The NHL Lockout took yet another turn for the worst on Thursday when the league rejected the latest CBA proposal from the NHLPA.
"We're going to take a deep breath and look at where we are and what needs to be accomplished, but we have moved dramatically and we are proposing a long-term system that will pay the players billions and billions of dollars over its term, but we have to have a system that works right," said Commissioner Gary Bettman during a press conference in New York. "It's all part of the package. I am disappointed beyond belief that we are where we are tonight and we're going to have to take a deep breath and regroup."
Bettman and NHLPA Executive Donald Fehr were present at the meetings even though they were largely absent from the meetings the last two days. During those days the players and some owners met to try and sort out the negotiations. Positive energy emanated from those meetings and rumors had spread that a meeting could be struck by today. In fact, a podium was set up Wednesday night at around 10 PM EST and Twitter went wild as fans anticipated some sort of announcement.
However, the podium proved to foreshadow what ultimately came about on Thursday; a hopeful sign that turned into nothing fruitful. There are no future meetings scheduled.
Analysis
While disappointing, this is certainly not unexpected as it is a mirror of the entire process to date. One must start to wonder if Bettman and Fehr are not in fact the "cancer" that certain players have indicated they are. When the two were not present in the negotiations on Tuesday and Wednesday, there were talks of progress; the moment they returned to the negotiations, they hit another dead end. Is it time for Bettman and Fehr's jobs to be called into question? Is it time for the league to make a radical personnel move in order to push this process along? If not, the season could very be in peril.