Madferret
6-02-05, 4:44 PM
Players, coaches, GMs hope the end of the NHL lockout is finally in sight
(CP) - Daniel Briere refuses to let himself get fooled again.
The Buffalo Sabres centre is hearing all the talk that the NHL and NHL Players' Association are making some progress and that maybe a deal will be reached by July. But he won't bite this time.
"I'm a little more cautious about all the positive talk that we're hearing in the last two weeks," Briere said Thursday. "We got burned a couple of times during the winter with this kind of talk, when we thought we had a deal but then got told it wasn't even close. I'm following it closely for sure, but I'm keeping an even keel."
Players, coaches and GMs alike were put through an emotional roller-coaster in mid-February. It appeared both sides were close to a deal only to see commissioner Gary Bettman cancel the season Feb. 16, then almost un-cancel it after an emergency last-ditch meeting brought Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux into the picture for one fleeting moment in Manhattan on Feb. 19. That, too, led to more false hope.
And while sources on both sides of the labour dispute say there is a chance the lockout could finally end in the next month or so, there are still many obstacles that could prevent that from happening. That's why Briere isn't getting his hopes up.
"When they tell me everything is absolutely done and finalized and we're playing hockey, that's when I'll be excited," Briere said from Ottawa.
Similarly, New York Islanders captain Michael Peca is trying not to get carried away with what he's hearing.
"I think the lesson that we've learned is that we better not get too excited when it seems like something's going to happen and not get too down when it seems like it's not going to happen," he said Thursday from his off-season home in Buffalo. "Until it's really done, it's not done. I don't want to get too carried away, although I have to admit I've started to train a little harder to prepare for a season."
And it's not just the players battling their emotions right now.
"It's challenging, day to day, trying to temper the anticipation and the emotion," Maple Leafs GM John Ferguson said Thursday from his Air Canada Centre office.
Detroit Red Wings GM Ken Holland learned from the last lockout 10 years ago to keep his emotions in check.
"I went through it in '94 and I found myself being on that roller-coaster, being way up one day, thinking we were close, and then way down when it looked like it would go on forever," he said Thursday from Detroit. "For me personally, having gone through that, I really told myself this time around: 'Try to keep your emotions as flat as you can."'
Philadelphia Flyers head coach Ken Hitchcock is a bundle of nerves these days. Don't even dare tell him there's a chance there won't be a deal this summer and that the NHL may still be on hiatus in the fall.
"I don't want to even think about it," he said Thursday from Philadelphia.
His mindset is focused on what needs to take place after there is a deal: selling the game back to jilted fans.
"I was in the sales business for a long time when I was in the real world," said Hitchcock. "And I know how much energy and work it takes to sell things. And I'm trying to prepare myself to understand that that is what it's going to take. We are going to have to literally have the attitude that we're going to sell it one day at a time, one fan at a time to bring them back to the game.
"We're going to have to do things that quite frankly may make all of us feel uncomfortable. But we're going to have to do that to build our game back. It isn't just going to be: open up the doors and come on back. We're all going to have to work hard and work together."
Holland and Ferguson echoed Hitchcock's comments.
" Absolutely. We're all going to have to work together and make ourselves more accessible than we were in the past in order to sell the game," Holland said.
And that comes from a guy who is in one of the best hockey markets in the game, Hockeytown.
"You still have to re-connect with your fans," Holland said. "I don't care what market you're in. You're going to have to make sure that the fans know that they're very important to the success of our sport."
Even in Toronto, the corporate mecca of the hockey world, there's work ahead of the Leafs after the lockout.
"We don't for one second take our partners, our fans, our season-ticket holders, our suite holders - any of them for granted," Ferguson said emphatically. "We're committed to reaching out to them and making it right."
GMs will have their work cut out for them once and if there's a deal. They'll have a whole new landscape to deal with in terms of a first-ever salary cap, not to mention a likely quick entry draft crammed in as soon as possible.
"I think once we'll get a new CBA we're going to lose sleep," Holland said with a laugh.
Said Ferguson: "It's already busy. We're preparing and trying to project different scenarios. But clearly we're hopeful of something positive here."
LINK (http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/shownews.jsp?content=s060245A)
(CP) - Daniel Briere refuses to let himself get fooled again.
The Buffalo Sabres centre is hearing all the talk that the NHL and NHL Players' Association are making some progress and that maybe a deal will be reached by July. But he won't bite this time.
"I'm a little more cautious about all the positive talk that we're hearing in the last two weeks," Briere said Thursday. "We got burned a couple of times during the winter with this kind of talk, when we thought we had a deal but then got told it wasn't even close. I'm following it closely for sure, but I'm keeping an even keel."
Players, coaches and GMs alike were put through an emotional roller-coaster in mid-February. It appeared both sides were close to a deal only to see commissioner Gary Bettman cancel the season Feb. 16, then almost un-cancel it after an emergency last-ditch meeting brought Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux into the picture for one fleeting moment in Manhattan on Feb. 19. That, too, led to more false hope.
And while sources on both sides of the labour dispute say there is a chance the lockout could finally end in the next month or so, there are still many obstacles that could prevent that from happening. That's why Briere isn't getting his hopes up.
"When they tell me everything is absolutely done and finalized and we're playing hockey, that's when I'll be excited," Briere said from Ottawa.
Similarly, New York Islanders captain Michael Peca is trying not to get carried away with what he's hearing.
"I think the lesson that we've learned is that we better not get too excited when it seems like something's going to happen and not get too down when it seems like it's not going to happen," he said Thursday from his off-season home in Buffalo. "Until it's really done, it's not done. I don't want to get too carried away, although I have to admit I've started to train a little harder to prepare for a season."
And it's not just the players battling their emotions right now.
"It's challenging, day to day, trying to temper the anticipation and the emotion," Maple Leafs GM John Ferguson said Thursday from his Air Canada Centre office.
Detroit Red Wings GM Ken Holland learned from the last lockout 10 years ago to keep his emotions in check.
"I went through it in '94 and I found myself being on that roller-coaster, being way up one day, thinking we were close, and then way down when it looked like it would go on forever," he said Thursday from Detroit. "For me personally, having gone through that, I really told myself this time around: 'Try to keep your emotions as flat as you can."'
Philadelphia Flyers head coach Ken Hitchcock is a bundle of nerves these days. Don't even dare tell him there's a chance there won't be a deal this summer and that the NHL may still be on hiatus in the fall.
"I don't want to even think about it," he said Thursday from Philadelphia.
His mindset is focused on what needs to take place after there is a deal: selling the game back to jilted fans.
"I was in the sales business for a long time when I was in the real world," said Hitchcock. "And I know how much energy and work it takes to sell things. And I'm trying to prepare myself to understand that that is what it's going to take. We are going to have to literally have the attitude that we're going to sell it one day at a time, one fan at a time to bring them back to the game.
"We're going to have to do things that quite frankly may make all of us feel uncomfortable. But we're going to have to do that to build our game back. It isn't just going to be: open up the doors and come on back. We're all going to have to work hard and work together."
Holland and Ferguson echoed Hitchcock's comments.
" Absolutely. We're all going to have to work together and make ourselves more accessible than we were in the past in order to sell the game," Holland said.
And that comes from a guy who is in one of the best hockey markets in the game, Hockeytown.
"You still have to re-connect with your fans," Holland said. "I don't care what market you're in. You're going to have to make sure that the fans know that they're very important to the success of our sport."
Even in Toronto, the corporate mecca of the hockey world, there's work ahead of the Leafs after the lockout.
"We don't for one second take our partners, our fans, our season-ticket holders, our suite holders - any of them for granted," Ferguson said emphatically. "We're committed to reaching out to them and making it right."
GMs will have their work cut out for them once and if there's a deal. They'll have a whole new landscape to deal with in terms of a first-ever salary cap, not to mention a likely quick entry draft crammed in as soon as possible.
"I think once we'll get a new CBA we're going to lose sleep," Holland said with a laugh.
Said Ferguson: "It's already busy. We're preparing and trying to project different scenarios. But clearly we're hopeful of something positive here."
LINK (http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/shownews.jsp?content=s060245A)