The NHL's cancellation of another 326 regular-season games Friday afternoon was just a formality, according Patrick Marleau. The owners' decision to wipe November clean was made months ago.
According to a text message the veteran San Jose Sharks forward sent Josh Rimer of NHL Home Ice, the NHL never intended to drop the puck prior to Nov. 30.
"The league had these games canceled already in the summer. They are just releasing that info now," Marleau texted Rimer. "Every time we move closer, they pull further away."
Although the locked-out players suggested the two sides meet Wednesday of this week in advance of the league's deadline for the NHLPA to accept the owners' most recent proposal, the league declined because the players were unwilling to negotiate off of their paperwork.
"We keep trying to meet. They keep declining. They are obviously not willing to negotiate," Boston Bruins forward Shawn Thornton told Rimer. "They would rather put the game in jepordy (sic) and try to strong arm us and shake us down."
Tampa Bay Lightning forward Martin St. Louis, who has voiced his frustration with the lockout on more than one occasion, pointed to commissioner Gary Bettman.
"If the fans think that the NHL wants to play. Think again," St. Louis texted Rimer. "They don't want to meet and they cancelled all november. Way to go Gary you really care about the game!!"
Though not quite as doomsday in his view, Mathieu Schneider, special assistant to the executive director of the NHLPA, voiced his take on the stalled negotiations to Brady and Lang in the Morning on Sportsnet 590 The Fan on Friday.
Schneider, too, suspects that the deadlines imposed by the 30 NHL owners have been "artificial." He calls the owners' 50/50 offer and suspicious "make whole" provision in their latest offer -- since withdrawn -- closer to a hijacking than a good-faith negotiation.
"We're a lot closer than we were three months ago, without a doubt. That being said, there's a lot of work to do. The core economics are just one part of it," Schneider said on Sportsnet 590 The Fan. "Whether you're talking about free agency, entry-level contracts, salary arbitration -- every single thing they have offered is worse in their (expired) proposal than what the players currently have, and that's frankly not a negotiation. That's a hijacking."
More than 100 players, Schneider said, were on this week's conference call, which took place in advance of the league's proposed deadline of Oct. 25 to strike a deal. The players, he said, have been adamant about the owners making good on the existing contracts -- and not just the Zach Parises and Ryan Suters of the world.
"The day the CBA expired, it was almost like a mad rush to sign as many players as possible," Schneider said. "The thinking has to be, they assumed they weren't going to have to honour those contracts."
Schneider said making good on your word is a basic principle, something he learned when he was four years old.
The NHLPA, which represents more than 700 players, is proposing agreement stipulations that are beneficial to the average career and not just the Sidney Crosby career, Schneider believes.
But as of Friday afternoon, the NHL has axed roughly a quarter of the league's 82-game schedule, and no talks between the two sides have been scheduled. The Winter Classic and All-Star Game, the NHL's flagship events, are believed to be next on the chopping block, several reports indicate as early as next week.
So does Schneider believe the season can be saved?
"Absolutely. I never thought we couldn't save the season," he said.
Schneider reminded Brady and Lang of the players' idea of continuing negotiations while playing.
"We should be on the ice. The fact that we're not is a shame. The fact that we're cancelling games right now is a shame," Schneider said. "And it's just putting artificial pressure and artificial deadlines on guys."
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