A strange thing has happened as the league and NHLPA consider when and how to reopen the season.
It only took 27 years, a few lockouts and a global coronavirus pandemic, but National Hockey League players might finally have some leverage against commissioner Gary Bettman and the owners.
As the NHL considers any and all plans to restart its season this summer, there are two essential entities that need to sign off on any format on which it lands. The first, obviously, are the local and federal officials who control the restrictions on travel, mass gatherings and essential businesses. One assumes that by July, the league can find four states with relaxed restrictions, suitable hockey facilities and four-star accommodations to stage its “divisional villages” and complete the 2019-20 season.
That is, if the other entity agrees to it: the NHL Players’ Association.
“Nothing is happening without the players signing off on it,” one NHL agent said this week.
They have to approve the training period leading up to the season, as well as the schedule, the format, the playoffs and the calendar, so as not to impact next season. They have to approve which COVID-19 tests are administered and how often. They have to give the OK to the health and safety considerations inside the arenas, from social distancing guidelines to what happens when one of their peers tests positive. They have to sign off on where they’re living, and for how long. Once the Stanley Cup is skated inside the cavernous void of an empty arena, they’ll have approved how long the offseason lasts before the start of next season, and approved what next season’s truncated schedule looks like.
And they can say “no” to some of it, any of it or all of it.
Usually when they say “no,” the players are portrayed as the greedy ones, the catalysts for games being postponed and arena doors being locked. This time if they say “no,” it’s for their health, the health of their loved ones and a general feeling of unease about returning under perilous conditions. That’s going to be a lot harder to demonize.
“Some players could be away from their families for three to four months and I think that’s way too much,” said Montreal Canadiens center Phillip Danault recently. “And I’m not the only one thinking like that, I’m sure.”
This is why the players are being invited into the process. The joint NHL/NHLPA “return to play” conference calls feature contributions from active players John Tavares, James van Riemsdyk, Mark Scheifele, Ron Hainsey and Connor McDavid; for the latter, it continues an uncommon political involvement for a star player of just 23 years of age.
When the players speak honestly on their pessimism about the restart, they’re being heard. It started with Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty’s doubts that the season would be completed. They were echoed by Danault recently. Like Doughty’s Kings, the Canadiens are currently out of the playoff picture, and Danault wouldn’t mind if the season were canceled in order to focus on next season.
“All those teams that are in the playoffs, they would probably say they want to finish the season in some way. But for us, the health for everyone, the best way to finish this would be to concentrate on next year. We keep pushing everything, and I think it would affect next year too much if we started in November,” he said on a recent conference call.
His teammate Brendan Gallagher also offered some pessimism.
“Any hockey being played after July 1 has to be approved by the players’ association. I’m assuming this scenario came from the owners, and that it’s something they would prefer. Our side hasn’t really talked about it. For us right now, it always comes back to the same thing: It’s about winning. If this is going to interfere with our ability to play next year, when we have a chance, I’d rather continue my training,” he said.
Although, as Doughty admitted, Gallagher might have a different outlook if Montreal were suddenly a playoff team.
“If it’s a situation where you have a chance to play and they expand the playoff bracket, then obviously I’ll be all for it. But I’d rather be here and getting my body ready. The players that have a chance to win, they want to play no matter what,” he said.
It’s here that you start to understand why the NHLPA, even with leverage, can’t be trusted to get on the same page. It’s hundreds of players with competing ambitions vs. 31 owners who, for the most part, have a singular mindset.
“You’re talking about some players that are 19-year-old single guys that have been gaming the last couple of weeks. And then you’re talking about some players in their mid- to late-30s with three kids, and they have to worry about schooling and things like that. You have guys traveling back from Europe, and they’re probably going to need a couple of weeks of quarantine after that. There are so many variables,” Washington Capitals defenseman Brenden Dillontold ESPN recently.
“We’re really trying to make things work with the owners. We understand there’s a new CBA on the horizon, with [NHLPA executive director] Don [Fehr] and Gary [Bettman] talking a lot.”
Indeed there is, and those talks have continued throughout the year. Let’s not be naïve about this: Every time the owners and players are negotiating something, it inevitably gets tethered to the next CBA. Remember when the Olympic debate went from a referendum on the IOC’s avarice to a handy way to force the players into extending the CBA?
In the end, it’s about the money, as it is with this NHL season restart.
“The only reason to come back and play is the cash,” said a source on the players’ side.
We’re rewatching some of the best games of the 2019-20 season and highlighting what to watch for in each of them:
• Hurricanes-Maple Leafs, Feb. 22 »Watch the replay here »
• Blues-Golden Knights, Feb. 13 »Watch the replay here »
• Flyers-Penguins, Jan. 31 »Watch the replay here »
The owners need the regular season completed to fulfill the obligations to their local broadcasting partners and sponsors. They need the playoffs played to fulfill those same obligations with national partners — Bettman said recently that failure to complete the Stanley Cup Playoffs would mean the NHL owed its broadcast partners credits against next season’s payment.
