Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 29, 1994 TAG: 9409290072
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
With no negotiations scheduled, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is expected to brief league governors on the stalled negotiations in a conference call today.
Barring a last-minute breakthrough, it appears Saturday's season start and 12 opening games were all but certain to be called off. Bettman has said the season would not open without a new collective bargaining agreement.
If so, hockey would join baseball as the second sport to be disrupted by labor strife this season. Baseball players have been on strike since Aug.12, and the rest of the season, including the playoffs and World Series, have been called off.
``They have rejected a plan that represents considerable movement on our part toward making a deal,'' said Arthur Pincus, an NHL spokesman.
Said Bob Goodenow, executive director of the NHL Players' Association:
``The same objections we had with their proposal previous to this revision still remain. There is no question that there are serious problems.''
The union's rejection of the proposal was no surprise. Following eight hours of negotiations Tuesday, Goodenow immediately deemed it unacceptable.
Gerry Meehan, the Buffalo Sabres' vice president, said his team was expecting a call from the league by 3 p.m. Friday regarding the team's travel plans to Quebec for Saturday's game. However, Pincus said the league has set no specified time to contact teams.
Several players held out hope the season would start on time.
``One person [Bettman] has taken the bull by the horns,'' Wayne Gretzky said. ``I think he has backed himself into a corner by saying there will be no hockey on Saturday. It is very disappointing.''
Marty McSorley, Gretzky's teammate with the Los Angeles Kings, said: ``If need be, this is going to be a long and drawn-out fight.'' McSorley is on the players' bargaining committee.
The NHL's new proposal deals with a tax plan to help finance small-market teams. Goodenow called it a variation on an old theme, although neither side would elaborate on the plan.
In its initial offer, the NHL proposed to tax teams that exceed the league's average salary ($16 million in 1993-94). The money would be pooled to help small-market clubs. The players contend that is a salary cap, something they wholly reject.
The union has proposed a 5 percent tax on salaries and revenues, with the money (they say $40 million) pooled to help small-market teams. The NHL opposes this because it feels the proposal does not address the escalation of salaries.
Both sides spent 15 hours this week toward negotiating a new labor agreement to replace the one that expired Sept.15, 1993.
Along with a tax plan to help small-market teams, negotiators also are trying to find common ground on issues including salary arbitration, a pay scale for rookies and free agency.
by CNB