Olympic prospects dim for NHLers
Bettman insists green light is not tied to extending collective bargaining agreement
PALM BEACH, Fla. — How do you say “We’re not going to the Olympics” without using the actual words?
On the surface, it would appear NHL officials did exactly that Thursday, the opening day of the annual December board of governors meetings at the swanky Breakers Resort on the sandy shores of the Atlantic Ocean.
“I think our constituents have become increasingly negative about the Olympic experience,” deputy commissioner Bill Daly said.
Read between the lines and it would appear the door for NHLers to participate in the 2018 Games in South Korea has been all but shut. Not so fast. While there are legitimate reasons to feel pessimistic about the issue, commissioner Gary Bettman and a number of governors wanted to make clear negotiations remain open and no final decision has been made. To that end, no official vote was held Thursday.
In the process, Bettman wanted to clarify the league had never presented a stipulation to the NHLPA that players would be given the green light to go to South Korea only if the union agreed to lengthen the current collective bargaining agreement until 2025.
“Now what really went on in our players association discussions, I know it was reported that we in effect demanded the return for going to Pyeongchang that there be a three-year extension of the CBA,” Bettman said. “That’s not what happened.
“I’m not looking for a counter-offer. If there’s a suggestion that the players association wants to talk about, then we can discuss anything. Not everything we do. … We do a lot of business together. We just did a World Cup magnificently together with great co-operation and partnership.
“Not everything we did was a knock-down, drag-out negotiation and that’s why the discussion, when this whole thing started talking about the World Cup in 2020, and it morphed into let’s look grander. How do we get a schedule that has World Cups and Ryder Cups and Olympics and a schedule that makes sense? That’s how the discussion came out. “It was purely a discussion.” Maybe. But in the process, Bettman finally is somewhat showing his hand. He knows the players want to go to the Olympics. As such, he seems to be seeking a trade-off in which a cache of international events — whether it be World Cups, a hockey version of the Ryder Cup, etc. — is built up to create increased revenues for his owners.
Here’s the other unresolved issue: Alex Ovechkin has said he will go the Olympics regardless of the NHL’s decision. Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis has said he won’t stand in the way of his superstar. But would that not be a breach of contract?
Somehow, Bettman must find a way to get Leonsis in line with the other owners.
The bottom line: While Olympic discussions are still being held, time is running out. And to this point, the optics certainly don’t look good.
The name game
As for the ruling by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which claimed the Golden Knights nickname adopted by the Las Vegas expansion franchise was too similar to the College of Saint Rose Golden Knights, the league does not consider it an issue.
“The franchise will go forward with that name and that logo,” Daly said.
“We have every expectation we’ll ultimately get that registration.”
Added Bettman: “If you’re thinking about this not from a legal aspect per se, but practically, many teams in professional sports have the same name in two different sports and you have colleges and pro teams.
“Examples: Giants in football and baseball, Rangers in hockey and baseball, Panthers in hockey and football. You have Hurricanes college and pro, Ducks college and pro, Bruins. It’s unfortunate that we have to go through a process and it got so much attention, but we don’t view this as an issue.”
Cap chatter
While no final salary cap ceiling has been set for the 2017-18 season, the governors were told the range would likely be somewhere between status quo and a bump of $2 million — in other words, between US$73 million and $75 million.