CBA negotiations are getting down to the wire. It may yet take weeks to hammer out an agreement, but for the first time in forever, hammering out an agreement seems to be what the two sides are doing rather than hammering each other. Larry Brooks reports that "there does seem a sincere willingness to move off previously well-established positions to reach an accord — most notably in matters involving revenue-sharing and a salary cap linked to a percentage of the gross." Brooks dwells on the pressure on owners to make a deal now, pressure from sponsors. The players want to make a deal now too, but, he says, "It is not true that [they] are exerting pressure on Goodenow to make a bad deal."
Stan Fischler acknowledges the pressure on owners as well, but sees a contradiction to Brooks's point about player pressure on the PA. Sadly, though, his information seems to come from "Eklund's Hockey Report, a daily blog with allegedly close player affiliations." Allegedly is all one can say about Eklund, widely discredited as a rumormonger, even by he himself (see the fine print below the title of his blog, Stan). Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun has a different angle on the pressure the NHL is experiencing: "Two league sources [said] that Bettman has warned Goodenow the league wants a new deal by mid-June or there 'may be no point in having a season.'"
The AP asks the question about Ranger owner Jimmy Dolan: "Most hated man in NY sports?" Among the reasons: "The Rangers haven't made the playoffs in seven seasons, a string broken only by the ongoing NHL lockout. (Cablevision took over control of the Garden and its tenants in 1997.)"
The Ottawa 67s begin Memorial Cup play tomorrow. Coach Brian Kilrea wants his two Czech players to be more consistent, one of those players being Ranger property Jakub Petruzalek. "Both rookies have played well at times, but Kilrea would like to see more consistency," says the Ottawa Sun. "In other words, he wants the Czechs to check in. 'They can turn it off and on,' said Kilrea. 'One night they're our best players, and the next night they're not our best players.'"
Ranger broadcaster Sal "Red Light" Messina, who retired a couple of years ago, will be honored by the Hockey Hall of Fame for more than three decades of service covering the Rangers.
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