By MONTE LORELL
USA Today

Eighteen sports editors took part in the commissioners' meetings April 21-22 in New York. This is a report from those meetings.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says the league will return to the ice after shutting down for the 2004-05 season, but only when an agreement with the players' union is "the right deal for the future of the game."

Gary Bettman

Bettman returned to that point several times, noting that a new collective bargaining agreement — rather than the use of replacement players — is needed to resume play. The good news, he said, is that  "the ideological barriers the union has been arguing have been dissipating."

But there are barriers, including differences over cost certainty, cap linkage, profit sharing and the losses Bettman says the teams have suffered. Bettman says he feels a sense of urgency to resume play, but "we cannot control the timing."

Despite optimism in the intense days leading up to Bettman's cancellation of the season, the commissioner said the two sides "were never that close," even after the union approached the league just days after Bettman's decision. He said his relationship with union leader Bob Goodenow is "open and professional" and that it played no role in the breakdown of negotiations. "It isn't personal," Bettman said. He added that each side was merely reflecting its constituencies.

Bettman acknowledges this is a "difficult, painful, unfortunate" time in the game, but says that in years to come "we'll look back and look at this as a blip" in the NHL's history.

	OTHER REPORTS
	MLB: Bud Selig NHL: Gary Bettman NHLPA: Bob Goodenow NBAPA: Billy Hunter NBA: David Stern NYC 2012: Daniel Doctoroff USOC: Steve Roush NCAA: Miles Brand

But he says the sport is digging a deep hole. "The quality of what we bring back will determine" fan interest and that, like baseball after its shutdown, "fans are supportive and they want (the game) fixed."

The league's teams are unified, Bettman says, but economics is the driving force for a new agreement. And the landscape has changed since the lockout. He says if a deal had been made last summer and revenues never increased beyond $2.1 billion, it would take players four years to lose what they gave up in one lost season. The league's move to a $42.5 million per team salary cap — versus the union's $49 million proposal — Bettman says, was an attempt at salvaging the season.

But, he added, "Our economics will not be as good as when we come back," noting, "the longer this goes, the less money will be available for the players." Bettman says a $40 million cap would allow the league to be healthy and give every team that chance. And all teams, he says, will exist in a "healthy system" without contraction.

When the league does resume play, however, Bettman insists hockey is "still compelling and is still an important force" in the sports world. "The game will sell itself. We're doing what we have to do."

Bettman also said:

Participation in the 2006 Torino Olympics "is not solvable" without a new CBA. "Time works against the Olympics this year" because of scheduling.

The league is working with its TV partners to lessen the bouncing around of broadcasts on ESPN, the quality of the broadcast and an attempt at appointment scheduling.

The league has filed two unfair labor practices complaints against the union, over work stoppage benefits for players and decertification of agents whose players take the ice without a CBA.

 Back to index