SB Nation Chicago - NHL lockout: Players, owners continue negotiations amid work stoppage

NHL Lockout: Blackhawks' Steve Montador not optimistic for new deal

2012-11-06T01:19:50Z

There is some new optimism brewing in the NHL collective bargaining negotiations, as NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly and NHLPA general counsel Steve Fehr held a lengthy meeting in a secret location over the weekend. Another meeting is set for Tuesday, which would make it seem like some progress is getting made toward a new deal that would end the lockout.

However, Chicago Blackhawks player representative Steve Montador says that people should not get all excited just yet (via CSN Chicago):

"We'd rather be talking than not talking, so that's definitely a positive. But nobody's holding their breath unless there are new proposals or changes coming from it," said the Blackhawks defenseman and player representative. "I'm not expecting much from it because I don't know how far (the league) will come toward our side. We've come far enough with continued concessions. But our goal is to always talk. That's important."

Pressure is building to reach a deal, as time is running out before perhaps the whole season is lost. Games through November have already been canceled, as has the 2013 Winter Classic on New Year's Day, a huge part of the NHL regular season.

The hope is that the two sides can build off Saturday's talks, and it would be a good sign if more meetings are scheduled after Tuesday's bargaining session.

Young Blackhawks prospects struggle to put puck in net for IceHogs

2012-10-21T21:05:37Z

Chicago Blackhawks prospect Marcus Kruger was the only Rockford IceHogs player to find the back of the net, despite the team having 36 shots on goal in a Saturday loss at home, according to CSN Chicago.

Rockford fell to 0-3-0-1 with a 2-1 defeat at the hands of the Charlotte Checkers on Saturday, scoring first on Kruger's shot with 14:20 left in the first period. It was Kruger's second goal on the year and was assisted by Nick Leddy.

The IceHogs have struggled to score early in the season, tallying five goals in four games. Jeremy Morin has two of the goals and Peter LeBlanc makes up for the one other goal.

Kruger, a 22-year-old, scored nine goals for the Blackhawks in 2011-12 to go with 17 assists. Leddy, 21, is another one of Chicago's prospects who scored three goals with 34 assists last year for Chicago.

Other young Chicago prospects that play for Rockford include Jimmy Hayes, Brandon Pirri, Andrew Shaw, Ben Smith and Brandon Saad.

NHL lockout: Patrick Kane not fleeing to Europe yet

2012-10-19T17:39:09Z

Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane was close to signing a deal to play with a European team during the NHL lockout, but he has decided to put those plans on hold, according to the Chicago Tribune:

"I would say I was close maybe a week or two ago to going over," Kane said. "I'm just kind of waiting for the right situation. You hear the negotiations are going better and you don't want to make any rush to get over there and have to come back in a couple of weeks."

Four Blackhawks players are currently competing in Europe. Viktor Stalberg is playing in Sweden, and Bryan Bickell is playing in Austria. Michael Frolik and Michal Rozsival have signed with teams in the Czech Republic.

The NHL Players' Association offered three counterproposals on Thursday, all of which were quickly rejected by the league. As it stands now, the lockout doesn't appear to have an end in sight. Still, Kane isn't ready to make a move just yet. If he does sign to play in Europe, the 23-year-old has a couple of destinations in mind:

"We're talking to some different teams in Switzerland and Sweden, mostly, so probably one of those two," Kane said.

NHL lockout: Blackhawks' Steve Montador optimistic about new proposal

2012-10-17T22:52:31Z

The NHL offered a new proposal to the NHLPA on Tuesday, and Chicago Blackhawks defender Steve Montador said that the offer is a start in a new direction. The proposal reportedly includes a 50-50 revenue split between the owners and the players, and some additional small concessions by the owners. The other points in the proposal are:

Free agency begins at 28, or after eight years of service
Entry-level contracts start at three years in length
The league retains the process of salary arbitration

According to commissioner Gary Bettman, the league's proposal is geared so that games may be able to start soon enough to squeeze in an 82-game schedule in 2012-2013. Montador, though, said that the two sides are "still a ways away from getting [a deal] done, unfortunately."

As far as the revenue split goes, the last collective bargaining agreement gave the players 57 percent, but the owners' first proposal for this agreement sought to reduce the players' share to 43 percent.

NHL lockout: Blackhawks' Duncan Keith disappointed in owners

2012-10-11T14:53:56Z

Nobody is happy about the NHL lockout, at least when it comes to people directly involved with the league, such as owners, players and fans. Players in particular are very frustrated with things, as they spent the offseason getting prepared, and many of them have no say in what is going on with the negotiations. All they can do is wait. Among them is Duncan Keith of the Chicago Blackhawks, who says the lockout is just "embarrassing for everybody," via CSN Chicago. He followed that up with this:

"We want to play hockey. Its what we've been doing since we've been young. But we understand the situation and what needs to be done and why we're not playing. We want a fair deal and we're not going to play until we get that."

The league and the NHL Players' Association met on Wednesday but, as has been the case all along, it doesn't look as though any real progress has been made towards resolving the outstanding issues regarding the money.

When asked what he thought could get talks moving in a positive direction, Keith said that it was "tough to say." He went on to say that the players have already made a lot of concessions at this point, and that the owners/league haven't made as much/any at all. At this point, we'll likely hear more and more from players about how frustrated they're getting.

NHL lockout: Blackhawks' Duncan Keith remains interested in playing in Europe

2012-10-07T00:10:53Z

Duncan Keith is among the growing list of Blackhawk players that would consider playing in Europe as the NHL lockout continues. Keith's agent (Ross Gurney) had the following to say via email to CSN Chicago:

"[Playing in Europe] absolutely remains an option. It's something we'll evaluate more seriously as the lockout continues."

Gurney also told CSN Chicago that Keith has been working out on his own during the lockout.

Several other Blackhawks' players have mentioned interest in playing overseas if the lockout lasts long enough. Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp have all stated they'd consider European options if negotiations aren't going well, but none of that group have signed contracts with European clubs at this time.

There were reports out of Sweden that Johnny Oduya was going to be joining a Swedish club, but the club has since denied those reports. Two members of the Blackhawks will definitely be playing in Europe during the lockout, and have already signed contracts to do so. Bryan Bickell will be playing in Austria, and Michael Frolik has agreed to join Czech club HC Chomutov.

NHL lockout: Jonathan Toews says Gary Bettman taking away hockey 'just because he can'

2012-10-05T13:30:10Z

On Thursday, the National Hockey League announced it was canceling two weeks worth of regular season games, through Oct. 24.

Several players have reacted to that decision, including Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews, who told James Mirtle of the Toronto Globe and Mail, "It's almost like he (NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman) is excited to take away hockey from the fans and the players just because he can. I still haven't heard a valid argument from the league for what they are doing, just that they want more and last time it wasn't enough."

Toews also said the league is not willing to negotiate and instead is satisfied to simply blame the players for the impasse in discussions.

The regular season was slated to start Oct. 11 and the league will miss 82 total games Oct. 11-24. Both sides remain far apart. NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr told the Globe and Mail that NHL owners are trying to secure "massive concessions" from the players.

Blackhawks' Steve Montador doesn't expect lockout to end soon

2012-09-28T13:14:26Z

The NHL and NHLPA are set to meet on Friday in New York, but Chicago Blackhawks defenseman and player representative Steve Montador does not think a deal will get done this weekend. This is a reflection of the sad reality for hockey fans, because the league and the player's union are miles apart on core economic issues that will necessarily form the foundation of any new CBA agreement. Montador told CSN-Chicago that it will probably be a "thanks but no thanks" type of talk when it comes to core economic discussions over the weekend:

"I don't anticipate a deal getting done this weekend, but the fact the lines of communication are still open (is good)," Montador said. "It's not, ‘If it's not core economic issues, there's nothing to talk about.' It's not that stance. The reality is, the deal isn't just the core economics. Even if the core itself was done this weekend, time still has to be put into other issues."

The good news is that both sides are still talking. The bad news is that they won't be saying much about the most important issues, and will likely be focusing on secondary, less-contentious negotiation points like travel, pensions, benefits and medical care.