The Season is Over: Part Two...

Why wouldn't the players bend to the lower figure? "Because it was the players who said from the start that they would not accept the salary cap," Lavoie said. "I consider that the players went a very long way to the position of the owners. It was the owners who wouldn't budge."

Based on salary figures for the 30 teams last season, seven clubs would have exceeded the league's proposed $42.5-million cap, totalling about $84-million. Using the players' $49-million proposal, six clubs, totalling roughly $42-million, would have exceeded the cap. The difference in the two proposals amounts to about $42-million.

While those figures could change, not everyone buys Bettman's insistence that the cap becomes a magnet for all teams to hit.

Carter is among those who doubt the league wanted to strike a deal, suggesting that its recent proposals and refusal to negotiate further had much to do with an anticipated legal battle.

"Had Bettman not done any bargaining, he would have been in a legal bind," Carter said. "At least this way he appears to bargain in good faith. You don't get into a business quagmire like this without the potential for massive legal complications, so in this case business and law do go together."

One course of action for the league is declaring an impasse in negotiations and attempting to open the 2005-06 season with replacement players. However, to do that, the league would likely have to defend itself before the U.S. National Labor Relations Board, saying that it bargained in good faith.

Toronto sports lawyer Gord Kirke also agrees that the league's decision was driven by more than just bottom-line economics.

"My thought," Kirke said, "is that if you had two sides that were truly motivated to make the deal, and make it within the time frame mandated by commissioner Bettman, then it should have been easy to accomplish. If there were other factors at work, you can see why they wouldn't bridge that gap.

"If there was the ultimate in good-faith bargaining and they wanted to get it done by 1 p.m. [Wednesday], it should have been a real easy thing to accomplish."
David Naylor, Globe and Mail