Bob Goodenow, executive director of the NHL Players' Association, has told NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman "you'll hear nothing further from us."
He was responding to a note from Bettman that rejected the players' counter-proposal of a $49 million US salary cap after Bettman had issued a "final" offer of a $42.5 million US cap.
"If every team spent to the $49-million level, total player compensation would exceed what we spent last season, and our player compensation cost would exceed 75 per cent of revenues. We can't afford that," Bettman said Tuesday in his second note to Goodenow.
That was rejected by Goodenow, who said it wasn't borne out by either history or the league's own calculations.
Twenty of the league's 30 teams in 2003-04 had salaries of $49 million US or less, according to the USA Today sports salary database.
Goodenow said the NHL's calculations had 21 teams under the $42.5 million US limit based on players receiving 54 per cent of league revenues.
The Canadian Press said if one counted the rollback of 24 per cent, four teams would be over the $42.5 million US figure and two others would be very close -- and that was without signing anyone else.
The average payroll, with the 24 per cent rollback first proposed by the players in December, would be about $34 million US.
A deal in reach?
It was the latest turn in a series of events as both sides work to save the NHL season -- or to try avoiding blame for its collapse.
Around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, the league had increased its proposed salary cap to $42.5 million US from $40 million US and told NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow that it was a final, non-negotiable offer.
Goodenow and the NHLPA said no to that about 3½ hours later. The players then proposed a reduction in their salary cap to $49 million US from $52 million US, along with other changes.
Bettman's response came within an hour. Goodenow's final salvo came just after midnight.
TSN hockey analyst Bob McKenzie said the consensus in the hockey world is that $45 million US is the magic number.
"There is a deal here," added fellow TSN commentator Glenn Healy.
"Given the distinction that exists at midnight (Tuesday), to allow our industry to lose a season would be criminal," a veteran agent who requested anonymity told The Canadian Press. The person pointed to the relatively small gap between the two sides.
Now the question is whether that gap can be filled before 1 p.m. ET on Wednesday, when Bettman is expected to announce the cancellation of the 2004-05 season.
Bettman also gave the union until 11 a.m. ET on Wednesday to advise whether or not it was accepting the league's final offer.
A crazy 48 hours
These rapid-fire developments on Tuesday came after a surprising offer late Monday by the NHL Players' Association of a $52-million US salary cap.
The cap offer came up during a secret meeting between NHLPA senior director Ted Saskin and NHL executive vice-president Bill Daly in Niagara Falls, N.Y.
According to The Canadian Press, Daly offered a $40-million salary cap without "linkage" -- a fixed link between player costs and league revenues. The union countered with a $52-million team-by-team salary cap.
The NHL rejected the union's offer.
A salary cap has been one of the major stumbling blocks to getting players back on the ice. The willingness to negotiate on a cap was a major turn-around by the players.
The players' proposal also included more aggressive tax rates on team payrolls and payroll tax thresholds and a 24-per-cent salary rollback on all existing contracts, CP reported.
If the season can't be saved, the NHL will become the first major professional league in North America to cancel an entire season of play over a labour dispute.
As of Tuesday, 834 of the 1,230 regular-season games have gone by the wayside.
If a deal is reached the league has a shortened 28-game schedule ready to go. It would be followed by a regular-length playoff series.
While observers have fretted about the impact a full lost season would have on the NHL, Bettman has said the league wants the right deal, not just any deal.
He made the following statement to Goodenow about the risks of not settling now: "I know, as do you, that the 'deal' we can make will only get worse for the players if we cancel the season -- whatever damage we have suffered to date will pale in comparison to the damage from a cancelled season and we will certainly not be able to afford what is presently on the table."
The dispute
The lockout started on Sept. 15.
The NHL claims its player costs are out of whack compared to other leagues. It claims player salaries accounted for 76 per cent of the league's $2.1 billion US in revenues last year.
It has previously maintained the only solution is one that provides "certainty," or a linkage between player salaries and league revenues.
The league wants to see player salaries kept below 55 per cent of revenues. The range for the other three major North American sports leagues is 58 to 64 per cent.
Bettman previously phrased the cap as a "salary range" of between $34.6 and $38.6 million US annually per team. The current average is $44.5 million US.
Up until Monday, the players had said a "hard cap" like that wouldn't be acceptable. They had touted a market-based solution which would involve a salary rollback of 24 per cent and a luxury tax that would punish teams for overspending on players.
Bettman has rejected the idea of a luxury tax, saying the NHL needs to fundamentally restructure.
With files from TSN and The Canadian Press
