Schneider On Toucher & Rich: NHL Rejecting NHLPA's Counter Offer 'Frustrating'
It looks as though the NHL lockout isn't going to end anytime soon. The NHL offered the players a 50-50 split as long as they agreed to a full 82-game NHL season to start on November 1st.
The NHLPA came back with three counter offers and it only took ten minutes for Gary Bettman to come out and reject the offers. On Wednesday the NHLPA requested a meeting with the NHL. The league, however, said that unless the meeting was to accept the NHL's proposal from last week, there was no reason to meet.
Member of the NHLPA's bargaining committee and Vancouver Canucks goalie Cory Schneider spoke with 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich about the latest lockout news.
Word is that Schneider has been weighing his options and trying to decide whether or not to go overseas and play. If a member of the NHLPA's bargaining committee is contemplating the move what does it say about how far we are to the lockout ending?
"Probably not a good sign as obviously Gary was pessimistic yesterday as well, but you know for me Gary mentioned a week long preseason before the season would start if we were to get 82 games in and as a goalie I need more than a week to get ready."
How did Schneider feel when he found out that it only took Bettman ten minutes to reject the NHLPA's three counter offers?
"It was pretty frustrating, I think as a group we felt they were on some sort of a timeline and a script and that this has all been rehearsed and planed out ahead of time and looks very similar to what the NBA went through last year. So unfortunately it wasn't much of a surprise, but at the same time we're trying to give them back hundreds of thousands of dollars and they're still saying no it's not good enough and on top of that they're trying to limit our free agency rights and our contracting rights as well."
Do they know what the NHL's timeline looks like? Are there injury concerns for guys playing overseas? Plus what players might show up fat and out of shape when the lockout ends?
