NHL owners were "largely uninformed about the spring and summer negotiations and had little or no time to examine the CBA before it was put to a vote," according to sources cited by Larry Brooks of the N.Y. POST. Now that the owners "understand the ramifications of the deal given the challenges of playing at least a largely spectator-free 2020-21, there is a group livid" at Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, with Bruins Owner Jeremy Jacobs "among them." Brooks wrote if there are a "half-dozen owners who don't want to play, there is a simple solution to the problem" -- they "should sell their teams" (N.Y. POST, 12/6). In Toronto, Damien Cox wrote the cancellation of the '20-21 season "wouldn't be great for business, of course." Cox: "Might a team or two be lost? Theoretically." But the league "could be well served from a business point of view if teams that contribute little or nothing to the overall health of the league (Florida, Arizona) went under," or, were "mothballed, then moved." Cox concluded, "Sports are going to get back to normal, folks. We just have to be patient" (TORONTO STAR, 12/4).
FIRST THINGS FIRST: ESPN’s Emily Kaplan said, “Right before the pandemic, (NHL Commissioner) Gary Bettman was boasting that the league was healthier than ever, and there’s no reason to believe that they won’t be on that trajectory again, especially with a new TV deal coming in 2021 and Seattle coming in. They just need to push through the next few months. The problem is a lot of owners don’t want to push through the next few months, and they’ve asked players to reopen their financial agreement. Before we even talk about (outdoor games), we have to have a labor agreement, and we all know in the NHL they don’t have the best track record for that” (“Around the Horn,” ESPN, 12/4).
