An NHL executive accused the players' association of conducting "a charade" and said the union has no interest in working out a new labor deal before a lockout would be imposed in three weeks.
The sides concluded a two-day negotiating session in Ottawa but came away seemingly further apart than ever. The current collective bargaining agreement expires Sept. 15, and more and more it appears as though a lockout will occur before any common ground is reached.
"We want to move the process along. They're looking to stall," NHL executive vice president Bill Daly told the Associated Press. "It's clear that they're engaged in a charade. They want to fill the time between now and Sept. 15, force a lockout and take their chances.
"That's unfortunate for the sport, unfortunate for the players, and certainly unfortunate for our fans."
NHLPA senior director Ted Saskin disputed the claims in an interview with the AP and said that it's the NHL which has been getting ready for a lockout since 1998 in order to get an economic system based on a salary cap.
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| Gary Bettman and the NHL want a salary cap and won't accept a luxury tax.(AP) |
The union has vowed it won't accept a salary cap.
In it's only proposal since negotiations on a new deal began in October, the union has put forth a system that includes a luxury tax, a salary rollback and revenue sharing.
The NHL is not interested in that type of deal, and Daly said that the NHLPA has known it for a long time.
During recent negotiating sessions, the NHL has proposed six concepts it feels could lead to a solution. The NHLPA rejected them all, saying that each is predicated on a salary cap.
"From everything they've been saying, the only thing that they're going to accept is a salary cap, and no, we're not going to be proposing a salary cap," Saskin said.
Daly said only one of the six proposed NHL concepts involves a cap. But now he feels it is the NHLPA's turn to come up with a new idea.
