Is this make or break CBA Wednesday?

Some of you will recall that a few weeks ago, as the NHL lockout continued with both sides seemingly stumbling around in the dark, I kept asking why we had not seen some good old-fashioned bargaining.  You know, some cigar-smoke, with the accompanying swearing and yelling.  In short, an old-time marathon session that would somehow nudge these two factions at least a bit closer together.

Well, the NHL and the NHLPA did just that recently (something close to it at least, meeting at length for several days in a row), and unbelievably, what happened was not progress, but the emergence of even more issues.  If various reports were remotely accurate, it sounds as though we not only had the initial stumbling blocks in play (and nowhere near resolution), but suddenly there were also new issues associated with who would pay for the losses that have been incurred as a result of the dispute.

What a mess.

As I post this, the PA is putting the finishing touches on its latest “proposal” to present to the owners sometime on Wednesday. I’d like to be encouraged. Maybe we are finally at a point in negotiations where both parties will indeed play their supposed “best” cards.  But I just don’t know.  (I admit to being confused.  If you listen to the PA, they are the only ones 'moving'.  If you listen to the owners, they claim they keep compromising and the players just sit there giving nothing back…)

Regardless of who is telling something close to the “truth”, my sense is:  this is now the second-to-last opportunity to save the remnants of what would be an already-awkward, shortened and angry season to begin with.  (That would be better than no season at all, yes, but it would be an unhappy one.)

What I mean is that if things go off the rails yet again on this week (which I expect; what would lead us to think otherwise?), there will be another pullback, another retrenchment on both sides.  We will see another “break” in talks while both parties prepare for what will likely be the season’s "Waterloo" bargaining session.  I would expect that will occur sometime around December 15 to December 20^th.

If there is no agreement when the owners and the NHLPA come together then, the season, in my view, is gone.  I don’t see the owners waiting until late January, like last time, to put the 2012-’13 season out of its misery.  The hostility will be so deep, so much revenue will have been lost, so many contracts already broken, feelings hurt, players bolting, that it will be too late to put Humpty Dumpty back together once we hit January.

The truth is, there are always theatrics, nasty words, leaks, tricks, “spin” and various stops and starts in these kinds of long and bitter disputes.  This one is really not that different.  (Remember Chris Chelios last time?)  The prevalence of social media no doubt makes things seem—and feel—even more extreme than last time, as players and agents vent publicly and fans go at one another via Twitter.

But the wounds, the anger, the bitterness is very real—and palpable.  I find the player comments directed at Bettman quite sad, but I understand that emotion makes us all say and do childish things sometimes.  The owners certainly bring a history that is easy to distrust.

It’s a difficult situation all around.  Regardless of the PA trying to wash over the real numbers, many more players than usual will lose their NHL careers as a result of this stoppage.  The emnity between players and owners is deeper than ever.  When trust is broken, it takes a long, long time to rebuild what has been lost.  Often, relationships are never the same as they were before, which means, by definition, they are usually much worse.  Remember last time?  As bad as it was, there was at least a façade of “partnership” coming out of the lockout, a joint desire to grow revenues so everyone could benefit.

Now, who will have the heart to work “together”?

I do believe both sides are enormously greedy.  I do believe the players live in a fantasy world and have bought into the idea that they are truly worth what they get paid, and that, because something was in their contract before, they should always automatically be entitled to it.

History tells us that the owners can’t really be believed, which adds layers to the sentiment that they would deceive the players if they could.

For me, the problem is not Bettman, or Fehr.  Both men are doing their jobs, doing the bidding of their employer.  Yes, they also lead, they advise, they put pressure on their respective constituencies to see the world a certain way, but they are genuine in their desire to do their job with the utmost professionalism.  They are shrewd, smart guys.  Unfortunately, both “never lose” which only makes this an even more untenable situation.

At the end of the day, with both "leaders" fighting for every square inch, who is looking out for what will be healthy for the game, long term?

I wish it was as simple as lopping off six teams, as I’ve suggested in this space before, so we could have a strong 24-team NHL.  This is not baseball or football.  Hockey will never generate massive U.S. TV revenues.  It will never be “America’s pastime” (baseball) or “America’s passion” (football).  Not even close.

The players should realize there are limits in their industry.  They picked the least popular big-time sport in North America.  That's just the way it is.  But they will get their money.  Just play—and be patient.    Stop complaining that Bettman is a problem because he wants a better deal for owners.  Stop saying he is to blame for bringing the NHL into lousy markets.  While I agree there are too many teams and too many in crappy markets, the truth is those extra six 'lousy' U.S. franchises have created another 120 to 150 more NHL jobs for marginal players- and more revenues for players to share in.  I don’t think the players want to give those jobs up.  And there isn’t room for six more teams in Canada.

My suggestion for the players:  if you have to win this deal, start looking for somewhere else to play, or for another line of work.  No one is entitled to what they had before, just because they had it.  You have more freedom than ever before, you make more money than ever before and more than just about everyone else on the planet.  Your salaries have skyrocketed the past few years while the rest of the world has largely gone backwards.  Appreciate what you do have.  Play the game you say you love.

The owners are what they are.  You don’t have to like them, though they are the ones that—because of their wealth and because of we everyday fans and big-spending corporate sponsors and advertisers—can pay outrageously huge salaries to you guys.  The owners aren’t your friends, but they offer the opportunity to play in a league where you can set yourself up for life.

Fight for your rights, absolutely.  Fight for a fair deal.  Keep your dignity while doing so.  But don’t make this about “winning”.  Save that for the ice.  If the owners want to come across as liars, as wealthy individuals grasping for even more, as excuse-makers, as untrustworthy, as not being men of their word, that is their issue.  They will have to live with that reputation - that stigma - on their hockey tombstones.

They will also have to live with the infamy that goes with running the only league in professional sports history that thinks it a good idea (and a good bargaining tactic) to take their product off the shelf for a year at a time every few years.

The owners may be dumb.  Don’t you guys be dumber.  Be the “bigger man”, as it were.  Make the best deal you can.  Sign it.  And then do what the owners are too gutless to do:  honour it.

By doing that, you will raise yourself up in the estimation of fans.  You will still make your money.  You will still be the game.  Ironically, you will actually "win" the game.

And you will be doing something the owners never seem able to do:  you will be taking the high road.