NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly on Monday disagreed with and fired back at claims made by NHLPA Exec Dir Donald Fehr that "all signs point to another lockout when the CBA expires" after the '21-22 season," according to Mike Halford of NBCSPORTS.com. Daly, appearing on TVA Sports in Canada, said, “It’s a fairly naive and uneducated view of the situation, particularly as it relates to this league’s collective bargaining history and the reasons why we have endured work stoppages in the past. Don’s musings are also entirely inconsistent with his own collective bargaining history, which is highlighted by his own precipitation of repeated work stoppages and unprecedented labor strife in an ‘uncapped’ sports league" (NBCSPORTS.com, 12/22). THE HOCKEY NEWS' Adam Proteau noted though there are still seven seasons before the CBA expires, Fehr is concerned the league's "labor history will repeat in the most unfortunate of ways." Fehr said, "If you put baseball to the side where there’s no cap, I don’t see anything yet which suggests any of the other three (North American) leagues are likely to break out of the phenomenon of a lockout every time, because a salary cap produces that phenomenon on the management side. (Owners) think they’ve got nothing to lose: 'Let’s just go see what happens, and maybe we’ll get a little bit more.'” Fehr also "spoke of the keys to leading a players’ association." Fehr: “If you can maintain knowledgeable, informed consent among the players with very heavy support, you can do the rest of this job. If you can’t maintain that, it doesn’t really matter what else you can do" (THEHOCKEYNEWS.com, 12/18).
