Disbelief

On this side of the Atlantic they still think there is a chance that the NHL will start again. I can't see why that is the case. Last week Timrå had to play without Mika Kiprusov who was told by his agent not to play. The reason was that if he played he would not be covered by insurance if he were hurt and would lose his NHL salary. He isn't going to get a NHL salary this year! The NHL owners do not want to use the current crop of players. Don't these guys get it? The NHL is gone. The way it worked before is over. It is not coming back. They will play with scrubs, college kids, and scabs. The players have compromised completely, they abandoned their position that there be no salary cap. But the owners don't care. They inted to destroy the current relationship and try to re-build the brand along the lines of the MLS.

Listen to what the NHLPA guys are saying:

Ted Saskin, senior director of the union, said: "It's certain that the season will not be resurrected. I can't see anything worse than what they put on the table today."

"I know that today was not good," said Trevor Linden of the Vancouver Canucks, the president of the union. "It was far from not good."

Bill Daly, executive vice president of the N.H.L., said in a written statement: "There remain significant differences that need to be discussed and resolved by the parties. No new proposals were made by either side."