SO in this alternate uni verse, Gary Bettman is driving from the NHL’s midtown Manhattan offices to the Meadowlands to watch the Devils play the Rangers. There are two Manhattan tunnels and one bridge that go to New Jersey, but Bettman only knows one way – the Lincoln Tunnel.
Except the Lincoln Tunnel has been closed for hours to accommodate emergency repairs. There’s no telling when this tunnel will reopen. A passenger suggests that Bettman use the Holland Tunnel downtown. The commissioner insists that the Lincoln Tunnel is the only way that will take him where he needs to go.
Bettman is stopped by a traffic cop as he drives toward the Lincoln Tunnel and is informed the tunnel will remain shut through the night.
The commissioner, however, remains steadfast. He won’t budge. The officer shrugs and walks away. Another passenger suggests that Bettman drive uptown to the George Washington Bridge. Both passengers are suggesting that the commissioner use an alternate route to get to his destination.
But Bettman is nothing if not stubborn, er, committed. No, he says, hunkering down behind the wheel, knuckles white. There is only one way to get there, he explains again, only one way to travel to where they need to go. When one of the exasperated passengers hands him a map, he refuses to look at it.
Of course, the commissioner never gets to the game.
The NHL and NHLPA may meet again in Toronto today or tomorrow, but if One Way Gary is making the trip to present yet another variation of the hard cap he is not creative enough to see past, then Bob Goodenow should do everyone a favor and place a Do Not Resuscitate order on the season.
Honestly now. What kind of a vegetable would the NHL be, opening in March? Enough with the life-support, already. Someone, please, pull the plug.
The first NHL proposal was presented to the union on Oct. 1, 2003. It featured a hard cap under which the players would earn 53.2 percent of the gross. Last Thursday, the owners made their third proposal. It featured a hard cap under which the players would be guaranteed between 53 and 55 percent. In other words, the league’s last proposal guaranteed the players a smaller percentage of the gross than its very first one.
Let’s understand, too, that the team payroll range of between $29.8 million and $40 million outlined in the last proposal that’s based on a projected league-wide revenue of $2.1 billion isn’t likely to be a reality for years, if ever. Those payroll numbers are mere placeholders. Chances are that the range will be close to between $21 million and $31 million next year, with the league planning significant escrow payroll deductions to protect itself against a spiraling decline in revenues.
There are, of course, any number of creative solutions to the stalemate that exists only because the league refuses to engage in meaningful negotiations. The soft cap within a hard cap is worth exploring. Designation of a franchise player is worth exploring. A guarantee of the union’s Dec. 9 proposal is worth exploring. But Bettman refuses, he refuses each and every time.
You wonder if Bettman isn’t afraid he’s going to be tricked. You wonder if the commissioner believes that the union, the players and the agents are just smarter than the league, the owners and the general managers. You wonder if that’s why he’s afraid to make a deal.
Maybe that’s it. Because there’s one thing you can be sure of. If it were up to them, Goodenow and the players would find a way from Manhattan to New Jersey, even if they’d have to get on the PATH train. They would find a way to get to the game.
