When A Goalie Is A Hill

The most popular phrase in hockey these days has become "the hill we will die on."

Poor Bill Daly. He's a smart, talented lawyer and able administrator, but that one turn of phrase is going to follow him around for a while.

But now everyone's using the phrase, both seriously and in jest. So let's join the crowd and wonder, "Is James Reimer the hill that Brian Burke will die on?"

Ever since Reimer stole the hearts of Leaf fans two seasons ago and earned himself a big-league contract, Burke has been his biggest backer, calling him "the real deal," even when the evidence suggested otherwise.

Right now, Reimer is the unchallenged No. 1 man in the Leaf crease heading towards this week's training camp, with Jonas Gustavsson having bolted for Detroit with Leaf management holding the gate open.

Only Ben Scrivens can stop Reimer now.

Or Roberto Luongo, of course.

That is now the biggest guessing game in town. Some pundits have predicted the deal is already done and Luongo will be a Leaf as soon as trades are again allowed.

Others, some in places that should know, suggest otherwise. Burke hasn't been shy to tell people that he is all but 100 per cent committed to going with Reimer and Scrivens as his two goalies this season.

Maybe its a bluff. But when he says stuff like that, you can almost envision him setting his jaw. And that's that.

It may well be that he simply doesn't want to trade for Luongo, that he has convinced himself that Reimer is the better path. If his job wasn't on the line, and if the pressure wasn't going to be immense for the Leafs to make post-season play, he might even be correct.

But right now, Luongo is the better goalie, and offers the team a better chance today of making the playoffs. Nobody would pay a huge ransom to get him because of his awkward contract, but you may not have to.

Burke, however, doesn't see it that way, and unless Vancouver GM Mike Gillis essentially hands Luongo to the Leafs for all but nothing in return, the Leaf GM may not be interested.

Now, maybe he changes his mind two weeks into this truncated season when he's seen what he's actually got between the pipes. Problem is, a bad start might sink a team. Going after Luongo in early February might be too late.

So we'll see which of these scenarios turns out to be the case. Burke has been very quiet of late, and just got back from Russia. Nobody seems to know exactly what he's thinking at the moment.

But going with Reimer and saying "screw off" to those who believe it's too risky might just be an idea that appeals to Burke. In Vancouver, he defended and backed Dan Cloutier until the bitter end in the face of considerable evidence that Cloutier was never going to take the Canucks anywhere.

Now is Reimer going to be Toronto's version of Cloutier? 

Only Burke seems to know his own mind on this one. 

 

Game Back On

Dawn in Manhattan brought the news that the NHL is back.

A frustrating 113-day lockout ended at around 5 a.m. on Sunday morning when NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHL Players Association Don Fehr jointly announced the two-sides had agreed to a long-term deal that guarantees labour peace until 2020.

"We have reached an agreement on the framework of a new collective bargaining agreement, the details of which need to be put to paper," Bettman told a scrum of reporters. "We've got to dot a lot of i's and cross a lot of t's. There's still a lot of work to be done but the basic framework of the deal has been agreed upon."

Both sides must still ratify the deal. Players competing in European leagues have already started to make plans to head back to North America, however, and attention will quickly turn to many unsigned free agents, both restricted and unrestricted.

The agreement came after a marathon 16-hour session in which both sides compromised on key issues.

"I'm really happy a deal has been reached," said Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby told Pittsburgh media.

We've learned from the last agreement in 2005 that identifying a winner out of the process too early is a mistake. The best that can be said that this was a concessionary scenario in which the players took a major paycut (about 12.5 per cent) but by bargaining tenaciously were able to make small gains and hold their ground on several key fronts.

The NHL fretted for months that Fehr, the fourth NHLPA executive director since 2004, wouldn't be able to close a deal. Well, he did finally, although it could be an arrangement that will severely restrict player earnings if revenues of the game don't bounce back and grow in the next few years.

Bettman, meanwhile, avoided losing a second season to a lockout. However, after his third lockout in 18 years, Bettman has suffered significant damage to his personal prestige and his relationship with the players association.

The final leg of this journey kicked in 10 days ago when Bettman broke a three-week standoff by making a new offer to the players. On Jan. 2, the players decided not to take the first legal steps to dissolve their union, and that appeared to kickstart the dynamic that ended the lockout.

The intervention of federal mediator Scot Beckenbaugh partway through the week played a big role.

"Both sides moved," said Winnipeg Jets defenceman Ron Hainsey.

The highlights:

--Will be 48- or 50-game season, competition within conference only. Camps could open as early as Wednesday, season could begin as early as Jan. 15.

--10 year agreement, opt out provisions at eight years.

--50-50 revenue split, although union gets $300 million of "make whole" payments to soften landing into new system.

--Salary cap this year at $70 million, next year drops to $64.3 million with floor at $44 million. Players could face sharply increased escrow payments, which they hate.

--Contracts (no limit previously) now limited to seven years, except players can re-sign with their own team for eight years.

--$200 million in revenue sharing.

--Arbitration walkaways now limited to awards over $3.5 million.

--New draft lottery system in which all 14 teams will have a shot at first overall pick. Under old system, could only move up a maximum four slots.

--Within a contract, salaries can vary by no more than 35% from year-to-year, and by no more than 50% from the highest salary to the lowest.

--It is expected NHLers will compete in the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia, although there's still work to be done on that issue.

--New system on supplementary discipline, players who get more than 6 games can appeal to a neutral third party.

--Teams will be able to use two "amnesty" buyouts next summer that won't count against salary cap.

--Players achieve gains in pensions, moving from defined contribution plan to defined benefit plan.

"The pension is the centre-piece for the players," said Hainsey, one of the key players involved in the talks.

The Maple Leafs, meanwhile, have 22 players under contract, with only defenceman Cody Franson unsigned among the veterans. As it stands, GM Brian Burke insists he plans to go with the goaltending tandem of James Reimer and possibly Ben Scrivens, although the rumour mill will now go wild over the possibility of the Leafs acquiring Roberto Luongo from the Vancouver Canucks.

Juniors Morgan Rielly and David Broll will be invited to the Leaf training camp when it opens later this week.

 

 

 

Oh Those Tabloids

NEW YORK--Rex Ryan probably can't run, and he definitely can't hide. At least not very well.

The embattled New York Jets coach, who somehow survived this week when GM Mike Tannenbaum was canned, was located in the Bahamas at a swanky resort this week by the New York Post. No problem there, given that the Jets didn't make the post-season, although the Post and other media outlets are in a snit over the fact Ryan hasn't had a post-season media session yet and won't until next week.

So nice detective work by the Post.

Then, as is the case in the highly competitive Manhattan market - and please, just shush the next time you want to suggest Toronto is a "tough" place for hockey players because of the media pressure - the New York Daily News did the Post one better.

It produced photos of a sunbathing Ryan today http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/myers-rex-marked-man-tat-pic-article-1.1232819. Not just any photos, but ones that clearly show a tattoo on Ryan's right bicep that appears to illustrate his wife in a suggestive posewearing nothing but a Jets jersey with Mark Sanchez's No. 6 on it. 

I kid you not. And we in Toronto thought we hit the comic gold mine with Rob Ford.

Forget the general creepiness of the tattoo for just a moment. Rather, consider that the Jets were 6-10 mostly with Sanchez at quarterback, and mosty with Ryan insisting Sanchez should stay the quarterback week-after-week despite an abnormally high turnover ratio.

If you're Tim Tebow still confused as to why the Jets traded for you and then didn't let you play, this would supply some evidence that the coach maybe liked the other guy a little better, don't you think?

Hard to imagine how Ryan survives this mess on top of his lousy season in which he seemed to have few answers for the unfolding disaster.

 

 

 

Past the Midnight Hour

NEW YORK--It was a bit disappointing. Like Y2K. Or the Comet Kohoutek. Or Bill Caudill as a Blue Jay.

Maybe we expected too much. Maybe we expected midnight in New York to come with a clap of thunder to signify something momentous happening in the bargaining between locked out NHLers and league negotiators.

After all, for weeks we'd been talking about a Jan. 2 deadline, a looming midnight deadline, by which the players would have to decide whether or not to mimick their NBA brethren and effectively dissolve their union as a way to try and use legal leverage to force a settlement. It's called a disclaimer of interest, and when the talks broke off early Thursday morning at about 1 a.m., the media covering these talks were eager to find out if such a disclaimer had been filed.

Don Fehr, head of the NHLPA, emerged first and refused to say whether there had or had not been a file of disclaimer, which was rather odd.

No such problem with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. 

"The word disclaimer has yet to be uttered to us by the players association," said a weary Bettman. "We have not been notified."

So much for all the buildup and fuss. One supposes that either the union never intended to use the strategy, or decided not to after three days of somewhat productive talks with Bettman and Co. For now, anyways, it's off the table, as the players would have to go back to their membership and ask for renewed permission for the executive committee to go down that path.

So where does that leave us?

Still without a deal. As Wednesday turned into Thursday, however, there were some interesting bits and pieces.

For starters, federal mediator Scot Beckenbaugh was involved on Wednesday, and apparently has been involved all week, although neither side had previousy mentioned it. Beckenbaugh has asked the two sides to meet at 10 a.m. on Thursday - Fehr for some reason declined to even confirm that - to push on, with Bettman reporting "some progress" and Fehr saying the "parties have moved closer" on some issues.

"It's sort of like if you have a river to cross, you either have to build a bridge or you have to do something else, if you're going to cross the river," said a tired-looking Fehr.

Whatever that meant.

While the issue of player pensions was the big issue on Tuesday, Wednesday the focus apparently turned to the issue of where the salary cap would be set next season after a $70 million cap was used to finish off this year.

The league wants a floor of $44 million for smaller market teams and a cap of $60 million for 2013-14. The players want the cap to be $65 million, even though it would create larger escrow payments, and its now believed the players haven't asked for a cap on escrow.

The league doesn't want the cap to go to $65 million because it would raise the floor to $49 million, higher than some teams can handle.

The league has already apparently agreed to two amnesty buyouts, rather than one, which is a small victory for the players. Those buyouts wouldn't count against the cap and would allow for more movement in the system.

The pension issue remains unresolved. The two sides have, however, apparently come to a meeting of the minds on the so-called variance issue, which is how much a salary can vary year to year within a single contract. The NHL wants to put a halt to the the "back-diving" contracts, and now may be will to go higher on the variance, probably to 20 per cent to meet the union's request.

So there are small bits of progress, but still some medium-sized mountains to cover.

Nobody has yet walked away. Nobody has yet turned to the court system. Both could theoretically still happen, but the fact they have not is what passes for progress in this drawn-out labour dispute.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inch By Inch

NEW YORK--Big day today any way it goes.

If it goes spectacularly well, sure there could be a tentative agreement between the NHL and NHLPA today. 

If it goes off the rails completely, the union may file notice that it intends to dissolve itself as a bargaining organization through the courts.

Or it could go well and there could be no agreement. Or it could go just fine but the players decide to file a "disclaimer of interest" anyway.

Lots of variables, lots of opportunities, lots of landmines. The suggestion is there could be a meeting this morning, but yesterday the league kept the players waiting for nine hours before the two sides finally got together for about 45 minutes at 9 p.m.

Forecasting the time of day when the stars are aligned correctly and these two warring sides choose to actually sit down has been a mug's game for a while now. 

So let's talk the disclaimer. We're not going to get into all the gory details here, but certainly it is equal parts legal maneuver and equal parts delicate public relations at this point.

Maybe the the league wants to dare the union to go ahead with this threat, and then laugh in it's face if it doesn't. That would be unfortunate because the union has shown more resolve and unity in this lockout than in the last, and what's needed here isn't schoolyard brinksmanship.

It's odd because many industries would dearly love to see a union go kaput. In this one, however, it could mean chaos, altering the way in which NHL owners and players have done business for 45 years. The NHL doesn't want to see the union go out of business even if it means Don Fehr wouldn't darken their doorstep again.

But understand this; the Jan. 2 deadline is a union deadline, imposed when the membership gave the executive committee the authority to go down this path if necessary. In theory, this deadline could pass, and then the players could vote again and give that authority again. So its not like the disclaimer threat disappears entirely if today passes without the players filing the necessary paperwork.

So double-dog-daring them to do it is rather pointless. Today's disclaimer deadline could pass, and the union could still decide to file later this week or next week.

Still, playing the disclaimer card today would certainly drop a chill over the talks, and fans might not look kindly on that kind of ploy at this stage of the proceedings.

Really, it seems unnecessary, if only because so many pieces are there for a deal.

We're no longer talking about 20 or more issues. We're down to four or five, one of the most prominent, surprisingly, being pensions, and the formula through which the league would be liable for a shortfall down the road.

Pensions are a symbolic and highly flammable issue between the league and the players because of the unflattering NHL history on the issue, the way in which stars of the past are suffering with woefully insufficient pensions today and the way in which players today want to make sure there's something set aside they can count on down the road.

It's a sticky issue. But resolvable. it would also be one area the NHLPA would be able to point to as a gain for its membership.

Then there's CBA length, contract terms and the variance issue (how much salary can vary over the term of one contract). Also left to be bargained are the salary cap for this year and next and the escrow complications that go with it. While represented as an issue that affects mostly players, it also affects franchises as they put teams together and try to win back customers.

Again, sticky stuff. But resolvable.

That's where we are heading into today.