2012 NHL Lockout: Bill Daly And Steve Fehr Speak Out On Recent Labor Negotiations
Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, and Special Counsel Steve Fehr spoke out on Sportnet's FAN 590 earlier this afternoon, and spoke about the on-going NHL lockout.
The National Hockey League's Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, and NHLPA Special Counsel Steve Fehr took to the airwaves this afternoon, where they spoke out on the on-going NHL lockout, and answered a few questions. Bill Daly was first up on the hot seat, and mentioned that he has spoken with Steve Fehr as of an hour ago, and there are still no future talks planned at the moment.
Bill Daly took a few questions ranging from the cancellation of the season, desertification, and about the NHLPA. His responses can be found below.
On decertification and the current situation of the lockout: "We hate where are, and we feel badly for everybody involved in the game. It's unfortunate. We're still planning on having a season this year, but decertification is a time-consuming process that likely would cost the season."
On whether he underestimated the NHLPA: "I guess I underestimated the magnitude of the gulf between us on the important issues."
On whether the NHLPA wants to make a deal or not: "I've had my doubts and concerns at certain points in time, and I don't think union leadership shares that same goal [of having a season as the players do]."
Steve Fehr hopped on shortly after Bill Daly and answered a slew of questions pertaining to many of the same subjects. His answers can be found below.
On whether NHL wants to make a deal: "Of course we want to get a deal done. As for NHL, we have our doubts because of the lockout strategy, and stubbornness. If [this] was Thanksgiving dinner, they gave us a relish tray but no turkey."
On the recent player movement in their latest proposal: "We moved a couple of miles, and they moved a couple of inches, I think it's fair to say. The players moved a long way and are not prepared to go any further right now."
Steve Fehr was also asked whether or not the NHLPA was considering decertification, but would not get into details if they had made preparations to do so. In the end, the NHL is pretty much in shambles right now and someone needs to step up big time here if we're going to salvage a 2012-2013 season.
The two sides are only about $182 million off over the five year proposal, which comes out to about "$1 million per club, per year" as Steve Fehr put it. So to say they are really far off is the understatement of the year. A deal is still on the table to be made, and someone needs to step up and get this thing done.