League, Players' Association meeting set for Thursday after unofficial meeting of top executives -NHL Update
The National Hockey League (NHL) and Players’ Association (NHLPA) top executives met on Wednesday, August 22, 2012, to informally discuss the status of talks on a new collective bargaining agreement, setting Thursday as the day to kick off a new round of
negotiations.
Present in the meeting were NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly along with NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr and Steve Fehr. The four men present in the two-hour long meeting are reported to have spent the entire time in trying
to break the ice, which formed over the past few days with the league making statements about going into a lockout.
With neither sides budging from their stance, it seemed at one moment like a lockout would be inevitable in any circumstance, but hopefully, these talks would allow for a smoother process once the two stakeholders get back together on Thursday.
"I think more than anything else it was to review where we are in the process, where we've come from, where we are with the various proposals and to determine how to move the process forward in the best way possible -- hoping and understanding that both
sides are committed to using the time left to making a deal as quickly as possible," Daly said.
Wednesday had been the official date for the talks, but were cancelled to allow just the top executives to discuss it out. Something which Fehr termed to be completely natural and part of the process.
"This is one of the normal things that happen," Donald Fehr said. "Sometimes you schedule things and they don't come off. Sometimes you don't schedule things and you end up with much longer or more involved meetings.”
One thing the two stakeholders are directed towards is definitely getting a new labour agreement in play before the September 15th deadline upcoming fast. Without it, going into another NHL regular season does not seem possible, as to do so, would
require the agreement of both sides instead of it being a one-sided play.
Updates on the talks for a new CBA can be expected on Thursday.
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