There arent exactly high hopes heading into Monday nights meeting between the NHL and NHLPA after things fell apart little more than a week ago, but at least theyre still talking to each other. Thats more than one could have hoped for when NHL commissioner Gary Bettman proposed a two-week moratorium to CBA negotiations last week.
There will be some interesting new faces jumping into the process, however. Bruins Principal Owner Jeremy Jacobs will be in New York City at the NHL offices along with Calgary Flames owner Murray Edwards and Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis, and that hasnt been a good sign in the past.
The two sides are expected to talk about revenue sharing, the make whole provision, player contract rights and all of the other core issues prolonging the lockout, and the length of the meeting could be instructional. A brief meeting with no further meetings scheduled would mean more cancellations coming before or after the Thanksgiving holiday while a long session would hopefully mean that the exploratory conversations have hit some black gold.
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According to sources with knowledge of the negotiations, Jacobs has continued to be the biggest hard line hawk among the NHL Board of Governors pushing for an overwhelming league victory while working closely with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. Interestingly enough Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke will be a new face at the CBA negotiations as the discussion moves toward player contract rights.
There will be 18 players representing the NHLPA, but there isnt a single Bruins player represented among them according to the players union. Craig Adams, David Backes, Eric Brewer, Ryan Callahan, Dan Cleary, Mathieu Darche, Marian Gaborik, Josh Gorges, Ron Hainsey, Jeff Halpern, Shawn Horcoff, Vincent Lecavalier, Andy McDonald, Brooks Orpik, Brad Richards, Marc Staal, Martin St. Louis and Dan Winnik are representing the players.