Regular Season close to being cancelled as Commissioner Gary Bettman Angered -NHL Update
Just hours after the National Hockey League (NHL) and Players’ Association made new leaps and bounds in regards to getting a new labour deal into the equation but entered a new phase of a deadlock following a meeting between the two sides on Thursday, which
broke up just an hour later.
The biggest aspect about the entire lockout is that when it occurred back on September 15, 2012, after the collective bargaining agreement came to an end, the league was the one to make the decision on cancelling out the regular season despite being able
to continue playing while discussing a new labour deal.
“The fact is, they locked us out on the 15th of September,” NHLer Chris Campoli said, according to the Calgary Sun. “It was their decision and it continues to be their decision. Obviously, we want to be on the ice.”
“It’s unfortunate because the fans suffer and we want to make our living and we’re not able to do that. Everyone who loves the game is suffering.”
Briefing the media after all talks crashed and hopes for a new labour deal came tumbling down, Gary Bettman did not seem to be frustrated at the Players’ Association, but that the lockout was still in force, which he described as something that “torments
him”.
“The owners wanted to do something bold,” Bettman said of the money they added this week. “They put a new $100 million on the table Wednesday night to show we want to play as soon as possible. The players’ response was shockingly silent and the owners were
beside themselves. Some of them I’ve never seen so emotional and they told me the process is over.”
As of now, there have been no new talks rescheduled for the near future and it is still unclear what both sides want now after they rejected each other’s fresh proposals after the players-team owners meeting.
Updates should be expected in the next couple of days, but nothing significant may come out in the current week as fans were hoping for a season as early as next week. It will be interesting to see what happens.
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