02-17-2005, 06:35 PM
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Confirmed User
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Ottawa, Canada
Posts: 928
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NHL - Maybe its not dead yet
I'm sure only the Canadian Webmasters care here.. But there still glimmer of hope.
Quote:
Push on to save season: Gretzky, Lemieux involved?
By Mike Brophy and Mark Brender
February 17, 2005
It?s not just the fans who think it was crazy the way the 2004-05 NHL season was cancelled. According to two separate sources, Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux have re-entered the picture in an attempt to get the season back on track.
?I was told Gretzky and Lemieux got involved, to try to talk some sense into the (union) executive committee,? the source said. ?A lot of people who care about the game say they?re too close not to at least talk some more.?
Veteran players are believed to be involved in a movement to resurrect the season. One source said many veteran players called NHL commissioner Gary Bettman directly since the cancellation announcement Wednesday afternoon.
Detroit captain Steve Yzerman told The Hockey News he thinks there is still time to save the season.
?I don?t know if it?s necessarily tonight, tomorrow morning, Friday night or Saturday?I know the season has been cancelled, but it?s not too late to uncancel it,? Yzerman said.
According to multiple sources, NHL chief legal officer Bill Daly has told the group not to contact him until they have a deal.
When Bettman cancelled the season yesterday, the league and the players? union were just $6.5 million apart on a salary cap.
Colorado?s Joe Sakic said he had not heard the buzz, but if there are talks going on, that can only be a good thing.
?Hopefully it will be behind the scenes because every time it goes public, it gets ruined,? Sakic said. ?I think this year is finished, but it would be best for everybody if we keep negotiating. There?s upset people on both
sides. We did a lot of damage in the last couple of days. We?ve got to find a way to get it done so we can start next year.?
The Hockey News has learned an NHL general manager contacted a player agent to see if any of his clients would be willing to form a group to try to save the season.
Asked if the NHL would be open to meetings that could lead to the cancellation of the season being reversed, Daly responded: ?I would love to have that problem.?
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