NEW YORK (CP) - The NHL won't start next season unless a collective bargaining agreement is reached, commissioner Gary Bettman said Wednesday, seemingly removing the threat of using replacement players.
''If we don't have a new CBA so that our players can start the season with us in October, we will not open on time,'' Bettman said following a four-hour meeting with owners and GMs.
That message was in contrast to the one 51 days ago. The owners left the last board-of-governors meeting saying there would be hockey in October regardless, which hinted at the possibility of replacement players.
''I think that we can move forward and plan to play a season however it happens this coming year,'' Edmonton Oilers chair Cal Nichols said March 1.
Now that has changed.
''We are focusing on a getting a collective bargaining agreement with NHL players,'' said Richard Peddie, president and CEO and Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. ''What they were doing was looking at alternatives a month an a half ago . . . we're trying to get back to playing NHL hockey with NHL calibre players. In the end, everyone agreed `let's keep focusing on getting a deal.'''
Bettman said the use of replacement players was only one of several ideas examined by owners and was never a chosen course of action.
''The fact of the matter is, and we made this clear over the last month or so, we were going to explore all of our options,'' Bettman said. ''That doesn't mean you're doing it or not doing it, it doesn't mean it's a good idea or a bad idea.
''Obviously if we can't open on time, the options become an issue again. But it was never that it was in, and rejected, or out and accepted.''
Either way, it means legal impasse and all the ugly legal wrangling that would have ensued have now been temporarily shelved.
But that doesn't mean it's the last we've heard of replacement players. If the season doesn't start on time, the NHL may have to look at it again.
''Among the options (if the season is delayed) are continuing to stay shut down - indefinitely or for some period of time - another is playing with new players,'' Bettman said. ''But we're not going to speculate about that because we want it to be clear our focus is on making a deal with the Players' Association.''
Perhaps just the threat of using replacement players has done what the owners wanted all along in getting the union to the table.
After all, with players not expecting their next NHL paycheque until October, there was a fear from the NHL side that the union would not talk all summer.
"We have stayed out of the replacement player debate since we thought it was a poorly conceived and ill-advised strategy," said NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow. "Finally, it appears the League has come to realize it would be bad for the fans, the sport and the business. The NHL should focus its efforts on reaching an agreement with the players."
Bettman said he would call Goodenow later Wednesday to formalize a schedule that would see both sides hold bargaining talks twice a week from here on in.
But it reamins to be seen if the union has interest in resuming talks anytime soon. NHLPA brass remain angry at the way Tuesday's talks ended, with Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs sparking a heated exchange by saying the union's concept wasn't any good unless it guaranteed that player costs don't take up more than 54 per cent of revenues.
So what's the deadline to get a deal done? Bettman wouldn't say. Some might speculate that it's tied to ESPN's deadline on whether to continue its relationship with the NHL.
''They have an option period through some point in June to exercise their option or not for next year and we're in discussion with them,'' Bettman said. ''I'm not particularly concerned about that an issue.''
Said Bill Daly, the NHL's executive vice-president and chief legal officer, about ESPN affecting the time frame to get a deal done with the NHLPA: ''We're not tying one to the other.''
Despite the fact Tuesday's labour talks ended rather badly, owners and executives left Wednesday's board meeting feeling upbeat about finally ending this seventh-month lockout.
''The feeling in the room was that we're getting closer to a deal with the players,'' said Dallas Stars president Jim Lites.
''They're inching towards a settlement. We're on the same page finally.''
The league seems willing to negotiate off a union concept first presented April 4. It would see an upper limit on payrolls as well as a base, linked on a yearly basis to league revenues.
''Two weeks ago when we met, we said to the union that this was a concept we could work with,'' Bettman said. ''The fact of the matter is, if you want to tweak the concept we can still work with it. I think this is really now just about dollars and cents.
''There would be no point in stalling in any longer,'' added Bettman. ''The ownership resolve is unquestionable. The unity is there. The result is inevitable - this is going to get fixed so let's get it done. Let's get through the dollars and cents and let's start planning for a season.''
The major stumbling block with the union concept is where to begin the upper salary cap and the base in the first season back. The union wants to start it at $50 million at the top and $30 million at the base, which are numbers too high for the league.
''The economic realities are such that I believe at some point the union will decide to finally negotiate, to stop the jockeying,'' Bettman said.
''Because if you look at where we are, the union having said for as long as anyone can remember that they'll never, ever, ever agree to a cap, is now negotiating a cap. So that's the good news. The bad news is it bears no economic reality to what we need. But at least now we're in the negotiations over dollars and cents.''
The order for the next entry draft was not brought up Wednesday, which was somewhat surprising after the contentious discussion GMs had on the subject two weeks ago in Detroit.
All 30 teams want a crack at the No. 1 pick, which is expected to be hockey phenom Sidney Crosby.
''The draft is not a front-burner issue,'' Bettman said. ''What happens is that teams are very excited about the possibility of a draft because of who might be the first pick. But what we're involved in right now is much more important than a particular draft. It will be dealt with at the appropriate time.''
There was also no talk Wednesday of selling the NHL. The last board of governors meeting featured a $3.5-billion US offer from private equity firm Bain Capital LLC and sports investment bank Game Plan LLC to buy all 30 teams.
''The group in Boston stays in touch with us on a regular basis,'' Bettman said. ''They remain interested. This is not something that right now is on the front burner because it would require the unanimous support of ownership because they want to buy all the franchises and I don't think you would get the owners to sell all 30 franchises.''
Said Peddie: ''The Leafs are not for sale.''