Two interesting CBA tidbits came out this week as Gary Bettman met with the General Managers at their annual meeting. About all he could tell them was that they will find themselves operating with an announced salary cap that will likely not apply next season. The first interesting piece has Bettman on the CBA talks: [...]

David Staples attended this year’s MIT Sloan Analytics in Boston and reports out on Gary Bettman’s talk at the conference. Bettman’s remarks made David more optimistic about prospects for labour peace. They do not make me more optimistic. (I might agree with David if I had heard Bettman speak, but I’m assuming David has caught [...]

Rick Nash to Vancouver? Zero – and I mean zero – chance. Why on earth would the Canucks want to get Rick Nash now? That’s a terrible idea. Not only would he cost two or three of Schneider, Hodgson and Tanev, the Canucks would have to drop at least two other players to fit Nash [...]

James Mirtle has a good piece on the realignment issue, and the NHLPA decision to put the kibosh on Gary Bettman’s realignment plan. Most of the pundits – paid and unpaid – have interpreted the story as an opening salvo in an upcoming collective bargaining war with Donald Fehr and the players firing the first [...]

In the wake of the NBA settlement, a panel on Bob McCown’s show talked about the possibility of a work stoppage in the NHL next season. All participants thought a stoppage was likely but that it will not be a long one this time, presumably because the players will give up more quickly than they [...]

Greg Wyshynski has a good post about the disturbing attendance numbers coming out of Dallas. On Monday evening, the Dallas Stars hosted the Phoenix Coyotes in their second game of the season at American Airlines Center. The announced attendance — meaning tickets distributed, not fans inside the arena — was 6,306 spectators … or, as [...]

It’s not all bad news. League revenues continue to inch forward last year because the league has a solid core of hockey markets than are showing healthy increases every year. Gary Bettman can take credit for a CBA that is driving the best talent to the big media markets. Boston and Chicago have been reborn [...]

We are seeing more and more references to the expiring CBA and what will be in store for us after next season. First, there was this from Larry Brooks: This is what the league wanted to use as evidence that the system is hopelessly broken and tilted in favor of the big markets — the [...]

Bob McCown has been having fun blasting Brian Burke for his ridiculous comments on cap circumventing contracts. Here’s what Burke said: “To make it clear, we made a very substantial offer to Brad Richards. What we offered I don’t think is material. We lost out on the Brad Richards sweepstakes for two reasons. One, we [...]

As the final year of the NHL CBA approaches, the hockey media is beginning to spew out the type of story Gary Bettman wants to read about the subject. The shorter version? The NHL system is fundamentally flawed and the only possible solution is to take money away from the players and give it to [...]