman, Daly, Goodenow and NHLPA senior director Ted Saskin were to arrive in Austria on Wednesday. Many of the players taking part in the world championships are on NHL teams, and the United States and Canada qualified for the quarterfinal games that will take place Thursday.
The semifinals are Saturday and the gold and bronze medal games are scheduled for Sunday in Vienna.
The NHL made a new offer to the players last Thursday in Toronto, but no progress was reported by either side after talks ended Friday.
The latest proposal was spawned by a union offer on April 4 that contained a hybrid concept that addressed the relationship between player salaries and league revenues. It contained an upper cap of $50 million and a floor of $30 million.
As before, the sides have not come close to an agreement on the values of the caps or how wide a range there should be between the minimums and maximums.
When the sides met on April 19, the discussions ended with a heated exchange between Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs and players’ association leadership. The tough talk continued this week when Daly and Saskin exchanged barbs.
Daly reportedly told a Web site for a Canadian sports television network that the union’s analysis of the league’s latest proposal was “grossly slanted” and “sheer fiction.”
Rogers Sportsnet also reported that Daly accused Goodenow of not wanting to reach a settlement.
Saskin responded in a statement that part of the league’s proposal was taken off the table because “it became clear how ill-conceived it was.”
The league was represented Tuesday by Bettman, Daly, NHL director of operations Colin Campbell, New Jersey Devils general manager and CEO Lou Lamoriello, chairman of the board of governors Harley Hotchkiss of the Calgary Flames, Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs, Nashville Predators owner Craig Leipold, general counsel David Zimmerman, and attorneys Bob Batterman and Shep Goldfein.
On the players’ association side were: Goodenow, Saskin, director of business relations Mike Gartner, NHLPA president Trevor Linden, executive committee vice presidents Bill Guerin, Bob Boughner, Vincent Damphousse and Trent Klatt, associate counsel Ian Pulver and outside counsel John McCambridge.