NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly does not have a degree in accounting, but he does know a thing or two about adding and subtracting numbers. He made that known on Friday when talking about the latest collective bargaining agreement proposal from the NHLPA.
“The so called 50-50 deal, plus honoring current contracts proposed by the NHL Players’ Association earlier today is being misrepresented,” Daly said in a statement. “It is not a 50-50 deal. It is, most likely a 56- to 57-percent deal in Year 1 and never gets to 50 percent during the proposed five-year term of the agreement. The proposal contemplates paying the players approximately $650 million outside of the players’ share. In effect, the union is proposing to change the accounting rules to be able to say ’50-50,’ when in reality it is not. The union told us that they had not yet ‘run the numbers.’ We did.”
The harsh words from Daly come just hours after commissioner Gary Bettman said he was “thoroughly disappointed” with the the NHLPA’s proposals to the owners.
Hope for a full, 82-game season is slowly going to down the drain if either side doesn’t act quickly. All games have been canceled through Oct. 24 and more cancellations are sure to come sooner rather than later.
