The NHL Fans' Association has a solution. We propose that the NHL and NHLPA consent this week, in Ottawa, to enter into an agreement that helps resolve this conflict through a Mediation-Arbitration process. This would ensure that the new CBA is completed before the start of the season. A third party mediator/arbitrator would be fair to both parties and would demonstrate a willingness on your part to achieve a new Agreement.
The above italicized text is a excerpt from a public letter addressed to the NHL HQ and to the NHLPA from the union of fans in the NHLFA, signed by their president Jim Boone. If you want to read the entire letter, click on the link.
I don't know if it's the cold medicine, but after reading this, it is the best idea I have seen since following the CBA Saga. The NHLFA, to which I am a member, have so far tried in vain to get the two sides to make peace and with this latest effort.
The NHLFA needs to "punch it up a step" and start sponsoring "swift boat" advertisements. They have to start finding ex-NHLers who are willing to go on record and talk all kinds of *bleep* on Bob Goodenow. Surely, they can speak out on how the NHLPA position undermines the future of hockey in North America. They can write a tell-all book entitled "Unfit to Tie His Skates".
(Ammendium: To my Canadian fans who may not know, a "swift boat ad" are these commercials sponsored by Vietnam Vets who disapprove of John Kerry's side of the story)
1 comment:
The NHLFA needs to "punch it up a step" and start sponsoring "swift boat" advertisements.
For an organization that only holds 75 000 members, I doubt they'd get that kind of media coverage. Last I heard, the fund raising campaign wasn't going to well, either. I don't think the NHL takes them seriously, and why should they? There is no CBA between the fans and the league, and it's clear that most -- if not all -- diehard hockey fans will return, regardless. The NHLFA, while fundamentally a good idea, has practically no bargaining chips. There would be less solidarity among such a fan union than [insert something that's wobbly], if they decided to "strike". The NHL and NHLPA are in their own pissing match, and I don't see how getting in the middle of it without no leverage is going to help -- besides being splashed with piss.
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