Alfredsson upset over league’s bargaining tactics
Ottawa Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson had some choice words for NHL owners Wednesday.
“Like everybody else, I’m disappointed that the owners chose to have this tactic from the very beginning,” Alfredsson told the Citizen. “They chose to give a low-ball offer from the get-go. It was kind of clear what they wanted and I don’t see anything changing anytime soon.”
In a normal NHL world, Alfredsson would be leading the Senators against the Canadiens at Montreal’s Bell Centre in the season opener Thursday, hoping to build upon the momentum that led to the team’s surprise playoff berth last spring. Instead, NHL players are spread out around the world, awaiting for a resolution in the lockout.
The Senators captain says he’s “past being frustrated,” believing that the NHL had a lockout in mind from the start of negotiations towards a new collective bargaining agreement.
Back on July 13, the NHL proposed that players accept 43 per cent of the league’s hockey related revenues, down from 57 per cent in the now expired old CBA. In addition, the NHL wanted a new definition of how those revenues were defined. The players association countered a month later with a proposal to gradually reduce its share of overall revenue, but nowhere to the extent the NHL wants.
The NHLPA rejected the NHL’s latest offer for players to receive 46 per cent of revenues.
Ever since, the NHL and players have engaged in a public war of words, claiming the other side isn’t willing to compromise. With the sides meeting in New York Wednesday and Thursday, at least there’s some fresh hope that progress can be made.
The way Alfredsson sees it, the players’ first offer was made in the spirit of trying to get an agreement done.
“I believe the players are doing the right thing,” he says. “We’ve been more than fair. Maybe it would have been different if we, the players’ association, had done what (the owners) did in their first offer and said ‘we want 70 per cent’. We started at a fair point, moving in their direction and now they’re frustrated that we’re not moving. It’s disappointing more than anything.”
The Senators captain turns 40 in December. If the lockout lasts the entire NHL season, it’s possible that he has already stepped on Scotiabank Place ice for the last time.
“If nothing happens, I could have played my last game. That’s fine with me. I’m not going to try and push here. I want a deal that’s fair. And if that means we’re not going to play because the owners don’t want to negotiate fairly with us, then so be it and that’s the way it is. Do I want to play? I love to play. I’m having a blast when I’m out there.”
There’s no set approach to dealing with the down time. While fellow Senators Jason Spezza, Erik Karlsson, Kyle Turris, Sergei Gonchar and Kaspars Daugavins are playing in Europe and half a dozen others are practicing informally here three or four days a week, Alfredsson has kept his skating to a minimum. He has been active off the ice.
“You can look at it different ways,” he says. “I can do a lot of things in the gym that I wasn’t able to do for the past five or six years, so I’m kind of enjoying that and building a base that I haven’t been able to do for a long time. Physically, I feel really good. On the ice, I feel technically good, but my shape isn’t as good because I haven’t skated as much.”
If the entire season is cancelled, the Senators captain says he’ll probably start looking for a place to play, “but where that is, I don’t know.”
If there’s one fringe benefit to being locked out, it’s that he can spend more time at home, and at the rink, with his four sons.
“That has been a nice change,” Alfredsson says. “I’m going to see the 67′s (at Scotiabank Place) on Sunday, because my son (Loui) is playing during the intermission or before the game. I don’t know if they’ll let me in the building.”
The guy who has helped fill Scotiabank Place for the past 16 years should be okay. He has a ticket for the game.
Alfie – I love you as a Sen but this has more to do with Fehr’s ego that it has to do with NHL low ball offer.. can the NHLPA not see past the strategy of Fehr who brought baseball to its knee’s and the game is still trying to recover despite huge TV contacts ..
I guess that it depends on you point of view. As I recall, Gary Bettman has run this gambit at least 4 times. Alfie has it right. If the NHL is angry because the NHLPA won’t make repeated moves then it is clear that the NHL has reached their endpoint, which is why the NHLPA will not move now, until the NHL movrs to the middle. If both parties are set in stone .. good bye to hockey this year
All I want to hear from the players is “we just want to play hockey”. Anything else, makes me cringe. Enough with the rhetoric. Players were well aware that there would be no hockey if no CBA was in place for a long time and it still took them till August to make their first proposal.
I don’t agree with the idea that fans are angry and won’t be there when the lock out ends, but I do find it harder to see myself at a game cheering for these guys who are more concerned with their cut of my money than playing in the best league in the world.
I’m sorry Booyah, I have to disagree. Of course we want to hear the players say that they want to play hockey, but they also have a right to expect their fair share of the profits they draw by being on the ice. With no Alfredsson, Crosby, Brodeur, Kopitar, Lecavalier, etc. etc. on the ice, there is no way the owners could sell seats at the rates they do for NHL games.
You can make the argument “I’d play for free!”, but the fact of the matter is that you wouldn’t (you need to make some kind of a living), you couldn’t (guys who play in the NHL are the best of the best of the best of the best), and even if you had the skill and managed to get by with no (or less than what you considered fair) pay, after time you would very likely get fed up that the owners were getting rich from you dedicating your life to the ice, and would want a cut of the profits reflecting that your hard work draws that income. If I’m not mistaken this is *exactly* what happened in the NHL’s past.
These guys make sacrifices to compete at the level at which they compete, physically and emotionally. It’s not just “hey let’s have fun on the ice and collect a big fat paycheck” for the players. They train like crazy. They frequently get injured on and off the ice. They often miss special events and holidays with family. They are constantly criticized by the media and their fans. They are held to a higher standard in their personal lives by the public by virtue of being role models for children.
I’m not saying that playing in the NHL is a terrible job by any means, but too often I see fans who can’t get beyond their paycheck. There’s much more to it than that.
Agree-Alfie is one of the good guys, but perhaps the players were not aware of Fehr’s history ? He would drag out negotiations-and then strike just before the playoffs
The league would have to be out of thier minds to start on time and negotiate through the year with Fehr at the helm of the PA.
Anyway the NHL invited the PA to start negotiations months before they did-in fact they didn’t come to the table until late in June. If they had wanted to avoid losing any time this season they could have shown it by not dragging thier feet before starting and then stalling and stone walling ever since.
And then there has been the side show of the appeals to the provincial labour boards which was nothing but a time wasting stunt. Somehow though they have been able to convince the players that they are not wasting their time and money while keeping thier lawyers employed.
My view is that this all boils down to the NHL having a flawed business plan. A number of its franchises are in markets where they will never be successful. If there are reasons (TV rights?) why they feel they need to have a presence then the other teams should chip in to support those markets for the greater good. If I were in the players union I would like to analyze the math on that one though. Trying to fix Phoenix or Florida by reducing payroll is nonsense.
What about Ottawa and the 2/3 of the teams in the league who have to get into the playoffs to break even?
Its not just Phoenix or Florida.
Too much is going out the door in players salaries, a higher percentage than in any other league.
NHL tactics Alfie? I suggest you and the NHLPA take a good long look in the mirror. The only tactics going on is the delay tactics by the NHLPA.
That bad offer you referred to from the NHL.. was for 43% share of revenue. Isn’t that what the Owners have been operating from the last little while and had to pay ALL EXPENSES out of that share?
What the NHLPA offered (I believe) was an increase each season… giving the Owners even less.
Fehr does not know Hockey. That 7% increase in revenue he says will happen.. well it won’t.
Rumours out there say some NHL advertisers are walking. Add to that the fans that will be leaving… especially in the US.. and the NHL revenues will start to plummet.
Personally I believe the NHLPA had no intention on playing this season. This — we want to get back on the ice and play — are just empty words and lies.
All the PA has done since the end of June is delay the entire process with rhetoric and garbage trying to win fan support.
Delay enough to make Bettman cancel the season and make the Owners look like the bad guys. That is the NHLPA’s tactics, Mr. Alfredsson.
If the PA was serious about getting a deal they would have started negotiating in January like the Owners wanted. But you see it’s much harder to delay a process for up to 9 months.. that it is for 4 or 5 right?
The PA has been playing the fans as fools… using them as a pawn against the Owners. Some fans fall for that… some are smart enough not to.
Don’t get me wrong… I’m not on the Owners side. I hate Bettman.. and Owners like Snider are just to arrogant for me.. will think nothing of trying to ruin another franchise like he tried to do to Nashville.
I’m all about ME.. the fan — who without us you would not have an NHL at all. Be careful how you use the fans NHL & NHLPA. We may not be there when you get back on the ice.
The NHLPA didn’t lock themselves out, they have been willing to negotiate. The owners and Bettman made it clear the lockout would happen if they didn’t cave. How is that fair? I’m a fan for the game, not the politics (that is their business and they have a RIGHT to fight for their contracts). I’ll still be a fan because I love the game and the players.
Really? What makes you believe that the NHLPA would negotiate if there was no lockout. They haven’t negotiated at all over the last year. Their only offer contained fixed amounts for the salary cap with increased revenue sharing. In other words, they completely abandoned the current % of HRR system and wanted the few “have” franchises to give up even more revenue. If they were playing, the NHLPA would stonewall even further.
what accomplished a deal before was the players gave in, and each time they have gave in. and each time that has happens the owners keep coming back to the trough for more money … anyone recall doug harvey? thought not .. listen, like it or not this lock out is on the owners and their collusion boy bettman. Anyone one else recall why they have a cap in place? fehr needs to stand firm and beat bettman/daley this time or, in a few years we will be doing this again … Lets be clear, it is ON bettman for this lockout and why you ask? well it’s simple bettman does NOT tell the owners what to pay these guys and if anyone of you would say that you would not take the money they get offered then you’re a complete liar. eg. Joe Sakic’s legendary pay from 97 .. 2m a year for 3 years AND the rangers awesome 15 million dollar signing bonus … the owners did that not bettman. Sakic didn’t go to the rangers and say hey; i am a RFA offer me an outrageous ammount to come play for you.. the rangers went after him to help out gretz. colorado made a lot of deals behind closed doors and matched it .. was he worth it doesn’t matter since he didn’t set the price ONLY the owners do that and before you anti union retards open your mouths and say well the prices of UFA is outrageous i can say this .. then don’t pay it and they will eventually settle for a more affordable price.. I would rather see the guys go to europe and play then take whatever paltry offer bettman tells the owners to make anyway .. does it hurt the game yeah of course it does someone up there said well why didn’t they make a deal before now. Simple, the players did NOT think bettman was going to kill the season. No one in their right mind would when the NHL made 3 BILLION in profit off that 40+% for the most part owning a hockey team for most owners is a tax right off anyway some other anti union clown said something about the owners building the arena .. well no actually, they for the most part get the local cities to do that… STAY firm boys don’t give that parasite an inch or the NHL main office will want a mile next time there is a cba .. oh wait they already do that didn’t they…
3 BILLION in profit? Um, no. They made 3.3 billion in REVENUE. That is REVENUE, not profit. Then they paid 57% to the players and 100% of all of the other costs to run the business. While a handful of franchises are making large profits, most are not. Many are LOSING money. How many franchises have gone bankrupt over the lift of the CBA?
Quite evident the owners want fill control and with Bettman , the NHLPA has to deal with a “spoiled kid attitude” , who operates a “Dictatorship” . The whole season will be terminated .Time for Bettman to go !!!!!
When the first games were cancelled, I felt bad for players like Alfredsson and Selanne and others who might never play again if the entire season is lost. That’s a crappy way to go out. Selanne is reportedly pissed but if Alfredsson is okay with it, I guess I’m okay with it too.
All I can say at this point is thanks for everything, Alfie. I am already missing you.
Actually Im getting tired of the BOO HOO Stories from fans who act like little children not getting what they want, ” I just want to hear we want to play hockey ” or
your just greedy etc. GO GET A LIFE! If hockey is cancelled this year, it wouldnt make a diiference to me. Lots of choices. I support the players association, why? because the trend for a long time has been the super rich giving it to the workers who make it happen and i dont mean just hockey players etc. The Rich are getting richer and they dont want you to get ahead. If you really think the players should CAVE IN again then perhaps tomorrow when you go to work, tell your boss your willing to take a paycut and give up your benifits. See how far that will get you!