Now does the NHL cooperate this summer or will it be more unilateralism?
Update: Sad thing is, their approval’s pretty much token. Adds legitimacy to the change, but the NHL didn’t need the PA here. NHL’s got the initiative and is carrying the play now. PA’s playing catch-up.
Kudos to the On the Fly crew for catching that and to Paul for posting it. I definitely didn’t see that last night. They’ve got to take that hit out of the game. And it looks like it will be now that the PA has approved the rule. Correction: League would have gone ahead with the policy change, probably tonight, regardless, but at least now it’s legitimate.
Looks like the NHLPA may have found a way to wriggle out of the catch-22 the League had it in somewhat. They basically lose the perception of being obstructionist and also manage to save some face in relation to the NHL in negotiation standing.
That said, the League comes off looking like it graciously conceded to those rubes at the PA out of the goodness of its heart. +1 PR point for them, I guess.
Sounds like the disagreement between the League and the PA on the rule passage isn’t necessarily driven by the constituency.
Obviously, the Wings are just one small sample of that group and might just want to appear in favor of a rule change in general here, but this is a pretty good example of the union’s non-cohesive message right now.
They need to get on the same page, one way or the other.
Darren Dreger:
with or without NHLPA approval, the NHL may implement supplemental discipline tonight for blindside hits.
More here.
The NHL would like us to believe that their conversion to this new-found belief that headshots are bad is so complete that they’re willing to bypass their own processes to get even a poorly-worded and nebulous policy in place now.
But really it’s about making the PA look bad, even though the union’s, you know, apparently trying to work on something that might actually be more effective. Are they taking too long? Sure. They need to get their act together and get something out there ASAP, that’s for sure. But.
The League needing a rule as soon as possible is not an excuse for shotgunning it through and bypassing the CBA’s agreed-upon process.
Obviously, Dreger’s wording is “may,” but it wouldn’t be at all surprising if “may” becomes “will” today.
i think he captures the tone of the NHL/NHLPA relationship pretty well. If you’re looking for a more serious breakdown, see his other post here.
“Our Board can enact rule changes at any time with or without Competition Committee approval.”
The context of the quote is provided in the Dreger piece, but that statement…wow. Exploiting a loophole created by the difference between a rule and a policy to score PR points…typical NHL move. The PA’s the villain fans! Remember that!