Haggerty On Toucher & Rich: Will Federal Mediators Really Help End The NHL Lockout?
Thanks to the NHL lockout we're already missing two and a half months of the season, the 2013 Winter Classic and the 2013 All-Star Game.
Now both sides have agreed to let federal mediators in on the stalled labor talks. The sides are to meet separately with the mediators on Wednesday.
CSN New England's Joe Haggerty joined 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich to discuss the latest news surrounding the NHL lockout.
The NFL and NBA both used federal mediators at points in their negotiation and while both leagues worked out deals it wasn't while the mediators were working with them. What can these mediators really do?
"They're non-binding as far as their work goes, which means they can't force either side to do anything. They just basically come in and act as sort of a third party and a fresh set of eyeballs and a fresh brain to try to see it there's creative ways to solve the problem and find a middle ground that nobody else has been able to so far."
Considering where both sides are at right now and the number of games that have already been lost is there a chance they'll still be any kind of a season?
"Yeah I still think there will be a season. It's real easy to get cynical and to get down in the process because it's frustrating and both sides you can have some issues with and some problems with."
"I just think and I've thought this for a while that there's a date in mind that the owners have and Gary Bettman has in mind when they want the season to start when it makes the most business sense for them at this point."
The guys also discussed what the owners are calling the bad deals that hurt them.
