Detroit Red Wings forward Danny Cleary predicts a near-unanimous vote for authorizing a “disclaimer of interest.”(Photo: Charles LeClaire, USA TODAY Sports)
Story Highlights
- Disclaimer route worked for locked-out NBA players
- Cleary: “The way we look at is, we’ve got two-and-a-half weeks’
- NHL has filed suit and unfair labor practices charge to bar move
TROY, Mich. – Detroit Red Wings player representative Danny Cleary is nervous about whether there will be an NHL season.
Players are voting through Thursday whether to approve a “disclaimer of interest,” which would give the NHL Players Association executive board the power to say the union no longer represents the players. Cleary said Monday the vote will pass “overwhelmingly. If it’s not 99.8%, I’d be disappointed.”
If the board chooses to withdraw, players could then take owners to court, suing them for triple damages claiming the lockout that has shuttered the NHL since Sept. 16 is illegal.
It’s a path that worked last year for the NBA Players Association during their collective bargaining agreement battle with the NBA last year. Faced with such a mass of red tape, the NBA blinked and the sides reached an accord that enabled the basketball season to begin on Christmas Day.
That’s not a realistic window for hockey, not with Christmas being one week away. At best, maybe there is an agreement by the end of the month, provided the NHL take the PA’s threat seriously. In order to have the minimum 48-game season that Commissioner Gary Bettman has required, play would have to start in mid-January.
“The way we look at it is, we’ve got two-and-a-half weeks,” Cleary said. “Either we are playing, or we’re not. I just hope that we get back to playing. I’m nervous.”
The sides exchanged chess moves on Friday, with the NHL making a pre-emptive move by filing a class action complaint in U.S. District Court in New York and an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board.
MORE: Breaking down the league’s lawsuit[1]
“I don’t think the legal proceedings will proceed on a very expedited basis,” deputy commissioner Bill Daly said via email.
The NHL, which is seeking to have the lockout declared legal by federal judge Paul A. Engelmayer, is arguing that the disclaimer move would be a ploy because the players strongly back the union and the NHLPA merely would merely be dissolved to give players the right to sue the league.
MORE: Who is Judge Paul Engelmayer?[2]
The NHLPA on Friday issued a brief statement, saying, “Based on what we’ve learned so far, the NHL appears to be arguing that players should be stopped from even considering their right to decide whether or not to be represented by a union. We believe that their position is completely without merit.”
In the meantime, the legal maneuvers have placed negotiations on hold.
“No new talks with the union are currently planned and there has been no contact since Friday,” Daly said.
Helene St. James writes for the Detroit Free Press. Contributing: Kevin Allen, USA TODAY Sports
