This is Day 17 of the NHL lockout, 2012 edition. Every day, we'll serve up some CBA talk and help you get your hockey fix. Let's begin, shall we?
CBA roundup
• The games missed to this point remains the entire exhibition schedule (97 games).
• That total is going to rise very soon, though. The league is preparing to start nixing the first regular-season games, which is likely to happen in two-week chunks. (@FriedgeHNIC)
• Remember how we were naively hoping that a weekend of talks about the ancillary items instead of the big-ticket CBA pieces would lead to some more agreements? The flaw in those hopes: The NHL and NHLPA were not able to agree on those ancillary things, as Elliotte Friedman writes.
If you have any doubt what a stalemate the NHL lockout has become, consider this: talks took a step backward last weekend because the league and the NHL Players' Association could not agree on who should pay for a) an extra trainer on the road and b) for each player to have his own hotel room.
That's just the tip of the iceberg. Friedman lays out all of the obstacles in the path right now and let's just say there's a lot of danger in that murky water. (CBC)
• The weekend talks did include a little discussion about money, though. Just like they are going to on Tuesday, the two sides had a brief conversation on what actually makes up hockey-related revenue. And how did that go? From Larry Brooks:
"Over the weekend, they just wanted to put more peanuts in their pockets," the player told The Post.
Yup, sounds about right. (New York Post)
• Remember when Red Wings executive Jim Devellano was fined $250,000 for referring to the players as "cattle?" It all started so innocently, too. Christopher Botta details how it was a simple Facebook conversation that led to the expensive interview. (Sports Business Daily)
• Wouldn't you know it, the replacement-player talk has reared its ugly head back up.
Former TML GM & NHL Agent Bill Watters thinks Gary Bettman's will bring in replacement players in NOV, & thinks this will crack the Union.
— Josh Rimer (@JoshRimerHockey) October 2, 2012
There are a lot of reasons why I don't see this happening, starting with the labor laws. Moreover, are the fans really going to come flying back to the sport to watch scabs wearing their favorite team's sweaters? I have my doubts. A lot of them.
• Krys Barch went on a Twitter rant that drew a lot of attention over the weekend as he rambled on against the lockout. Let's just say that Michael Traikos wasn't lending a sympathetic ear. Look no further than his lede sentence.
Krys Barch is an idiot. (National Post)
You can probably see where this one is headed.
Hockey fix
Overtime in Game 7: There is nothing more dramatic in all of sports. We were fortunate to have a couple of those this past postseason, including the Washington Capitals and Boston Bruins going the distance. Let's relive Joel Ward's series-winning goal and the exuberant call from the radio voice of the Capitals, John Walton.
Sadly, this mess followed but it was still one of the great moments from last season.
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