League, Players Association Deadlocked Again after Labour Talks -NHL Update
Everyone is currently in a loss for words as the National Hockey League (NHL) and Players’ Association have entered into a fresh deadlock following their meeting on Thursday which broke up just one hour in.
A day earlier, both sides made fresh proposals to each other following a marathon meeting day on Tuesday between the players and franchise owners, lasting over eight hours and bringing about new hope for the regular season to finally kick off.
According to the owners, it seems as if the labour union has changed its mind over agreeing on some issues that were confidential in Tuesday’s meetings.
"The sessions on Tuesday felt cooperative with an air of goodwill," Toronto Maple Leafs’ owner, Larry Tanenbaum, said in a statement. "However, when we reconvened with the players on Wednesday afternoon, it was like someone had thrown a switch. The atmosphere
had completely changed. Nevertheless, the owners tried to push forward and made a number of concessions and proposals, which were not well-received. I question whether the union is interested in making an agreement."
Looking at how the players reacted, it was different from what the league is citing as they seemed just as shocked as their labour agreement was not even looked at and considered “not acceptable” to the team owners and Commissioner Gary Bettman.
Executive director of the NHLPA, Donald Fehr, was just as surprised as everyone else as they had gone into the Thursday meeting think about getting back on the ice as soon as this up and coming Monday.
"It looks like this is not going to be resolved in the immediate future," Fehr said, flanked by a squad of dejected-looking players.”
Fehr briefed the media prior to entering the meeting about how both sides had managed to bridge the gap on a number of issues like player pensions, transition payments and the difference in revenue for the labour side and team owners, but was completely
shocked at the outcome.
It certainly seems like there is no regular season coming out of the equation any time soon. Updates should be expected in the next couple of days, but nothing significant should be looked forward to.
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