Steve Fehr speaks

Friday, 23 November 2012 10:52

Written by Shelly Anderson

Steve Fehr, special counsel for the NHLPA, confirmed what we have thought or been lead to believe for a while -- that Penguins captian Sidney Crosby is far from a spectator during the lockout. Fehr told Tornoto radio station 590 The Fan that Crosby "has been terrific throughout this process." We believe in addition to attending some of the negotiating sessions, Crosby has made sure he is well informed.

Fehr also said Washington star Alex Ovechkin, who is playing in Europe, is in tough with union leaders regularly.

Here are some other highlights of Fehr's interview:

#Of the union, he said, "of course we want to get a deal done," but of the NHL's desire to, "we have our doubts."

#On Wednesday's session, where the NHLPA presented a proposal that the league rejected, he said, "They didn't dismiss it in 10 minutes [as happened earlier]. They did move on some things." He added that the NHL did not make concessions on issues that "they are trying to take a meat axe to" and said if you want to make a Thanksgiving analogy, "They gave us the relish tray, not the turkey." And, if that doesn't paint the picture, he said, "We moved a couple of nmiles, and they moved a couple of inches, it's fair to say."

#He declined to address even the possibility of decertification, saying only that "all things are under consideration."

#The union does not like the term "make-whole" and prefers "transition payments" regarding a way to ensure that players' contracts are honored even if the players' share of revenues drops to around 50 percent.

#Fehr said unlike the lockout that wiped 2004--05 season, when the sides might have gone nine or 10 weeks without speaking, "we rarely go nine or 10 hours without contact between the sides."