Red Wings

[CaptainBlue]

It's the owners, not bettman in this case

It's both. Buttman is choosing to listen to the owners that want the lockout rather than those that want to play. That makes Buttman just as bad. He needs to go.

[Tony G]

Bettman has to deal with the political realities of his job

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/nhl-owners-driving-lockout-213344417--nhl.html

Hence, it gets confusing as to which owners want to play and which ones have Gary Bettman's back. Elliotte Friedman, in a brilliant column on the parallels between the NBA and NHL lockouts, offers an ownership scouting report:

The commish has three groups of owners: the ones who want to play; the ones in the middle, including Tampa and Nashville, who want a better collective bargaining agreement but recognize not playing is worse; and the hardliners. It would be a mistake to underestimate the last group. There are several who would rather cancel the season than accept a bad deal because they are hemorrhaging money and need immediate satisfaction.
While the players believe Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs is calling the shots, an educated guess at the final group includes but may not be limited to Anaheim, Columbus, Florida, the Islanders, Phoenix, St. Louis, Washington and Dallas -- enough to block any agreement from getting done (It's tough to lock it down because owners are forbidden to discuss this stuff. Attempts to talk to a couple were politely shot down).

[CaptainBlue]

Exactly my point. Buttman is listening to the wrong group of owners therefore he is just as much a problem.

[Tony G]

You don't get it. He has no choice. That group can block any deal plus they are his biggest supporters

[lions&tigers&wings...yea]

Exactly, despite how much he is hated...anything Bettman does needs approval of at least 8 teams.

And saying some owners want to play and some don't want to is stupid...there may be some owners that changed their minds but when they voted to begin the lockout it was unanimous 30-0 in favor of a lockout.

[WingsFan]

While that may or may not be true, it’s obvious that Bettman and the owners want more support on their side. Regardless of if the proposals were good or bad, Bettman’s quickness in rejecting them made matters a lot worse. Had he taken a day or two to carefully review the NHLPA’s offers, then maybe negotiations would be going more smoothly. Come January there will be hockey.

[chemiclord]

No, I do believe hockey is done for the season.

[Tony G]

i agree with chemi

[DanO]

*

[lions&tigers&wings...yea]

Apparently they met at an undisclosed location yesterday until 1:30 in the morning talking about all the points dividing them and are going to meet again early this week.

One analyst is citing "un-named sources close to negotiation" and thinks we could have a 70 game season starting on Black Friday.

But at this point I really am expecting nothing, and just hoping to be pleasantly surprised by a season.

[jaadam4]

i could handle it

[CGVT]

Just start with the playoffs. That's the only thing worth watching anyway and they have til June to get a deal done if they want them to start on time...

[Epica124]

I'm going to be honest and say I'm mad at all sides here. All I have right now is the NFL and NCAA Football no Hockey once. Football is all over it will make things really long until the Tigers start up.

[WingsFan]

It's been a year now and since Patrick Eaves suffered a concussion. Today, Eaves is still bothered by headaches. "I have my good days and bad days," Some players would get frustrated, maybe begin to lose hope, but Eaves hasn't reached that stage. Eaves, 28, hasn't come close to thinking about retirement. He isn't bitter or angry about living with concussion symptoms.

"I can't be that way," Eaves said. "It's been a while (but) I just have to stay the course and be positive every day, have more good days than bad days." "We talk (but) there's no set schedule (for a return)," Eaves said. "We try to get together at least once a week by phone, just to check in."

While the league is locked out, and players aren't being paid, Eaves is an exception. He is getting his salary and seeing team medical personnel since he was injured prior to the lockout.

[FVD]

That's good that he's still getting medical attention... sounds like another Jahvid Best case.

On a funnier (or sad) note, depending on your point of view, saw this on twitter the other day, I chuckled at it:

Freep Sports
@freepsports
The Red Wings are going to win before the Pistons, aren't they.