With the NHL currently not open for business, it comes as no surprise that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is threatening to cancel this year's Winter Classic as the two sides continue to disagree on, well, pretty much everything, per Chris Johnston of the Canadian Press.
Bettman says Winter Classic cancellation date is "rapidly approaching."
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) October 18, 2012
It'd be a brilliant move on the part of Bettman, the negotiator, to cancel the game.
Donald Fehr and the player's association know how valuable that game is to the league, both in terms of revenue and exposure. Of the more than 1,200 regular season games on the schedule, this is the only one that garners national attention, both in the United States and in Canada.
It's the only real leverage that the players have in this prolonged game of chicken, and removing it from the equation essentially lets the NHL revert back to far less amenable offers than the 50-50 split that they presented the union with earlier this week—an offer that the union rejected and countered—only to be rebuffed by the league once again (h/t ESPN).
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Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Rick Weiner
NHL Lockout 2012: Winter Classic Cancellation Should End Bettman’s Reign
October 19th, 2012 by Rick Weiner Leave a reply »
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