Eric Macramalla is a partner at a Canadian national law firm and also a sports legal analyst and sports lawyer. You can follow him on Twitter at @EricOnSportsLaw, and his sports law blog is located at www.OffsideSportsLaw.com.
There is some talk that Donald Fehr should put the NHL’s proposal to a player vote. The idea is that the players may agree to the deal if given that opportunity.
However, a player vote under these circumstances is unlikely.
As head of the NHLPA, Fehr is charged with negotiating the best possible deal for his membership. Only once he concludes that he has negotiated that best deal will he bring it to the players.
If Fehr were ever to bring a deal he is not sold on to the players, it would essentially not be a player vote on the CBA, but rather a confidence vote on Fehr. To bring a proposal to the players that does not meet with Fehr's approval may, in part, be seen as an admission of failure.
Fehr is getting input from his players, and has all along. His mandate is to represent the players as a whole and does so with their input.
So it does not seem likely we will see a player vote without a deal the NHLPA leadership is convinced is in the best interest of its members.
Until that point, the sides will need to cool down, step away for a day or so, meet and look to bridge the divide that separates the sides.
