A Wasted Year: NHL Labor Mess Back to Square One

"It's a fresh start, everything is off the table and we begin anew."

So says the head of the NHL Players' Association, in response to the formal cancellation of the 2004-05 season.

Bob Goodenow's fresh start won't feel very fresh to most hockey fans, who are sick of the endless NHL lockout horror.

Goodenow met reporters a few hours after NHL commissioner Gary Bettman formally buried the season. He insisted, as usual, that he "never had a negotiating partner to work with."

But both men share the blame for the bungling the one task their jobs should depend on. Remember that from September 15 to December 9, the two sides did not hold a single meeting. If the flurry of compromises and concessions put forth in recent days had surfaced back then, the NHL would be playing hockey by now.

And like Bettman, the players' great leader did nothing as the final hours ticked away. In the 12 hours before the commissioner cancelled the season, neither side picked up the phone. "You will receive nothing further from us," said Goodenow's final letter to Bettman on Tuesday night. Saving face is more important than playing hockey, apparently.

On the NHL's darkest day, Goodenow was his usual dispassionate self, framing it all as part of "the process." If you've never grasped the players' basic position in this ongoing horror, today's press conference provided a crash course:

"The players never asked for more money," he patiently explained. "They just asked for a marketplace to exist where they could negotiate with their clubs' owners for what their value was to their teams."

"Marketplaces exist in the revenue side of every NHL business. Tickets, parking, concessions, suites, naming rights, television, radio, merchandise, et cetera. And players fully accept the fact that markets go up, and markets go down. We have said all along that players don't want to earn a dollar more or a dollar less than they're worth. During the last CBA, when revenues went up, so did salaries. When revenues eased, so did salaries. As evidenced by recent signings."

Otherwise, he didn't reveal much.

On why the Association abandoned its opposition to a salary cap: "The move on Monday night was a direct response to the league moving off of their linkage demand to tie salaries to a percentage of league-wide revenue... the committee took the step it took was because of the step the league took."

In response to the anger expressed by some players when the Association offered to play under a salary cap: "When something changes a bit, not everyone is involved in the process."

On whether an agreement could have been reached if the NHL had slightly increased its salary cap requirement: "It doesn't serve any purpose to deal in speculation."

On reports that some players undermined the NHLPA position by making secret phone calls to the league: "I'm certain no player would do anything to jeopardize the process."

On his next move: "Both sides will likely step back and assess things, and then the process at some point in the future will resume. As to exactly when and what the finish date will be on that, if I knew that answer, I wouldn't be standing here."