TAMPA, Fla., May 25 - The National Hockey League and representatives of its players union met again Tuesday about their collective bargaining agreement, which is scheduled to expire Sept. 15.þþAlthough both sides clearly understand each other's position, there has been no significant progress toward resolution of the fundamental issue, the league's quest for a system with ÿcost certainty,ÿ Commissioner Gary Bettman said in his meeting with the news media before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals Tuesday night between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Calgary Flames.þþÿI actually don't think the issues are that complex to resolve once we get on the same page,ÿ he said. ÿWe need fundamental changes. We can't go on this way.ÿþþBettman restated positions that 19 of the N.H.L.'s 30 teams lost money in 2002-3, that the teams collectively lost $273 million in that season and that the players were getting 75 percent of the revenues, according to the league.þþBob Goodenow, executive director of the N.H.L. Players Association, said he agreed with Bettman that not much was accomplished during Tuesday's discussions.þþÿThere was no progress,ÿ Goodenow said. ÿGary wants a salary cap. Players have lived for 75 years in this marketplace. It is the most fair system for both sides.ÿþþShould there be no resolution before the start of next season, there is the possibility of a lockout. The start of the 1994-95 season was delayed for 15 weeks by a lockout over the same fundamental issue. The union has said that it is prepared for a lockout that would cancel an entire season and at least half of the one after that.þþÿIt is management's right in any C.B.A. to say, 'We've had enough, we are not prepared to operate this way anymore,' ÿ Bettman said. ÿI don't doubt the players' resolve. Nobody should doubt the owners' resolve.ÿþþBettman said the agreement could be negotiated ÿin days, if not hoursÿ if the two sides agree on the basic concept the owners are urging. ÿA hard salary cap is one way to do it, but I don't think it is the only way,ÿ Bettman said.þþThe union has said often that it interprets Bettman's call for cost certainty as an artificial restraint on wages, perhaps a salary cap. Bettman said Tuesday that the average salary was $1.9 million.þþThe union has said that it will make concessions to the current agreement, but that it wants a market system in which some players can weigh offers from competing employers who would not be restrained by what it considers artificial limits.þþAs has been the case for the last two years, questions about collective bargaining dominated Bettman's meeting with the news media. Bettman said he had hoped the issue would not overshadow the series between two teams not accustomed to playing in this, the fourth round of the playoffs.þþSmall-Market FinalsþþThe Tampa Bay Lightning, an expansion team 12 years ago, had never gone beyond the second round until this spring, but it advanced to the Stanley Cup finals by beating Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference finals.þþThe Calgary Flames, who won the Cup in 1989, had not won a round since and had not made the playoffs since 1996. The Flames defeated San Jose to win the Western Conference finals.þþThe Lightning was seeded first in the Eastern Conference because it had the best record and the most points during the regular season.þþBoth teams represent relatively small markets and have payrolls in the bottom half of the league. In the past three seasons, 12 different teams have appeared in the two conference finals.þþAlthough some interpret this as evidence that the N.H.L. has competitive balance and that frugal teams can succeed with wise spending and management, Gary Bettman countered that Tuesday. ÿThe last nine Cups have been won by teams with a top-third payroll.ÿ Bettman said. ÿThere is a tremendous instability.ÿ þþThe executive director of the N.H.L. Players Association, Bob Goodenow, however, disagreed, and said that the matchup in the finals was proof that the system works as it is.þþÿGood management and good decisions can be very successful,ÿ he said. ÿWith those things, you can vie for the Stanley Cup.ÿþþ
Source: NY Times
