Amberite

Yeah, as opposed to the owners, who love the game of hockey so much that they want us to observe how true the phrase 'Absence makes the heart grow fonder' is.

You're right, the owners suck too, but at least the owners tried to make an effort with the 50/50 offer in order to try to get out of this lockout. Again, it wasn't a great offer but it was more than good enough for the owners and players to start negotiating. I think the NHL even said that they had factored in 10 days of negotiations in order to salvage an 82 game season. Tell me whatever you want about the previous lockout and about who made money and who didn't. What happened back then doesn't matter for the same reasons you told me - it was back then. What I see right now in front of me is a good base point of negotiations offered by the owners, and an unrealistic counter-proposal by the players which only serves to keep the lockout in place. Simply put, the owners put forth SOME effort and offered some concessions, while the players are singing the same tired song.

So early in the process? It's mid-October. Early in the process would've been September.

You're asking people who rarely hear the word no off the rink take paycuts when the NHL is at record revenues. Neither side was ever truly serious about an 82 game season, but the owners certainly weren't. Saying this latest offer is close to end-game assumes the owners think they have nothing to lose by canceling a season, and I'm not sure I buy that.

I don't think anyone expected there to be absolutely no days lost, so saying September would have been early is a little unrealistic. When we can still salvage an 82 game season, I call that early. In the last lockout, these sorts of offers weren't made for another 6 months.

And your second statement about asking players who rarely hear no to take paycuts when the NHL is at record revenues just shows how out of touch the players are with reality. The owners aren't lying when they say that most teams can't make money and that the current system is unsustainable. By offering the 50/50 deal, the owners put a lot of their cards out on the table, and I think they expected the same from the players. The 50/50 offer was in no way great for the players, but it was a legitimate starting point for serious negotiations. For the players to essentially spit on that shows a lack of willingness from the players to settle on a reasonable deal that can work for both sides. That's not how you do negotiations when something really matters to you (ie, your fans and the sport you play).

I was angry at the owners before. Now, I'm furious at the players. It was pretty much acknowledged by everyone that the owners' 50/50 offer was close to their end-game, and that offering it so early in the process was meant to be a launching point that both sides could use towards ending the lockout without too much damage being done. In my opinion, the players committed a major faux pas today by essentially biting off the hand which was holding a nice juicy steak for them. It's ridiculous and it shows blatant disregard by the PA towards the fans of the sport, and of the sport itself. If the players care so much about their money that they are unwilling to see sense and try to work with the owners after they made a goodwill gesture, then I'm not too sure I want to keep supporting them.

Pierre LeBrun ‏@Real_ESPNLeBrun Bettman confirms NHLPA made three counter proposals. Says none of them "even began to approach 50-50." Not encouraged
Pierre LeBrun ‏@Real_ESPNLeBrun Bettman calls it a "step backward."
Pierre LeBrun ‏@Real_ESPNLeBrun "I am to say the least totally disappointed." - Bettman

Sigh.

Sadly, I think we won't achieve anywhere close to the level of success we had last year, both in the regular season as well as the playoffs. Parise, Poni, Brodeur aging and other intangibles are huge losses, and we really have not taken steps to fill those issues. I think Henrique will continue to develop, but I don't think he'll do better this year than he did last. Larsson will be better, but is still several years away from being the elite-level talent that he needs to be in order to be a real game changer. Josefson and Tedenby are, in my opinion, non-factors until they prove otherwise.

All in all, I think we'll be lucky to crack 92-95 points, and maybe squeak into the playoffs.