Morning Mashup
Strapped for a mashup topic this morning, I was reading the latest doomsday talk from last night and thought it might be worthwhile to highlight a post from late last week courtesy of mc79 hockey (in case you missed it). If, like me, you're one of the poor souls trying to make sense of the countless 800-word articles containing the latest BS quotes spewing out of the parties involved, Tyler Dellow has done you a great service with this break down of the measurable gap between the NHL and NHLPA. [more…]
Despite this being "the most important week of negotiations", there's been basically nothing in terms of CBA/lockout news since last Thursday. It's nothing to panic about; after reading the solid material Mirtle at the Globe and mc79 have pumped out over the past few days, I'm pretty confident that we'll see a resolution to this whole thing soon. But until we do, let's enjoy the news and notes from other leagues, as well as a few history lessons and another look at how the Leafs may fare when this lockout ends.
Kyle the Reporter has some notes about the Marlies this week in his regular hot and cold article.
Michael at Vintage Leaf Memories asks "What's your first ever true "blue and white" Leafs' memory?"
According to the Gazette, Leafs fans have voted Bower the best goalie in team history.
Cam at The Leafs Nation discusses whether the team is well-positioned for the new NHL when this lockout ends.
Blue Chip Prospects takes a closer look at Captain Dion.
And lastly, Clarke MacArthur will join a team in 2nd Bundesliga of Germany.
So this week is do or die time for the 82 game season. Odds are we will see one last save face meeting between the league and PA and the result will be somewhat similar to what we’ve seen so far.
At this point neither side has been able to get past posturing and resentment. While I don’t doubt that the current proposals aren’t too far off of what will ultimately be the final deal, neither side is ready to make additional concessions.
For the NHLPA, there is a need to move to past the fact that this is the second recent lockout demanding serious concessions. That’s not to say don't voice concerns if they take issues with the current agreement, but as long as everything is being done relative to last CBA they won’t be able move forward. [more…]
The CBA winds are a swirlin'. With the NHL publicly releasing its latest proposal (awesome!) Wednesday, there's an intense mix of new information and analysis swirling in the twister of negotiation rhetoric. Getting too specific into an analysis of the main points would, frankly, be sort of a waste.
The NHL's proposal is the first they've made that isn't totally crazy, but that doesn't mean it will get a deal done. Breaking down the specifics seems kinda pointless, considering many of those specifics will undoubtedly change. I'll hold off getting to detailed for now. [more…]
Did we witness a breakthrough in CBA negotiations yesterday? At the least we finally saw some meaningful movement in the league's proposal of a 50/50 revenue split and no rollbacks on signed contracts (phrased more correctly, players will receive the full value of their contract over its duration through deferred salary). The counter proposal won't be tabled by the NHLPA until tomorrow (Thursday), and the details are still being pored over by the PA, but it had Donald Fehr calling it a seemingly excellent start (to paraphrase) towards getting hockey back in time to save the season. Don't go screaming hockey's back just yet, but there's finally some movement in the right direction.
It's maddening it took this long to take this step, but maybe the deadline the owners have been working with all along has been mid November, the approximate date by which the league can still save a full 82 game season and all of its revenue. Or so one can hope. [more…]
Photo: Carlos Osorio / Toronto Star
With CBA negotiations set to get going again today, a sort of bizarre chunk of news regarding the NHL's public relations plans came about yesterday evening. The league has hired a GOP strategist to test its PR moves, including what's being called the "shared sacrifice" pitch. [more…]
This past weekend would have been the opening weekend for the NHL, and certainly its absence is a little disappointing. What was not disappointing was the quality of hockey that was available this weekend. From a Leafs standpoint there were two Toronto Marlies games featuring some of the most exciting and promising players in the organization.
We received the reminder that Jake Gardiner is clearly above the AHL level of competition, and frankly I don’t recall him having as good a slapshot last season. We have seen that Kadri is in fact ready to be a full time NHLer. Ben Scrivens has shown that he’s worth a look in the NHL, Leo Komarov is in fact one hell of a SOB, Joe Colborne could be ready to break out of the AHL, and Hamilton and Kostka are more than capable of being plugs in the NHL as well. Then we watched the game on Sunday and began questioning every player and coach in the organization again. Most importantly, I think a lot people realized that AHL hockey isn’t a bad alternative, and at least we’ll get a chance to see a team with a Maple Leaf on their chests win a few games this year. [more…]
"In communications, familiarity breeds apathy." - William Bernbach
This isn't strictly speaking 'communications,' but Bernbach's quote certainly applies to the 2012-2013 (God, I hope it doesn't end up being known as that) NHL lockout. Bernbach himself had nothing to do with hockey. He was sort of a real-life Don Draper. But the apathy variable is one we're all starting to feel and, more importantly, acknowledge (in some cases, rather phenomenally). The familiarity is one with meaningless posturing, empty negotiation rhetoric, and unnecessary work stoppages.
Same old from the same old. Put simply, there comes a point where even the most passionate of us simply stop caring. [more…]
The NHL and PA will get together again today. Nothing will come of it, we'll complain about it on the internet, and there still won't be NHL hockey. At first I would've said "there still won't be hockey" but I've joined the folks who are pushing for other leagues to get attention. The NHL is the best hockey league on this planet, but it isn't the only one.
Recently Joffrey Lupul wrote an opinion piece over at AskMen.ca. And while I am disappointed I visited a site that looks to be a front for rohyphol sales, I was interested in hearing what Lupul had to say.
That led to disappointment number two. Joffrey Lupul isn’t interested in sharing his opinion so much as reciting the PA’s main talking points. Despite trying to make a point to the contrary, Lupul seemed to be making a plea to the fans: [more…]
As in, Red Dawn. Get it? Yeah, I'm not a fan of the title either. It was either that or "Dallas", but I don't have the time tonight to write a complicated and funny Marlies metaphor piece that ends with Bobby Ewing appearing and telling us the Leafs' disastrous previous season was all a dream. Much as I'd like to. [more…]
Hey everybody, if you weren't aware, there's a lockout going on. That leaves labour negotiations and prospects to talk about. I don’t feel like doing either today, so instead I’m going to revisit some quotes that are almost four years old.
On November 30th, 2008 Brian Burke entered the Toronto market with much fanfare and no shortage of soundbytes. He laid out his vision for the Leafs in that initial press conference. Today I’ll take a look at how good a job he’s done of living up to his vision. [more…]
