Red Wings Senior VP Sheds Light Into CBA Negotiations; Collusion Issues?

[idahophilly]

Ok , here is an interesting on from Travis Yost... Read it carefully.

Red Wings VP Jimmy Devellano has been around the block for a while. He's entering his thirtieth season with the Red Wings and forty-fifth(!) in the National Hockey League. Naturally, he's going to have an opinion or two about the CBA negotiations and where they're headed.

Of course, by voicing his opinions to Scott Harrigan in a recent column, Devellano was subjected to a $250k fine by Gary Bettman and the rest of NHL leadership. Again, it's pretty comparable to what we have seen in previous North American lockouts -- specifically, David Stern smacking back at Mickey Arison for going on the record about the NBA's negotiation stalemate. When a lockout's on, ownership's side is placed under a mandate to not speak publicly about negotiations. Arison and Devellano learned that the hard way -- through the wallet.

Devellano's commentary raised more than a few eyebrows, and for good reason. He spoke candidly to Harrigan, and confirmed much of what the fans expect is the case concerning this labor stalemate.

Below, the quotes:

ISN: Jim, the common perception is that the NHL lockout is the fault of Gary Bettman. Can you shed some light on that?

"I think it should be clear up front that Gary Bettman works for the owners, not the players, and he is now entering his 20th year doing this. The owners direct him on what to do. I was at the meetings last week and I'm here to tell you when there was a call to vote for the lockout, it was 30 to NONE in favour by the owners. So I ask you Scott, why is that Gary Bettman's fault and not the owners?"

"Another reason people come down hard on him is that a lot of folks truly believe he is the driving force behind all the decisions on how owners proceed. Some of this is true, but I can tell you he is directed by 30 separate business owners who all give him advice and he has to take all of this and come back to all of them with what makes the most sense as a group. Not an easy thing to do, but he does it and does it well."

Devellano's dead-on here. This is a point I've been echoing exhaustively for the past couple of months, specifically noting the vitriol spewed by segments of media and fans in the direction of Gary Bettman. The commissioner's negotiating on behalf of the owners, and only acts in the interests of the thirty men who deliver his daily orders. Kudos to Devellano to open up in this respect -- fans and players have every right to be frustrated, but as I've illustrated regularly, Gary Bettman's really nothing more than a convenient scapegoat.

More:

ISN: OK moving forward, what's with all the money flying around before the lockout, when all the fans see is huge contracts to for example Sutter, Weber, Myers, Lucic? Let's take for example the offer sheet Philly proposed to Weber in the face of Nashville owner. What message are they trying to send ?

"Listen Scott, there is a hard cap in place as we all know. You can't go over that period. If Weber gets this much, then another player gets less. Now does that mean it's right for another team to do that? My answer is this: They (Philadelphia) operated within the CBA and it's totally legit to do. Having said that, I will tell you there is an unwritten rule that you don't do that, but they did, and just like everything else in life, some people are great to deal with, some aren't. If you are asking me if it's right, I would say there is, again, an unwritten rule...we all know it in the NHL, but not everyone follows it."

I don't think Devellano is being disingenuous at all here, which is pretty terrifying. If his comments are to be perceived as accurate, and perhaps more specifically, a tidy summary of operating protocol in NHL front offices, there's little stopping the union from coming after the NHL on a potential collusion charge. Unwritten rules to artificially deflate salaries based on term and dollar? Yeah, that's never going to fly.

Again, if Devellano's analysis is accurate, it's a pretty stunning indictment of ownership. The NHLPA can't move on Devellano's comments alone, but they're free to investigate any potential instances where the NHL monopoly and its respective business leaders operated in a collusive effort to keep wages down. If there was any further evidence found, the NHLPA could fight the NHL in courts.

For a parallel, consider Major League Baseball's battle with collusion in the mid-1980's. I've parsed this section from a prior blog post, and find it relevant to the discussion at-hand.

If this is true, this could be a LOOOOONNNGGGGG lockout. Would the NHLPA even want to go down the collusion road??? If true, maybe they kinda have to. Devellano might have opened an even bigger can of worms than just his comments on the Flyers. No wonder they slapped him with a 250K fine...

[idahophilly]

And here is Tim P's take on it...

"And you all thought Mike Babcock had a big mouth, no?

Not even he could muster up a fine as large as the one that his bosses got hit with Saturday by the NHL - $250,000.

Reading Red Wings senior veep Jim Devellano's comments on IslandsSportsNews.com, I kind felt like we were part of The Big Valley.

With Devellano in the role of Jarrod Barkley,played by Richard Long:

“The owners can basically be viewed as the Ranch, and the players, and me included, are the cattle," Devellano said. "The owners own the Ranch and allow the players to eat there.

“That's the way it’s always been and that the way it will be forever. And the owners simply aren't going to let a union push them around. It's not going to happen.”

Yep, that ain't Lee Major's character talking, it's Richard Long's.

And then there was this beauty of a gem from Devellano basically saying that the owners are in collusion with their "unwritten rule" that you don't target other team's players with Group II offer sheets:

“If [shea] Weber gets this much, then another player gets less,” Devellano said. “Now does that mean it's right for another team to do that? My answer is this: They [Flyers] operated within the CBA and it's totally legit to do.

“Having said that, I will tell you there is an unwritten rule that you don't do that, but they did, and just like everything else in life, some people are great to deal with, some aren't.

“If you are asking me if it's right, I would say there is, again, an unwritten rule...we all know it in the NHL, but not everyone follows it.”

Now here's the rub. Devellano is right. The players will always be subservient to the owners; and the FLyers have long ignored unwritten rules because ... the Flyers have the gonads to play by the RULES that exist in the CBA. More power to them.

That said, what Devellano suggested was collusion and during a lockout, that's a dangerous thing to say or imply.

You know why the NHLPA doesn't silence its 700+ members? Because there's too many of them. You can't keep track of them. It's a lot easier for Bettman to gag 30 owners than Donald Fehr to gag 700+ players.

That and the fact that the union, under him, doesn't muzzle anyone.

So the lockout hits Week 2 on Sunday.

With no end in sight.

Sorry Ek."

All I can say is what a mess...

[hf101]

Ok , here is an interesting on from Travis Yost... Read it carefully.

Red Wings VP Jimmy Devellano has been around the block for a while. He's entering his thirtieth season with the Red Wings and forty-fifth(!) in the National Hockey League. Naturally, he's going to have an opinion or two about the CBA negotiations and where they're headed.

Of course, by voicing his opinions to Scott Harrigan in a recent column, Devellano was subjected to a $250k fine by Gary Bettman and the rest of NHL leadership. Again, it's pretty comparable to what we have seen in previous North American lockouts -- specifically, David Stern smacking back at Mickey Arison for going on the record about the NBA's negotiation stalemate. When a lockout's on, ownership's side is placed under a mandate to not speak publicly about negotiations. Arison and Devellano learned that the hard way -- through the wallet.

Devellano's commentary raised more than a few eyebrows, and for good reason. He spoke candidly to Harrigan, and confirmed much of what the fans expect is the case concerning this labor stalemate.

Below, the quotes:

ISN: Jim, the common perception is that the NHL lockout is the fault of Gary Bettman. Can you shed some light on that?

"I think it should be clear up front that Gary Bettman works for the owners, not the players, and he is now entering his 20th year doing this. The owners direct him on what to do. I was at the meetings last week and I'm here to tell you when there was a call to vote for the lockout, it was 30 to NONE in favour by the owners. So I ask you Scott, why is that Gary Bettman's fault and not the owners?"

"Another reason people come down hard on him is that a lot of folks truly believe he is the driving force behind all the decisions on how owners proceed. Some of this is true, but I can tell you he is directed by 30 separate business owners who all give him advice and he has to take all of this and come back to all of them with what makes the most sense as a group. Not an easy thing to do, but he does it and does it well."

Devellano's dead-on here. This is a point I've been echoing exhaustively for the past couple of months, specifically noting the vitriol spewed by segments of media and fans in the direction of Gary Bettman. The commissioner's negotiating on behalf of the owners, and only acts in the interests of the thirty men who deliver his daily orders. Kudos to Devellano to open up in this respect -- fans and players have every right to be frustrated, but as I've illustrated regularly, Gary Bettman's really nothing more than a convenient scapegoat.

More:

ISN: OK moving forward, what's with all the money flying around before the lockout, when all the fans see is huge contracts to for example Sutter, Weber, Myers, Lucic? Let's take for example the offer sheet Philly proposed to Weber in the face of Nashville owner. What message are they trying to send ?

"Listen Scott, there is a hard cap in place as we all know. You can't go over that period. If Weber gets this much, then another player gets less. Now does that mean it's right for another team to do that? My answer is this: They (Philadelphia) operated within the CBA and it's totally legit to do. Having said that, I will tell you there is an unwritten rule that you don't do that, but they did, and just like everything else in life, some people are great to deal with, some aren't. If you are asking me if it's right, I would say there is, again, an unwritten rule...we all know it in the NHL, but not everyone follows it."

I don't think Devellano is being disingenuous at all here, which is pretty terrifying. If his comments are to be perceived as accurate, and perhaps more specifically, a tidy summary of operating protocol in NHL front offices, there's little stopping the union from coming after the NHL on a potential collusion charge. Unwritten rules to artificially deflate salaries based on term and dollar? Yeah, that's never going to fly.

Again, if Devellano's analysis is accurate, it's a pretty stunning indictment of ownership. The NHLPA can't move on Devellano's comments alone, but they're free to investigate any potential instances where the NHL monopoly and its respective business leaders operated in a collusive effort to keep wages down. If there was any further evidence found, the NHLPA could fight the NHL in courts.

For a parallel, consider Major League Baseball's battle with collusion in the mid-1980's. I've parsed this section from a prior blog post, and find it relevant to the discussion at-hand.

If this is true, this could be a LOOOOONNNGGGGG lockout. Would the NHLPA even want to go down the collusion road??? If true, maybe they kinda have to. Devellano might have opened an even bigger can of worms than just his comments on the Flyers. No wonder they slapped him with a 250K fine...

I really think the owners have a limit as to how long they want this lockout to go. They want the players to fold first. I think the owners know they can get the players to drop their percentage near to close to $52% and this number just may work for a shortened new CBA, however long term if the owners can get the players to drop their demands to 50% they will take it on that given date and from what I've heard that date is somewhere between mid Nov and the first couple of weeks of Dec.

As far as Devellano's comment toward's Snider he is right. Snider is one of the most powerful owners in the group, and it isn't the first time the Flyers have tried to get ahead of the rest of the field by playing outside the box. But not having other clubs to deal players with can and has made them overpay when it comes to trades.

[flyerrod]

What a moron this guy (Devellano) is. I would have paid money to see Bettman's expression when he heard what what said. He just made the case for the players to legally go after the Owners for collusion. Granted, he is not the first guy to cry about Homer's use of the offer sheet. Vancouver's GM made the same whine when Homer gave Kesler an offer sheet. The difference is this is a negotiation year and that remark will be magnified 10 fold. That should cost the owners the 3% of Hockey Related Revenue that is the biggest sticking issue to smooth things over. Devellano just pulled down Gary's pants at the negotiating table by putting his remarks in print. I am actually surprised that Gary only fined him 250,000.

[idahophilly]

Eeewww! Jimmy D pulled down Bettmans pants!? I hope no Flyers where in the room because it might have blinded them! I can see Hartnell rocking back and forth in the fetal position whispering "tiny little nads, tiny little nads...."

[jammer2]

@flyerrod I might be wrong, but I think it was Clarke who put the offer sheet in for Kesler...but you're point remains valid anyways.

[flyerrod]

@flyerrod I might be wrong, but I think it was Clarke who put the offer sheet in for Kesler...but you're point remains valid anyways.

Oh it was Clarke alright, just saying it was not the first time someone whined about the Flyers using that option.

[idahophilly]

Maybe i'd feel differently if I was on the other side of the offer sheet but I applaude the Flyers indentifying what they want and going for it! Jimmy D's comments about collusion would seem to not involve the Flyers if that's the case since Homer and Clarke broke the secret handshake code!

[hf101]

Lucic quote......"I must be Grade A rime beef"