NHL CBA Talks: Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs Owners Must Step Up

Reports this weekend set nothing short of an ominous tone for the NHL and NHLPA’s efforts to finalize a new CBA, which must be completed within two months to avoid any lost time in the 2012-13 season.

In short, NHL owners seem to want tighter control and a heftier share of money. Their reported requests can hardly be considered reasonable from a players’ standpoint or any rational bystanders’ view.

But there are at least two owners who can and should turn the tide away from this frightful first impression and pilot a smoother trek to a quicker resolution. Those would be Detroit’s Mike Ilitch and Toronto’s Larry Tanenbaum, whose respective teams are supposed to face off next New Year’s Day in the Winter Classic.

After losing nearly two months of its most recent season to a lockout, the NBA and its players reached an agreement in time to ensure its traditional Christmas Day games went on the schedule. The NHL and NHLPA alike ought to have a similar source of incentive to preserve the coming season in the form of the Winter Classic.

The only difference is that no work stoppage of any length can occur without doing any harm to the NHL and its five-going-on-six-year-old marquee event. Recall that when a lockout delayed the start of the 1994-95 season until January, teams were confined to a 48-game schedule played strictly within their own conference.

A work stoppage of significant length would complicate the 2013 Winter Classic, the first to pit an Eastern Conference team against a Western Conference adversary, by either relegating it to preseason status or pushing it off to 2014.

In the former case, the matchup would likely lose some of its luster due to it essentially being half Red Wings and half Grand Rapids Griffins hosting half Maple Leafs and half Marlies.

In the latter scenario, it would take a domino effect by forcing the already-decided participants as well as all prospective future Winter Classic participants to wait another year.

Either way, there is the risk of the Wings, the Leafs and the league losing air time and/or viewers on HBO’s 24/7 and reducing ratings for the game on NBC. Only a season starting on schedule can ensure an optimum level of fan interest across the continent.

Force fans to wait longer than October to start watching the NHL again and a fair portion of the base is bound to be estranged when it would otherwise tune in for an event like the Winter Classic.

For the owners of other teams, especially those who have yet to host or play in a Winter Classic, the prospect of participation in the outdoor tilt as soon as possible is threatened if they offer disagreeable proposals to the players. It is on the likes of Ilitch and Tanenbaum to recognize that fact and instill the knowledge to their peers.