So the true throwdown has been dealt by Gary Bettman to the NHLPA. There is almost the feeling of utter gloom as we head into the “Cemetery Gates”.
This song could not explain it any better.
The reality is this and this is a sad one. The agents are fighting the battles of the NHLPA in a sense. The NHLPA is headless, literally. This painting err script could not look more bleak if it tried. The cold reality is Jay Grossman better start fighting mad because his payday is going to leave for the KHL if this crazy mess is extended again. That possibility is increasing by the hour.
Lawsuts will come flying out from everywhere and even age discrimination suits at that. There are labor laws here and they do have to be followed and can be challenged, even if it does not result in a win. The bottom line is it will cost the NHL some $$$. It is pathetic that the NHLPA cannot even at least have an interim head in charge. Personally, I do not blame Donald Fehr for listing several demands along the way. Clearly, the NHLPA has check and mate from all ends and has to do something. Fehr knows this. He is extremely intelligent.
This situation will go right up to the 5pm ET deadline tomorrow. The only thing really at stake is potentially the future of the NHL. Who will blink first? Will anyone blink? There is just a potential that we could be at the precipice of “the beginning of the end”. Let’s hope for all of us, that it is not the case.
