Tag Archives: deal

Willes: Fans’ anger will be different this time

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After 6½ months of the most tortured negotiations in sports-labor history, the NHL and the Players Association finally have a deal.

It took a 16-hour bargaining session which, mercifully, ended in the wee hours of Sunday morning. It took umpteen proposals and counter-proposals and as many take-it-or-leave it offers. It dragged the game through one of the most ignominious chapters in its history, holding it up to ridicule and scorn even as it alienated the vast majority of its fan base.

And now it's over but if the league thinks this is the end of the story, they are as clueless as they seemed through this whole regrettable process.

At the risk of stating the obvious, the real impact of Lockout III can't be measured until the games resume and, in the here and now, the NHL is staring at a massive public relations nightmare. If you believe the entries from social media, blogs and various man-on-the-streets, the fans tuned out...

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Gallagher: NHL deal means flurry of action for Canucks

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Missing the entire season was never an option over the trivial issues that kept the NHL and their players apart for the last month, so the lockout finally ending early Sunday in New York wasn’t really a surprise.

It had to end this week to get a season together and missing an entire season wasn’t an option for either side so, if anything, this settlement was a shade early for two deadline workers like Gary Bettman and Donald Fehr.

Now the task of getting things on to paper starts and that will doubtless have a few hiccups and protests from both sides, followed by the process of getting things back to normal.

For the Vancouver Canucks, of course, it means a flurry of action right away, not the least of which is the likely move of Roberto Luongo to some team that wants him. The fact the final deal left next year’s salary cap at $64.5 million US...

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Centre, defenceman and backup goalie top Vancouver Canucks’ wish list

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VANCOUVER - A third-line centre, a depth defenceman and probably an experienced backup goalie are on general manager Mike Gillis's shopping list as the Vancouver Canucks prepare for a shortened National Hockey League season.

Roberto Luongo could have a big say on how those holes get filled.

Gillis could conceivably plug some of those holes by trading Luongo between now and the start of the season, which is expected to begin on or about Jan. 19 after the NHL and its players reached a tentative deal early Sunday to end the 113-day lockout.

There were media reports during the lockout that Gillis and Toronto general manager Brian Burke had a deal in place to trade Luongo to the Leafs. Both Gillis and Burke have denied that any deal is done, but Toronto or Florida seem like logical landing spots for Luongo.

Wherever Luongo ends up, Gillis will be looking for some assets in return to help plug the holes on his roster.

With...

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Centre, backup goalie top Canucks’ wish list

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A backup goalie, a third-line centre and a depth defenceman are on general manager Mike Gillis's shopping list as the Vancouver Canucks prepare for a shortened National Hockey League season.

Gillis could conceivably plug some of those holes by trading goalie Roberto Luongo between now and the start of the season, which is expected on or about Jan. 19 after the NHL and its players reached a tentative deal early Sunday to end the 113-day lockout.

How will the canucks do in a short season?

There were media reports during the lockout that Gillis and Toronto general manager Brian Burke had a deal in place to trade Luongo to the Leafs.

Both Gillis and Burke have denied that any deal is done, but Toronto or Florida seem like logical landing spots for Luongo.

Wherever Luongo lands, Gillis will be looking for some assets in return to help fill the holes on his roster.

With centre Ryan Kesler still...

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NHL lockout ends with tentative deal between league, NHLPA

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NEW YORK, N.Y. - After six long months of negotiations, it took one extremely long night to get the NHL out of the boardroom and back on the ice.
A tentative deal to end the 113-day NHL lockout was reached early Sunday morning following a marathon 16-hour negotiating session.


"We have reached an agreement on the framework of a new collective bargaining agreement, the details of which need to be put to paper," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman told a news conference. "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."


Before the new CBA officially comes into effect, it must be ratified by a majority of both the league's 30 owners and the union's membership of approximately 740 players. There is no word when those votes will take place.


"Hopefully...

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Game on! NHL lockout ends with tentative deal between league, NHLPA

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NEW YORK — After six long months of negotiations, it took one extremely long night to get the NHL out of the boardroom and back on the ice.

A tentative deal to end the 113-day NHL lockout was reached early Sunday morning following a marathon 16-hour negotiating session.

“We have reached an agreement on the framework of a new collective bargaining agreement, the details of which need to be put to paper,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman told a news conference. “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.”

Before the new CBA officially comes into effect, it must be ratified by a majority of both the league’s 30 owners and the union’s membership of approximately 740 players. There is no word when those votes will take place.

“Hopefully we’re at a place where all those things...

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Canucks players preparing backup plans if NHL season cancelled

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VANCOUVER — Since Day One of the NHL lockout, the Sedin twins have maintained they would return home to play for Modo in the Swedish Elite League if, and only if, the season was cancelled.

Daniel Sedin appeared to be hedging on that Friday. The brothers have had an open invitation from Modo GM and former Vancouver Canucks teammate Markus Naslund to rejoin their hometown club.

“It's getting tougher and tougher to make the move back to Sweden, that's for sure,” said Daniel, 32 and a father of three. “You have to take kids out of school and look at everything. You have to look at insurance. There are a lot of questions we have to get answered first. We're going to talk to Markus in the next few days here and we'll see what happens. Hopefully it doesn't have to happen, but you have to be prepared.”

Chris Higgins is preparing, too. He said Friday he will aggressively pursue playing opportunities...

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Canucks trying not to get excited until pen is put to paper on new deal

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It's looking good. It's looking bad.

Pick an emotion and it played out Thursday as the NHL lockout shifted from optimism to pessimism, depending on the topic and your take on it. The latest drama to unfold was the players' union angered at a hockey-related revenue (HRR) package from the league. It involved penalties but was reportedly missing key language for teams hiding HRR and what was actually being reported.

On a day where the salary cap ceiling, contract length and variance and pensions were supposed to be front-burner issues, trust is now an issue, too.

No wonder some Vancouver Canucks players displayed a range of reaction following a UBC skate Thursday. Before voting again on giving the NHLPA board the support to file a disclaimer of interest after that option wasn't exercised Wednesday night, they sounded both hopeful and hesitant. After all, if the league's quest for a $60 million US cap ceiling and the players' push for $65 million...

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Gallagher: When Canucks return, what will they look like?

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When sports editor Jonathan McDonald suggested gazing into the crystal ball for the last column of the year, it seemed like a risky proposition.

Predictions of any kind are difficult, particularly with respect to the NHL’s collective-bargaining negotiations with their players and, assuming there will be a season, what might happen beyond that in a shortened season. That is totally uncharted territory for any modern-era team, given it hasn’t happened since ’95.

Looking into said ball is clear enough early on and the vision is no different than it’s always been.

There will be a deal because neither side can possibly endure a “no deal” scenario. It’s entirely too destructive for either side and, in fact, may already have been, so they’ll stumble their way to some kind of agreement and get the game back on the ice in some form.

And that’s where it gets interesting for fans of the Vancouver Canucks who aren’t strong enough to keep their resolve to...

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Big hurdles still remain on road to NHL deal

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With a degree in finance, Kevin Bieksa can wrap his head around collective bargaining agreement issues as easily as he wraps up opposition forwards.

The Vancouver Canucks defenceman can take the complicated and make the layman feel educated and entertained.

With the NHL and NHL Players’ Association agreeing to renew talks Wednesday at an undisclosed location with federal mediation in an effort to end the lockout, there may be less venom spewed with other voices of reason in the room in a non-binding setting.

More calm should be in order but three high hurdles still need to be cleared.

Aside from agreeing on CBA and player contract lengths, the one that could trip up a deal is the year-to-year variance on contracts. Players want a 25 per cent difference on multi-year deals that are seven years or longer, meaning the lowest point of the salary scale must be a minimum 25 per cent of the highest point.

It would include...

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Manny Malhotra has had it with NHL labour talks

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VANCOUVER - Manny Malhotra has had a front-row seat for the emotional roller-coaster that the NHL labour talks have become, but will now watch the proceedings from afar.

"I'm done," Malhotra said Monday.

Not done because he's angry or frustrated by the stalemate -- and he most certainly is -- but because his wife Joann is expecting a baby next month and he wants to wait out the rest of her pregnancy at their Vancouver home.

Malhotra reckons he has made 10 cross-continent trips to participate in CBA talks or NHLPA meetings. He's done more travelling than he would have had the season begun as scheduled. He calls the experience both invaluable and frustrating.

There have been lots of highs and lows, none more so than last week in New York City.

"I think you run the whole gamut of emotions throughout these talks," he said after skating with a few of his Canuck teammates at UBC. "Right from the get-go Don...

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NHL lockout: And boom goes the dynamite

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t’s been a week in the NHL that outpaced the 2012 playoffs in emotion, mood swings and even entertainment.

When talks disintegrated late Thursday, it left more people slack-jawed than anything the L.A. Kings did on their run to the Stanley Cup.

Moments after Don Fehr used the words "agreed to" in a New York presser when outlining several issues, suggesting the sides were within days of an agreement, a voice mail he got from Bill Daly self-destructed the whole procedure like a scene out of Mission: Impossible.

Somewhere, Vince McMahon was smiling. But NHL fans sure weren’t.

The ebb and flow of this negotiation, as it inches toward its conclusion, took positive vibes and twisted them into stomach knots with more turns than a Spanish soap opera. It climaxed when Gary Bettman melodramatically proclaimed everything that had been offered this week was off the table.

Suddenly, all those Kumbaya feelings that there could be an agreement this week turned...

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Vancouver Canuck Cory Schneider aims to lift his new Swiss team

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VANCOUVER — If Cory Schneider was looking for a challenge after going seven months without a game, he seems to have found it with his new Swiss League team.

The Vancouver Canucks' goalie has signed a deal with HC Ambri-Piotta, which is not exactly a powerhouse. The team has won only seven of 25 games so far this season and is currently 11th in the 12-team league.

Ambri-Piotta, known locally as the "Bianco-Blu" (white and blues), has scored 61 goals this season and surrendered 92. In other words, the team's defence has been like, well, Swiss cheese.

Schneider will be asked to fill some of those holes. He left Wednesday for Switzerland, is scheduled to practise with his new team Thursday and could play as early as Saturday against sixth-place Kloten.

Schneider holds dual U.S.-Swiss citizenship so the team did not have to burn an import spot to sign him.

The Ambri-Piotta website said Schneider's deal with the team runs through Dec. 31 with...

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