Even though the NHL and players' union plan to meet later this week, there is a growing sense of contention among the player's union toward the league and its leadership.
According to CSN Washington, some players spoke out and questioned the intent of the league in the current negotiations. The Washington Capital's Jason Chimera recently stated that, "This is all part of Gary Bettman's book. He seems to be bent on ruining the game. If that's what he's out to do, he's sure doing a good job of it. It's disappointing. We're willing to get a deal done and try to sit down and talk with no preconditions and they don't want to talk."
"If they set agendas, we're done. We've got to start talking. We're still not that far apart. It's just a matter of getting it done. We want to sit down and they don't want to meet at this point," he added.
His teammate Brooks Laich was even more negative about the entire situation. "Our guys really care about the game and it's unfortunate we feel we're not getting the same passion back from the other side," said Laich.
"I hope they know something we don't because I think we're doing tremendous damage to the game and I don't see any positive effect of what we're doing right now. I'm hopeful a deal is there and we can get back on the ice because I think we're just killing the game right now and I don't understand it."
While these are only comments from two players, it indicates low morale in the negotiations and the attitude toward the league is very negative. Larry Brooks of The NY Post echoes these sentiments in his article: "Canceler-in-Chief Can't See the Big Picture." The entire article is an attack on NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman (or Canceler-in-Chief as Brooks repeatedly refers to him) and his inability to realize how much damage the prolonged lockout is doing to the lockout.
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