As the clock ticks toward another NHL lockout, there are a lot of fingers being pointed at who will ultimately be responsible if there is a lockout when the current collective bargaining agreement expires at 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, September 15. Some say NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is to blame, while others will say that NHLPA head Donald Fehr will be the prime culprit. The truth is, neither of those two will be to blame.
Fehr and Bettman are mere figureheads, serving at the pleasure of the groups they represent. Sure, they are both handsomely compensated for those roles, but their direction comes from the players in the case of Fehr and the owners in the case of Bettman. So, blaming them for the lockout is akin to blaming the GEICO gecko if your insurance rates go up. It’s misplaced anger.
Anyway, lost in all this finger pointing and blame throwing is the simple fact that these two are not engaged in anything more than a contract negotiation. People are getting hung up on dollar figures here, and they shouldn’t be. In the most simple terms, yes, this is a case of millionaires arguing with billionaires about insane amounts of money, but the rea ...
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Article written by Trent Reinsmith
NHL Lockout: Placing the Blame on Donald Fehr and Gary Bettman Is Shortsighted
September 14th, 2012 by Trent Reinsmith Leave a reply »
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