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Bettman and Fehr both cautious toward upcoming labour talks

NEWARK, N.J.— ERIC DUHATSCHEK, Globe and Mail, May 30 2012

They were separated by roughly 40 feet Wednesday for most of Gary Bettman’s state of the union address, the NHL commissioner at the podium, addressing a room full of reporters, NHL players association director Donald Fehr at the back of the room, listening carefully.

It remains to be seen if the divide between the two men grows greater in the weeks and months ahead.

Bettman confirmed that at long last, the NHL and the players association have exchanged dates to begin the process of negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement. Fehr said not to read too much into that development, however, because it was simply “due course” stuff.

Officially, the CBA expires on Sept. 15 and both Bettman and Fehr circled carefully around the issue of how the process might unfold.

Some believe that the two sides are inevitably on a collision course, seven years after they lost a full season (2004-05) to a lockout.

But Bettman brushed aside that suggestion, on the grounds that the two sides have not had “a substantive discussion” on what they may be looking for in collective bargaining, so to suggest that they are at loggerheads already would be premature.

Fehr, too, adopted a cautious posture.

“I have learned that making predictions in this business is a bit of a foolish enterprise,” said Fehr. “Too many things can happen that can cause you to change course. Sometimes, significant things appear significant right away, and other times, they don’t. In this particular circumstance, I feel even less comfortable than doing it, much less than in baseball, because I don’t have the experience with the people or the direct issues.”

Last month, the NHL gave the obligatory 120-day notice that it would terminate the current CBA. Bettman indicated that seven years was as long as he imagined the accord lasting, even as he announced record revenues of $3.3 billion. Revenues are not to be confused with profit and loss, however, a subject that Bettman was unwilling to broach.

“We love labor peace,” said Bettman. “Labor peace is preferable to the alternative.”

Both the National Football League and the National Basketball Associations endured labor issues this past season, but both were ultimately able to negotiate new contracts without losing a full year.

“All I can say is, with all the talk about other sports, the one that is far and away the most stable is baseball,” said Fehr, who joined the NHLPA, after years in charge of the major league baseball’s player union.

Fehr said he has spent most of the past two years, getting up to speed on the issues that separate the industries of hockey and baseball.

“I find myself always wondering if I actually understand it right, so I want to make sure. That’s why I have a good staff. I’m talking to players all the time. That’s why I’m not the slightest bit bashful about asking questions and seeking assistance from anybody who may be able to assist the players in this regard.

“But if the question is, am I worried about our ability to negotiate the agreement, I’m not.”

Bettman had one other piece of interesting information to disseminate. A year after unveiling the league’s new player safety department on the day of Game 1 in Vancouver, Bettman said that the 2011-12 season saw a “modest decline in concussions.

“It’s the first time in three years that this figure has declined; and this despite even more aggressive diagnoses and even more conservative treatment,” said Bettman, who believes “that player behaviour is beginning to change. We have seen countless examples this season, where players have altered their path to a hit or to a play. The fact is, with over 50,000 hits in a season, we’re in the low double digits of the ones that we need to continue to work to get out of the game.”

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
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