NHL rejects players' offer to break labor impasse

NEW YORK (AP) — Instead of closing in on a deal, the NHL and the players' association are further apart than ever before. Union executive director Donald Fehr began the first of his two news conferences Thursday night by proclaiming he believed the sides had agreements on such issues as actual dollars, and then returned moments later to reveal the NHL rejected everything his side offered. Hot-button topics such as the "make-whole" provision on existing contracts not only weren't settled, but are no longer being offered by the league. Forget that owners were willing to pay up to $300 million to cover the costs, now Commissioner Gary Bettman is saying the entire concept is off the table — along with everything else the league proposed during the previous two days of talks. "They knew there was a major gulf between us and yet they came down here and told you we were close," deputy commissioner Bill Daly said. Fehr vehemently disputed that assessment and stuck to his opinion that the sides really aren't far apart, saying they are "clearly very close if not on top of one another." When the NHL agreed to increase its make-whole offer of deferred payments from $211 million to $300 million it was part of a proposed package that required the union to agree on three nonnegotiable points. Instead, the players' association accepted the raise in funds, but then made counterproposals on the issues the league stated had no wiggle room. That ended Thursday's delayed meeting after just an hour and sent the NHL negotiating team back to the league office. "I am disappointed beyond belief," Bettman said. "We're going to take a deep breath and look back at where we are and what needs to be accomplished." The sides won't meet again before Saturday at the earliest. While Bettman insisted that a drop-dead date for a deal that would preserve a season with "integrity" hasn't been established — even internally — clearly there isn't a lot of time to work out an agreement. "I'm surprised," Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby said. "We feel like we moved in their direction." The 2004-05 season was lost completely before the players' association accepted a deal that included a salary cap for the first time. While no major philosophical issues such as that exist in these negotiations, the sides still don't appear to be ready to come to an agreement. "It looks like this is not going to be resolved in the immediate future," Fehr said. A 48-game season was played in 1995 after a lockout stretched into January. Bettman said he wouldn't have a season shorter than that. As Donald Fehr was painting a positive picture, Daly was calling Fehr's brother, Steve — the union's special counsel — to say that the NHL was rejecting the players' counteroffer. Once the union was unwilling to accept the league's three main conditions, nothing else mattered. "Not only is it unusual, I would be hard-pressed to think of anything comparable in my experience," Steve Fehr said about the instant rejection. The NHL wants to limit personal player contracts to five years, seven for a club's own player, and has elevated the issue to the highest level of importance. The union countered with an offer of an eight-year maximum length with the variable in salary being no greater than a 25 percent difference between the highest-paid year of the deal and the lowest. "It's the hill we will die on," said Daly, who added that the owners were "insulted" by the players' response to the owners' offer Wednesday night. The other sticking points the NHL demanded of the players are a 10-year term on the new agreement, with a mutual opt-out option after eight years, and no compliance buy-outs or caps on escrow in the transition phase to the new structure. The union presented an offer of an eight-year deal with a reopener after six. The NHL believes that the union merely wants to take the parts of the offer it wants and then try to negotiate on the other conditions that make those parts possible. "The take or give or bottom line on all this is it appears that the union is suggesting because we made substantial movements in certain areas that we're close to a deal," Bettman said. "Those moves were contingent on the union specifically agreeing on other things, which while the union may have moved toward, didn't agree to." Talks resumed Tuesday night with owners and players in the room, and Bettman and Donald Fehr on the outside. It sparked what seemed to be the most optimistic developments in the lockout that has lasted 82 days. But the tenor began to change Wednesday, and discourse erupted on a wild Thursday night that featured three news conferences in the span of an unprecedented hour of chaos. The sides went from not wanting to say much of anything Wednesday to not being able to stop voicing their opinions Thursday. When the players suggested Wednesday night that they wanted Donald Fehr to rejoin the negotiations Thursday, the NHL informed them that his inclusion could be a "deal-breaker." "We thought we were getting close. There was definitely movement toward each other," Winnipeg Jets defenseman Ron Hainsey said. "As confident as some of us players are in the issues, we cannot close deals. I'd love to think I could, we cannot." Donald and Steve Fehr were in Thursday's session, as were Daly and lead league counsel Bob Batterman. None of the six owners who attended the meetings Tuesday and Wednesday were present, though some players were. Steve Fehr and a number of players stood in the back of the room with arms folded as Bettman and Daly stood at the podium to present the league's position. There were already signs the process was breaking down earlier Thursday when the union requested that federal mediators rejoin the discussions. A similar request was turned down by the league earlier this week. Mediators previously were unsuccessful in creating a breakthrough after two days of discussions last week. Without mediation, and the NHL's preference to keep Donald Fehr away from the table, the players became a bit miffed. Negotiations resumed a little after 2 p.m. Wednesday and proceeded in fits and starts as the league and the players' association searched for an agreement. As they had the day before, talks went deep into the night, breaking two hours for dinner before finishing in the early morning hours. One point of contention is the length of a new contract, with owners looking for a 10-year pact, and players wanting a shorter term. The league also is seeking to limit the length of individual player contracts to five years. "What we got today, quite frankly and disappointingly, missed the mark on all three respects," Daly said. "So for the union to suggest somehow we are close, is cherry picking and it's unfortunate." Some hope emerged Tuesday in the first round of talks that kept Bettman on the outside along with Fehr, while six owners and about 18 players talked inside. The positive feeling carried over into Wednesday morning when various team executives said they heard good reports during an NHL board of governors meeting. There were no owners present for the final round of talks Thursday, but those who joined the process for the first time during the week expressed their disappointment following the breakdown in negotiations. "Regrettably, we have been unable to close the divide on some critical issues that we feel are essential to the immediate and long-term health of our game," Winnipeg Jets chairman Mark Chipman said in a statement released by the NHL. "While I sense there are some members of the players association that understand our perspective on these issues, clearly there are many that don't." The sides are trying to avoid another lost season. The NHL became the first North American professional sports league to cancel a full year because of a labor dispute back in 2005. The deal reached then was in place until this September, and the lockout was enacted on Sept. 16 after that agreement expired. "While trust was built and progress was made along the way, unfortunately, our proposal was rejected by the Union's leadership," Toronto Maple Leafs minority owner Larry Tanenbaum said in a statement. "My love for the game is only superseded by my commitment to our fans, and I hold out hope we can soon join with our players and return the game back to its rightful place on the ice. All games through Dec. 14, along with the New Year's Day Winter Classic and the All-Star game, have been wiped off the schedule. More cancellations could be coming within days. "I am very disappointed and disillusioned," Tanenbaum said. "Had I not experienced this process myself, I might not have believed it."

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UPDATE 3-NHL-Labor talks between owners and players collapse

* Union says proposal offered "quick end' to dispute * NHL says union ignored its demands in latest proposal (Recasts with new quotes, details) NEW YORK, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Hopes for a quick end to the National Hockey League's labor dispute were dashed on Thursday when the latest round of talks broke down. No further negotiations were scheduled as the two feuding sides pointed the finger of blame at each other after three days of negotiations that began positively ended on a sour note. "I am disappointed beyond belief that we are where we are tonight," said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. "We're going to have to take a deep breath and regroup." With the sides no closer to finding an agreement, time is running out to salvage something from a season that was due to start in early October but is now in danger of being cancelled altogether because of the labor dispute. "It looks like this is not going to be resolved in the immediate future," said Donald Fehr, the Executive Director of the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA). Fehr's bleak forecast came just moments after he had triumphantly announced that a resolution was imminent, telling reporters at a midtown Manhattan hotel that the sides were close to agreement on most of the major issues. He said both sides had resolved their differences over player pensions and money, one of the key sticking points, and players had presented a revised eight-year deal collective bargaining agreement which they expected the league to accept. "(We are) clearly very close if not on top of one another in connection with most of the major issues," Fehr said. But within minutes of finishing the conference, the union boss returned to the podium and announced the NHL had rejected the proposal and pulled some of their previous offers from the table. "We were advised in a voicemail message that the moves the players made were not acceptable, there was no reason to stay around for meetings tonight or tomorrow, that they would be in touch," said Fehr. Bettman later held his own conference, explaining the NHL's position, and saying he did not know why Fehr suggested the sides were close when they never were. "I don't know why he did that," Bettman said. "I found it almost incomprehensible that he did it." REFUSAL TO BUDGE Bettman said owners went out of their way to improve their offer but the union refused to budge on key issues, including demands for a 10-year agreement. Bettman and Fehr had agreed to stay away from the talks in the hope their absence might lead to a speedy resolution after the previous talks last week, involving federal mediators, also collapsed. Instead, a select group of players sat down face-to-face with a handful of team owners to try and thrash out an agreement. Both sides appeared optimistic after marathon talks over the first two days but the mood changed when Fehr and the NHL's counsel joined the negotiations on Wednesday. "I was optimistic and conveyed my optimism to the board of governors at our Wednesday meeting. However, when we reconvened with the players on Wednesday afternoon, it was like someone had thrown a switch," said Toronto Maple Leafs minority owner Larry Tanenbaum, who was at the meetings. "The atmosphere had completely changed. Nevertheless, the owners tried to push forward and made a number of concessions and proposals, which were not well-received. I question whether the union is interested in making an agreement." The lockout, which the NHL has said is costing it about $18-$20 million per day, is centered around a dispute over how to split the league's $3.3 billion revenue. It is the fourth work stoppage in 20 years for the NHL and the first since a lockout wiped out the entire 2004-05 season. "I came here optimistic that we could find a solution. That sense of optimism grew after our first few sessions, including the small group discussions late last night," Mark Chipman, an owner of the Winnipeg Jets who was involved in this week's meetings, said in a statement. "Regrettably, we have been unable to close the divide on some critical issues that we feel are essential to the immediate and long-term health of our game." (Editing by Julian Linden)

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NHL labor talks between owners and players collapse

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hopes for a quick end to the National Hockey League's labor dispute were dashed on Thursday when the latest round of talks broke down. No further negotiations were scheduled as the two feuding sides pointed the finger of blame at each other after three days of negotiations that began positively ended on a sour note. "I am disappointed beyond belief that we are where we are tonight," said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. "We're going to have to take a deep breath and regroup." With the sides no closer to finding an agreement, time is running out to salvage something from a season that was due to start in early October but is now in danger of being canceled altogether because of the labor dispute. "It looks like this is not going to be resolved in the immediate future," said Donald Fehr, the Executive Director of the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA). Fehr's bleak forecast came just moments after he had triumphantly announced that a resolution was imminent, telling reporters at a midtown Manhattan hotel that the sides were close to agreement on most of the major issues. He said both sides had resolved their differences over player pensions and money, one of the key sticking points, and players had presented a revised eight-year deal collective bargaining agreement which they expected the league to accept. "(We are) clearly very close if not on top of one another in connection with most of the major issues," Fehr said. But within minutes of finishing the conference, the union boss returned to the podium and announced the NHL had rejected the proposal and pulled some of their previous offers from the table. "We were advised in a voicemail message that the moves the players made were not acceptable, there was no reason to stay around for meetings tonight or tomorrow, that they would be in touch," said Fehr. Bettman later held his own conference, explaining the NHL's position, and saying he did not know why Fehr suggested the sides were close when they never were. "I don't know why he did that," Bettman said. "I found it almost incomprehensible that he did it." REFUSAL TO BUDGE Bettman said owners went out of their way to improve their offer but the union refused to budge on key issues, including demands for a 10-year agreement. Bettman and Fehr had agreed to stay away from the talks in the hope their absence might lead to a speedy resolution after the previous talks last week, involving federal mediators, also collapsed. Instead, a select group of players sat down face-to-face with a handful of team owners to try and thrash out an agreement. Both sides appeared optimistic after marathon talks over the first two days but the mood changed when Fehr and the NHL's counsel joined the negotiations on Wednesday. "I was optimistic and conveyed my optimism to the board of governors at our Wednesday meeting. However, when we reconvened with the players on Wednesday afternoon, it was like someone had thrown a switch," said Toronto Maple Leafs minority owner Larry Tanenbaum, who was at the meetings. "The atmosphere had completely changed. Nevertheless, the owners tried to push forward and made a number of concessions and proposals, which were not well-received. I question whether the union is interested in making an agreement." The lockout, which the NHL has said is costing it about $18-$20 million per day, is centered around a dispute over how to split the league's $3.3 billion revenue. It is the fourth work stoppage in 20 years for the NHL and the first since a lockout wiped out the entire 2004-05 season. "I came here optimistic that we could find a solution. That sense of optimism grew after our first few sessions, including the small group discussions late last night," Mark Chipman, an owner of the Winnipeg Jets who was involved in this week's meetings, said in a statement. "Regrettably, we have been unable to close the divide on some critical issues that we feel are essential to the immediate and long-term health of our game."

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Optimism turns to despair as NHL talks break off

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Fehr thought he and the hockey players he leads were close to a deal to save the season. The NHL said not so fast, and then took away everything that created all the optimism in the first place. When the 82nd day of the lockout was over, it was hard not to think the sides were thrown back to the very start of the fight. The problem is this is not the summer or even October. It's December, and there isn't much time left to reach the elusive deal and get back on the ice. Most of Thursday, NHL negotiators waited for the players' association to wrap up internal discussions and get back to them regarding a proposal the league made Wednesday night. Owners greatly increased the amount of dollars they were willing to pay on the "make-whole" provision to compensate players in transitioning to the new collective bargaining agreement. But that price came with a cost: Three conditions the NHL required the players to agree to if they wanted the influx of funds. The league wasn't looking to negotiate on those points on Thursday. It wanted a yes or no answer. When management didn't get it, negotiators got up after only an hour together and left. Fehr didn't take that as a negative response when he stood in front of a large throng of reporters in a Manhattan hotel and proclaimed that agreements had been all but reached on key issues, and a full deal could be reached in short order. "If we can get a positive response and conclude this, hopefully it doesn't take long," Fehr said. Then things took a wild and unprecedented turn. While players were talking to reporters, they were told to return to the podium where they had flanked Fehr moments before. Word spread that Fehr was coming back to speak again, and when he did, the tone and the news were nowhere near as hopeful. "There has been a development. It's not a positive one," he said. "We have been advised in a voice mail message that the moves the players made were not acceptable. There was no reason to stay around tonight or tomorrow, that they would be in touch. And that something — everything is off the table. "We don't know what that means." They would soon find out when NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly took Fehr's place at the podium and gave their side of the story. Three news conferences in the span of an hour turned the talk from whether there could be a deal in days to conversations questioning whether an agreement could be made at all. "I find it almost incomprehensible he did that," the visibly angry Bettman said of Fehr's positive spin. "I am disappointed beyond belief that we are where we are. I need to take a deep breath and try to regroup." Hot-button topics such as the "make-whole" provision on existing contracts not only weren't settled, but are no longer being offered by the league. Forget that owners were willing to pay up to $300 million to cover the costs, now Bettman is saying the entire concept is off the table — along with everything else the league proposed during the previous two days of marathon talks. When the NHL agreed to increase its offer of payments from $211 million, it was part of a proposed package that required the union to agree to three nonnegotiable points. The players' association accepted the raise, but then made counterproposals on the issues the league stated had no wiggle room. "We put 100 million dollars on the table and it was received with silence," Bettman said of the union's response to the offer Wednesday night. The NHL wants to limit personal player contracts to five years, seven for a club's own player, and has elevated the issue to the highest level of importance. "It's the hill we will die on," Daly said. The union countered with an offer of an eight-year maximum length with the variable in salary being no greater than a 25 percent difference between the highest-paid year of the deal and the lowest. The other NHL demands are a 10-year term on the new agreement, with a mutual opt-out option after eight years, and no compliance buyouts or caps on escrow in the transition phase to the new structure. The union presented an offer of an eight-year deal with a reopener after six. "The take or give or bottom line on all this is it appears that the union is suggesting because we made substantial movements in certain areas that we're close to a deal," Bettman said. "Those moves were contingent on the union specifically agreeing on other things, which while the union may have moved toward, didn't agree to." Bettman added that the six owners involved with the negotiations were taken aback by the players' reaction to what the NHL felt was a major concession. As soon as the players wanted to negotiate the corresponding demands, the NHL felt it had nothing left to talk about. "They knew there was a major gulf between us and yet they came down here and told you we were close," Daly said. Fehr vehemently disputed that assessment and stuck to his opinion that the sides really aren't far apart, saying they are "clearly very close if not on top of one another." The sides won't meet again before Saturday at the earliest. While Bettman insisted that a drop-dead date for a deal that would preserve a season with "integrity" hasn't been established — even internally — clearly there isn't a lot of time to work out an agreement. "I'm surprised. We feel like we moved in their direction," Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby said. The 2004-05 season was lost before the players' association accepted a deal that included a salary cap for the first time. While no major philosophical issues such as that exist now, the sides don't appear ready to come to an agreement. "It looks like this is not going to be resolved in the immediate future," Fehr said. A 48-game season was played in 1995 after a lockout stretched into January. Bettman said he wouldn't have a season shorter than that. Union special counsel Steve Fehr was stunned by the NHL's quick rejection of the players' offer. He missed Daly's call that came during Donald Fehr's initial news conference. "Not only is it unusual, I would be hard-pressed to think of anything comparable in my experience," he said of the instant rejection. Talks resumed Tuesday night with owners and players in the room, and Bettman and Donald Fehr on the outside. It sparked what seemed to be the most optimistic developments in the lockout. But the tenor began to change Wednesday, and the discourse erupted Thursday. "The sense of optimism almost inexplicably disappeared Wednesday afternoon after such a good day Tuesday," Bettman said. When the players suggested Wednesday night that they wanted Donald Fehr to rejoin the negotiations Thursday, the NHL informed them that his inclusion could be a deal-breaker. "We thought we were getting close. There was definitely movement toward each other," Winnipeg Jets defenseman Ron Hainsey said. "As confident as some of us players are in the issues, we cannot close deals. I'd love to think I could, we cannot." Donald and Steve Fehr were in Thursday's session, as were Daly and lead league counsel Bob Batterman. Steve Fehr and a number of players stood in the back of the room with arms folded as Bettman and Daly presented the league's position Thursday. There were already signs the process was breaking down earlier when the union requested that federal mediators rejoin the discussions. Mediators previously were unsuccessful in creating a breakthrough after two days of discussions last week. "What we got today, quite frankly and disappointingly, missed the mark," Daly said. "For the union to suggest somehow we are close, is cherry picking and it's unfortunate." The owners who joined the process this week expressed their disappointment, too. "Regrettably, we have been unable to close the divide on some critical issues that we feel are essential to the immediate and long-term health of our game," Winnipeg Jets chairman Mark Chipman said in a statement released by the NHL. "While I sense there are some members of the players' association that understand our perspective on these issues, clearly there are many that don't." The sides are trying to avoid another lost season. The NHL became the first North American professional sports league to cancel a full year because of a labor dispute back in 2005. The deal reached then was in place until this September, and the lockout was enacted when it expired. "While trust was built and progress was made along the way, unfortunately, our proposal was rejected by the union's leadership," Toronto Maple Leafs minority owner Larry Tanenbaum said in a statement. "My love for the game is only superseded by my commitment to our fans, and I hold out hope we can soon join with our players and return the game back to its rightful place on the ice." All games through Dec. 14, along with the New Year's Day Winter Classic and the All-Star game, have been wiped off the schedule.

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Crosby mulling options as NHL lockout drags on

* isn't known when the league and the players' association would get back together. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) less CANONSBURG, Pa. (AP) — Sidney Crosby just wants to get back to work. At this point, where he takes the ice hardly matters. The Pittsburgh Penguins star said Friday the prospect of lacing up his skates in Europe is growing more appealing as the NHL lockout nears the three-month mark. The latest round of talks between owners and players broke down Thursday night, leaving Crosby "disappointed" and considering other opportunities. "I just want to play hockey," Crosby told reporters after an informal workout with some of his teammates on Friday morning. "As far as whatever option is best there, I'll start thinking of it a lot more because this stuff is getting ridiculous." Crosby spent three days in New York this week as part of the negotiations and felt progress was being made until NHL commissioner Gary Bettman shot down any growing optimism during an emotionally charged press conference in which the commissioner scoffed at the idea the sides were close to a deal. With no deal in the works, Crosby ended up taking a late-night flight back to Pittsburgh wondering what else the players could have done to move things along. "I think we knew what the issues were and we moved on those," Crosby said. "I think if it's the case there like Gary said in his press conference, where they're going to draw a line in the sand, just say that, don't waste guys' times there." The lockout has become another setback in a maddening two years for the game's most popular player. The 2007 NHL MVP and 2010 Olympic gold medalist has been limited to just 28 games since January 2011 due to a series of debilitating concussions. He's healthy now and signed a 12-year contract extension last summer that would keep him in Pittsburgh until his late-30s. Yet instead of focusing on getting the Penguins back to the Stanley Cup, Crosby has spent the last three months trying to help salvage at least part of the season. All games through Dec. 14, along with the New Year's Day Winter Classic and the All-Star game, have been canceled. The last NHL lockout resulted in the 2004-05 season getting wiped out. "The foundation (for a deal) is there and I don't think we can move any more," Crosby said. "We've done everything from our side to make this work" Though any foreign team that signs Crosby would also have to take out an expensive insurance policy, Crosby maintains playing overseas — where dozens of NHL players are keeping sharp, including Penguins teammate Evgeni Malkin — is a "practical" alternative. "I think I've tried to be optimistic and things like that and given it every chance possible," Crosby said. "But I've got make sure I keep playing hockey. I haven't played for awhile."

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