Winnipeg Jets defenseman Ron Hainsey says as many as 300 NHL players could attend the NHL Players Association meetings Wednesday and Thursday in New York and he hopes they aren't coming just to listen.
"If players have questions about what's told to them, or about what happens going forward, it's paramount that those questions get asked," said Hainsey, a member of the NHLPA bargaining team.
With the NHL expected to lock out players Sunday after the current collective bargaining agreement expires Saturday at 11:59 p.m. ET, NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr and the negotiating team will be explaining the situation to players coming in from all parts of the globe.
Owners also will be in New York Thursday for a board of governors meeting to hear Commissioner Gary Bettman update them on what has happened in the stalemated negotiations.
Originally, it was expected that there would be 200 players at the NHLPA meeting, but Hainsey said the reservations are tracking toward 300 players. Officially, the NHLPA is saying there will be more than 250. There are essentially 690 NHL player jobs, but there are more NHLPA members because some players go back and forth from the minor leagues.
"We are perilously close to 300," Hainsey said. "I don't know if we arranged the right board room for that many people."
The large number of players certainly speaks to gravity of the situation, but also might be an indication of how the NHLPA has re-emerged as unified after the turmoil that resulted from first Ted Saskin and then Paul Kelly being removed as executive directors.
"The NHLPA is a different organization today than it was previously," said player agent Allan Walsh. "After the Saskin and Kelly disasters, the union was reconstituted by Fehr from the ground up. The culture of the (NHLPA) today is based on openness, transparency and communication with a goal of serving the membership. The players have reconnected and are working together in ways I never thought was possible."
Since the two sides haven't talked face-to-face since last Friday, the chances of reaching a deal before Sunday seem remote. The owners are seeking multiple concessions from players, although the primary issue appears to be the desire to reduce the players' share of the revenue from 57% they now receive to closer to 50%. The owners are also seeking a redefinition of hockey-related revenues that would be in their favor.
The players, acknowledging that some teams are financially distressed, have offered to take less of anticipated revenue growth over the next three years, and then return to 57% in the fourth year, although they said during a recent formal negotiation they are willing to discuss three different ways to tweak what happens in the fourth year.
Part of the players' proposal was for the NHL to use the money they were giving back to fund additional revenue sharing that would be targeted toward teams that need a boost.
But the players aren't willing to have revenue shared on a 50-50 basis, especially given that the percentage they are now receiving was negotiated in conjunction with players accepting a salary cap after the 2004-05 lockout.
"No one feels like we're trying to pick a fight," Hainsey said.
Hainsey said the NHLPA's position is that players want to negotiate.
"The approach we have taken is that every day is not going to go the way we want it to go," Hainsey said. "We know they have their position and we have our position and that it doesn't go the way we want, we have to keep coming back and coming up with ways to solve this thing."
The expected turnout of players probably reflects Fehr's philosophy that players need to be the movers and shakers in their own union. As Fehr often indicates, it's their union, not his.
"Players have embraced that, and I do think they are unified," said player agent Steve Bartlett. "I think a lot of that is Don because he has been so welcoming to all players, and making them feel like their views and questions are important."
Hainsey says he's looking forward to hearing what players have to say about the issues, especially those who haven't been involved in the negotiations.
"As many players as we can get in a room and hear everyone's questions and talk is beneficial to us," Hainsey said. "We don't want to be in this position where we have 300 people coming into the city to discuss (the potential for a lockout). But it's a positive to have this many people."
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