This is Day 69 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 NHL lockout rolls on and 326 games plus the Winter Classic have been lost. Given the lack of progress and the negative turn in the talks, more cancellations are no doubt coming, and the All-Star game could get cut as early as Friday. Poor Columbus.
• Is decertification the next option for the NHLPA? And if so, would that be it for the season? Some people, including TSN's Darren Dreger and Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos think that if the union opts for decertification that would be it for the season.
From Kypreos:
Another option for Fehr -- a worst-case scenario for any hockey fan -- would be decertifying the NHLPA. But that’s a complex procedure that guarantees the players nothing, and guarantees not only no hockey for this season, but likely next as well.
Decertification isn't a word thrown around the stick rack very often. It is, however, a word that is gaining some steam among the players. Can decertifying the union be the big trump card Fehr has had tucked away for a rainy day? This is the nuclear option that Goodenow didn't choose in 2004.
The purpose of decertifying would be to eliminate Bettman's negotiating partner. Without a functioning PA, it’s the players’ hope that an owners’ lockout would be deemed illegal and instantly lifted. Dissolving the unions also dissolves the salary cap, linkage, escrow, salary arbitration, rookie cap, you name it.
If you follow the other sports that recently went through their labor disputes in the past year -- the NFLPA and the NBPA -- the decertification threat was lobbed around and didn't result in either season being lost. In fact, when the NBA players first started talking about decertification around this time last year, they had a new collective bargaining agreement worked out with the league in a matter of weeks.
Either way, it's getting to the point where both sides are getting desperate. [Sportsnet]
• One player who endorses the idea of decertification: Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller.
Here's what he told James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail :
“After watching the other sport leagues go through labour disputes last year, it is apparent that until decertification is filed, there will not be any real movement or negotiation. Many things in our negotiation are very consistent with the NFL and NBA negotiations, and both of those leagues filed papers necessary to decertify." [Globe and Mail]
• Not everybody is taking a doom-and-gloom approach to this mess, and Frank Seravalli of the Philadelphia Daily News sees some reasons for optimism. [Philadelphia Daily News]
• Montreal Canadiens owner Geoff Molson also remains optimistic that the 2012-13 season will take place. [Montreal Gazette]
Hockey fix
Nicklas Lidstrom, one of the NHL's all-time greats, announced his retirement this past summer. So here is every goal that he scored during the 2011-12 season. Enjoy.
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