Hockey agent Bartlett expects NHL lockout to end in weeks, not months

[Irishjim]

‘I think the tipping point is (the American) Thanksgiving’ in late November

BY JIM MATHESON, EDMONTON JOURNAL

EDMONTON - Veteran hockey agent Steve Bartlett sees the gloom of the current NHL lockout, but not the doom that was hanging over everybody eight years ago when negotiations were totally toxic.

“Gary Bettman and (NHL Player’s Association executive director) Bob Goodenow hated each other. There’s no throwing of spears now. Nobody’s saying the other side are a ... holes,” said Bartlett, who represents New York Rangers captain Ryan Callahan and Montreal Canadiens winger Erik Cole.

“My gut tells me this is going to weeks we’re out, not months,” said Bartlett, who also represented Doug Weight, former captain of the Edmonton Oilers. “I think the tipping point is (the American) Thanksgiving. That’s six weeks or so after the season (is supposed to start).”

It’s also when HBO would start filming the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs in the lead-up to the Jan. 1, 2013, Winter Classic at the University of Michigan stadium. HBO’s hugely popular 24/7 series involves the cameras getting up close and very personal with players — on and off the ice — to promote the outdoor game, which is the NHL’s eye candy for advertisers. It’s the one event they can trot out to sports fans, but not necessarily hockey fans.

Bartlett has been through three lockouts: 1994-95, when owners and players shook hands on a new deal and NHL action resumed on Jan. 20, 1995, with 48 games crammed into three months; 2004-05, when the rinks were dark the entire season; and the current lockout.

This one has a far different feel to Bartlett from the last one.

His nature as a negotiator for player contracts is to come to amenable figures both sides can ruminate over fairly quickly. Bartlett is also not a raving cheerleader for the NHLPA. What he’s always been is a reasoned observer. He’s in business to get his clients contracts, but he watched the owners in a frenzy to get players signed before the lockout on Saturday night and shook his head as about $200 million in contracts were handed out. This is coming from a league that maintains it needs its players to take pay cuts.

“This is like a store having a sale on a Monday and people going in on a Sunday and buying as many items as they can? Why?” said Bartlett.

Bartlett sees the NHL wanting a better slice of the financial pie and the players unwilling to cut back from their 57-per-cent take. He wonders if there should be be an outside voice listening to this dispute.

“I wouldn’t mind seeing even non-binding arbitration to try and break the stalemate, just to give the feeling of an outside person offering their opinion,” said Bartlett.

The players want the owners to share more of their revenue — the strong helping the weak.

“I saw one (analogy) where somebody suggested, ‘Why would a successful nail factory help out one that was less successful ?’ ... But you can’t have a monopoly in a hockey league,” said Bartlett.

A new CBA, he said, should do away with all Group 2 free agents, many of whom strike it rich in their second contracts, driving up the cost of doing business. Just look at Taylor Hall’s $6-million-a-year deal with the Oilers or his teammate Jordan Eberle’s contract, or the similar deal Jeff Skinner received from the Carolina Hurricanes.

Bartlett would like to see entry-level contracts for young players, then arbitration on further contracts for three or four years, then free agency when the players can get “to the real promised land.”

There’s already a migration of NHLers, mostly Europeans returning home, heading abroad in the current lockout. There were around 400 players who went over in 2004-05, but Bartlett doesn’t think it’ll be anything like that this time around because of tougher “import rules.”

He knows there’s a different strata of players wanting to play elsewhere.

“The star players will be fine, but the third and fourth-liners will feel the pain. It’s more mental anguish for the stars,” said Bartlett.

jmatheson@edmontonjournal.com

© Copyright © The Edmonton Journal

[DinahMoeHumm]

"My gut tells me this is going to weeks we’re out, not months,” said Bartlett, who also represented Doug Weight, former captain of the Edmonton Oilers. “I think the tipping point is (the American) Thanksgiving. That’s six weeks or so after the season (is supposed to start)."

Seems pretty optimistic, but hopefully he's right. He||, hopefully it's before that.

“Gary Bettman and (NHL Player’s Association executive director) Bob Goodenow hated each other. There’s no throwing of spears now. Nobody’s saying the other side are a ... holes,” said Bartlett

I think that's a point worth making. I also think it's safe to say that Bettman had very little respect for Goodenow. With Fehr, it's a different story. Like him or not he has to be respected, and I'm sure Lil' Gary knows he's got a challenge on his hands this time. Fehr is no dummy, and has played the right cards so far, also gaining the popular vote for the players as the public takes sides.