When representatives from the NHL and NHLPA reconvene in Manhattan on this 16th day of the owners’ lockout, the conversation will pick up where it left off on Saturday, when the parties attempted to clarify the definition of Hockey Related Revenue, a subject obviously and perhaps ominously not yet settled.
Several individuals who have been briefed on the matter told The Post the league had sought to introduce clarifications favorable to the owners’ collective bottom line.
One source said the NHL “was not adamant about it.” But a player who participated on yesterday’s NHLPA conference call — during which the athletes received an overall update that included a review of the weekend talks — was not happy about it.
“Over the weekend, they just wanted to put more peanuts in their pockets,” the player told The Post.
Well, why not; the league, after all, owns the peanut farm, does it not?
Within the next day or two, the NHL is expected to announce cancellation of at least the first two weeks of regular-season games, if not the entire October schedule. The regular season is scheduled to open a week from Thursday with four games, followed by five next Friday and a dozen a week from Saturday, Oct. 13. There are 135 scheduled games in October.
The parties have not exchanged proposals since Sept. 13, three days before the lockout went into effect. The players did not focus on presenting a new proposal to the league, which extended the last formal proposal.
“The subject of a new proposal and timing always comes up in a general way, that’s only natural, but there wasn’t anyone saying we should make the next proposal or when,” Rangers player rep Martin Biron told The Post by phone from Buffalo, where he is spending the lockout with his family. “It’s like [special counsel] Steve Fehr said the other day, this isn’t ping pong.
“It’s not like they get a turn, now we get a turn, and so on. What we’d like as players and what I would like is to be able to have a discussion with them where the league explains its ideas within a broader spectrum, and how this CBA is going to solve the problems and help the NHL grow. We think what we’ve proposed as far as the cap and revenue sharing accomplishes those goals.”
There are no negotiations scheduled relating to the core economic and contract issues that separate the parties. In addition to the talk about hockey related revenue, the league and union did discuss issues such as discipline, drug-testing and pensions.
“It’s a positive that we’ve resumed talking, even if it’s about non-economic issues,” Biron said. “I know the players want to get this resolved as soon as possible in a way that benefits everyone.
“You know, it’s funny. Of everyone, the players are the biggest fans of the NHL. We think the NHL is great. It’s that way from the time we’re five years old.”