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Bettman Reiterates NHL Not Looking To Negotiate Deal To Put Players In Olympics

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman yesterday reiterated the league is not "looking for a negotiation" with the NHLPA over player participation in the '18 PyeongChang Games. Appearing on Toronto-based CJCL-AM, Bettman noted what he had done in previous conversations with the NHLPA was "open the door to say, ‘Listen, if you’ve got some suggestions or some idea that makes this sensible from a league and club perspective we’d like to hear it,’ because … overwhelmingly the clubs said, ‘We’ve had enough of this.’” But Bettman said what the NHLPA "articulated publicly last week was, ‘We’re not doing anything. We’re not negotiating, we’re not offering anything. We should just have the right to go.’" Bettman: "That’s a little extreme position but that’s their position and they’re entitled to it. ... What we were looking for was, 'Are we missing something that might change the way clubs view this?'” Bettman said the NHLPA has been "conspicuously silent and absent the last few months," but he would "never not take a meeting” with NHLPA Exec Dir Donald Fehr. Bettman: "It’s not like we’re a stranger to the process, it’s not like we didn’t try to embrace the Olympics. But not only has it not done anything for our game ... it’s been damaging to the seasons." Bettman: “My expectation is that NHL players will be here playing for their teams” ("Prime Time Sports," CJCL-AM, 4/4).

FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT: In Toronto, Mike Zeisberger notes Bettman "revealed that Olympic participation is not part of the current CBA as it was in the one that preceded it." Meanwhile, Fehr "refuses to wave the white flag of surrender" regarding player participation in PyeongChang. Fehr: "I hope it’s not over. You don’t ever give up. You hope you can get back to it. But that’s not a decision that rests with us" (TORONTO SUN, 4/5). TSN.ca's Frank Seravalli noted the "expectation is that the NHL will step in to stop all potential individual player participation" in PyeongChang. Bettman in a memo sent to all 31 clubs Monday said that the league will "rule on the subject." A team of lawyers on behalf of the NHL likely are "already working on that policy, with the goal of quelling the chatter of a revolt sooner rather than later." Penguins C Sidney Crosby, on if he would play for Team Canada despite the NHL's position, said, "It’s a difficult situation to be in, there’s no doubt. I know some guys who have already thought about going regardless. I’m not sure if I’m quite comfortable with that yet. It just happened." Seravalli wrote even if 200-plus NHLers "decided to revolt next February, the NHL could potentially charge the NHLPA with unfair labour practice, leaving them to battle it out with the National Labour Relations Board" (TSN.ca, 4/4). NHL Network's E.J. Hradek said, "I would say this to the players -- go to your representatives at the NHLPA and say, 'Hey, this is something that we want collectively bargained into the deal,' because if it means that much to us, let's fight for it and get it in writing" ("NHL Tonight," NHL Network, 4/4). Canucks G Ryan Miller said, "I’m sure (the league) will come up with some kind of penalty across the board. Teams won’t be able to choose whether they institute the penalty or not; it will be a league penalty" (Vancouver PROVINCE, 4/5).

POTENTIAL FALLOUT: An ESPN.com NHL roundtable discussed the potential fallout of the decision not to go to the Olympics. Craig Custance noted there are "definitely people on the players' side who haven't given up hope that an 11th-hour deal can still be struck." Perhaps the fallout is that the NHLPA or IOC will "make an offer to include the players" in PyeongChang that the NHL "can't refuse." Anything short of that "sets up another potential bitter CBA negotiation down the road." Custance: "Any notion that these two sides -- the NHLPA and NHL -- were partners in growing the game appear to be gone." Corey Pronman wondered if there could be "retaliation" from the players. Pronman: "Does the NHLPA say no to the next World Cup of Hockey? Does it threaten a future work stoppage unless the Olympics are guaranteed? Do top Russian players decide the NHL isn't worth it to them and go to the KHL?" Pierre LeBrun: "What's going to be interesting now is how top players feel about playing ball with the NHL on future endeavors. How do you ask [Oilers C] Connor McDavid and [Maple Leafs C] Auston Matthews to play in a bunch of meaningless All-Star Games after ripping out their Olympic hearts?" Scott Burnside noted he is "curious to see how the public responds to watching former NHLers or collegiate players try to inject drama into the proceedings in South Korea in the middle of the night for much of North America." The "novelty is going to wear off pretty quickly" (ESPN.com, 4/4). NHL Network's Alex Tanguay said, "I hope that there is still room for negotiation. Maybe as we get further along after the season we can find a way to resolve the situation and make everybody happy" ("NHL Tonight," NHL Network, 4/4).

COULD THERE BE REPERCUSSIONS? In Chicago, Mark Lazerus writes it is "not hard to see where the league is headed again." The way the NHL has handled the Olympic issue has both sides "hurtling toward another potential lockout." There is a "lingering resentment" among players "toward how the NHL handled the entire process" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 4/5). In Nashville, Joe Rexrode writes, "Unless there’s an 11th-hour reversal, this will leave a mark." The fact that the NHL "won’t lose a couple of weeks of 'inventory'" during the '17-18 season and might prevent an injury or two is a "meager reward" for Bettman and the owners (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 4/5). In Toronto, Bruce Arthur writes all the players can do is "provide what pressure they can." The IOC "screwed this up, and NHL owners have been looking for an excuse to pull the plug for years, and the players are the ones finding the euphemisms for disappointment" (TORONTO STAR, 4/5). A TORONTO STAR editorial states it is Canadian hockey fans who will be "most conspicuously left out." The NHL "will also be a loser," as the league "won’t send its best to the biggest sporting stage in the world at a time when the NHL has been eyeing opportunities in China." The editorial: "Instead, the league will be thinking short-term and sending a disappointing message that second best is good enough" (TORONTO STAR, 4/5).

DO NHL, OLYMPICS NEED EACH OTHER? The GLOBE & MAIL's Tony Keller writes under the header, "Not A Love Story: The NHL And Olympics Don't Need Each Other." The NHL is "not in the business of seeking to stage the platonic ideal of hockey." The NHL’s product is NHL hockey, and the PyeongChang Games, "rather than promoting NHL hockey, putting bums in the seats of NHL hockey games and increasing the wealth of NHL hockey team owners, appeared likely to do the opposite." The idea of the IOC "compromising financially with a competing sports league is also almost impossible to imagine." Even "without the best hockey players, a lot of the world will still watch the Olympic hockey tournament, and never realize that it’s sub-par." Keller: "After all, Americans can’t stop talking about the 'Miracle on Ice'" (GLOBE & MAIL, 4/5). ESPN’s Kate Fagan said, “I love that NHL players want to play in the Olympics, but I am not totally convinced that the NHL absolutely needs it. … Some of the greatest moments in hockey were played with amateurs. I think we love Olympic hockey, regardless of who’s playing it” (“Around the Horn,” ESPN, 4/4). CNBC's Brian Sullivan said, "I love it, back to college kids" ("Power Lunch," CNBC, 4/4).

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING: In Vancouver, Ed Willes writes, "You just can’t help but feel there’s another act to be played here. But if we’ve learned anything over the years, it’s to never underestimate the greed or the stupidity of either the NHL or the IOC" (Vancouver PROVINCE, 4/5). In Winnipeg, Paul Friesen writes the NHL's decision is a "bargaining chip, about as far from patriotism and the Olympic spirit as you can get." Friesen: "In other words, it's typical NHL." Maybe "having this greedy, unfeeling corporate behemoth pull out of the Olympics wouldn't be such a bad thing." Friesen: "But perhaps we'd gain something else. Something closer to the Olympic ideal" (WINNIPEG SUN, 4/5). ESPN’s Sarah Spain said, “If you want to grow the game, and we know that they do because they are having at least two games that they have announced in China in advance of the Olympics there, then you need to compete competing in the Olympics. ... You are denying players what they want and you’re denying your game growth that it needs.” ESPN's Bill Plaschke: "Nothing does better for the NHL players than this. Nothing makes them more household names in America. Nothing gives them more cache' with non-sports fans, with non-hockey fans than this. This is a huge mistake” (“Around the Horn,” ESPN, 4/4).

CALLING FOR BACKUP: The NATIONAL POST's Michael Traikos writes, "Say goodbye to the A-Team and hello to the B-Team." Instead of Crosby and Blackhawks C Jonathan Toews, Team Canada could have KHL Fs Brandon Kozun and Max Talbot (NATIONAL POST, 4/5). In N.Y., Brett Cyrgalis writes, "As the NHL owners begin posturing in anticipation of another lockout, they have left their players with long faces" (N.Y. POST, 4/5). The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Matthew Futterman writes under the header, "The NHL's Odd Choice To Dodge The Olympic Spotlight" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 4/5). In N.Y., Christopher Clarey writes the Winter Games are "already on thin ice" even if the NHL's decision "turns out to be a negotiating ploy." PyeongChang has been a "brutal period for the newer, smaller, at-least-for-now-chillier version of the Games." Right To Play Founder Johann Olav Koss said, "The IOC needs to figure out new ways to engage cities, and I think the Winter Olympics seems to be the one suffering the most." Koss added, "I don’t think it’s an existential crisis for the Winter Olympics. ... Korea will be successful, and I think there are some things in Agenda 2020 that might be helpful, but it hasn’t been seen in practice yet" (N.Y. TIMES, 4/5).

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