As a player agent, whose company represents numerous NHL stars including Bruins forward Nathan Horton and defenseman Adam McQuaid, legend Bobby Orr has a keen interest in the state of the NHL.
Today at a clinic for the Chevrolet Safe and Fun Hockey program in Toronto, Orr was asked about the potential for a lockout when the Collective Bargaining Agreement expires after the 2011-12.
James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail writes Orr’s response:
“I think they’ll work it out. What we’re seeing now in the NFL and NBA … Our CBA’s not bad. I think it’s pretty fair. Sometimes people look at it and think it’s a little difficult to be operating under but it’s what we’ve all agreed to.
“Where are [the owners] going to go? What do they want? What are they going to give and what are they going to take? There’s not a lot. For that reason, I think they will work it out. I think. I’m not that close to it.”
Well, I’m sure plenty of people in Orr’s position were saying the same thing after the 2003-04 season, and we know how that went. One can only hope that the NBA and NFL lockouts are sending a warning signal to both the owners of the NHL and the NHLPA that anything even resembling what’s going on in those more-popular leagues would be disastrous.
The very unfortunate and frustrating thing about the possibility of another CBA fail is that only a small handful of owners & GM’s would be to blame. That, and I for one, think the the cap and floor have been raised too high too fast. I know that there’s something in place that regulates/schedules these increases, but it just seems out of whack to me, what with the economy and more then just a few teams struggling to put butts in the seats.
This might be sacrilege, but this might be a good time to have a businessman as commissioner. Assume the NFL and NBA get locked out. What’s the one sport everyone will be watching? You got it, not soccer. He’s got a good nose for business and will be loathe to let the masses all lose interest in the NHL just a year after record viewership and all that comes along with it (At least one lockout will need happen for this to occur).
Yeah. He’s more fear than fair.
two words which point towards a lockout… donald fehr.
The NHL had less to loose last CBA, I think the sport is starting to rebound, at least in Boston even before this post season. The owners and players should be sensitive to the fact that the sport has improved a great deal.
NBA is a joke. Bench players make more than Tim Thomas. That’s a freaking joke. I hope that stay locked out forever.
I only hope the NBA is locked out. More time for hockey highlights.