NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA Exec Dir Bob
Goodenow met for more than four hours yesterday in New York. The
next meeting is scheduled for Monday in Toronto, though members
of both negotiating teams will meet in the interim. While
"there's no sense" the two sides are "bridging the enormous gap"
between their positions, a "little something must be happening to
keep the talks alive" (Bob McKenzie, TORONTO STAR, 9/22). ESPN's
Brett Haber contends that the past two days of negotiations
accomplished little. The players and owners "find themselves,
largely, in the same place where they found themselves two days
before" ("Sportscenter," 9/22). CBS' Harry Smith: "In a show of
unity, NHL players shook hands before their preseason games last
night" ("CBS This Morning," 9/22).
BETTMAN CATCHING SOME FLAK: Maple Leafs defenseman and
former player rep Garth Butcher yesterday accused Bettman of
being "far more interested" in busting the union, than of being
concerned with the "well-being of hockey": "It's personal with
him. ... There's right and there is wrong and what he's doing is
not right and is not reasonable. It's not bargaining, it's
bullying." Butcher added: "No one person is bigger than the
game, but he's [Bettman] acting like he is" (Steve Simmons,
TORONTO SUN, 9/22). In Ottawa, Roy MacGregor writes, "It would
not be an exaggeration to describe Bettman's recent activities as
a textbook study in union busting" (OTTAWA CITIZEN, 9/22).
ANOTHER SOLUTION? In Toronto, Dave Shoalts writes that
owners could slow "the explosion in player salaries" by "simply
refusing to renegotiate player contracts." Shoalts points out
that a "good portion" of salary increases come as a result of the
owners' "acquiescence to increasing player demands" to
renegotiate their contracts when they see someone else get a
raise. Panthers President Bill Torrey: "When you do that (agree
to renegotiate), you're asking for trouble, no question" (Toronto
GLOBE & MAIL, 9/22).
