Players Submit New Plan : Hockey: Levy rates are adjusted. Bettman, NHL governors will meet today to decide if games will be played Saturday.

If NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman found something he could work with in the long-awaited new proposal submitted by the players association, he was not saying so on Monday after a 3 1/2-hour bargaining session in Toronto.

The answer to that question--and whether there will be any hockey played on Saturday--is expected today when Bettman meets with the league’s Board of Governors in New York.

Union chief Bob Goodenow called Monday’s move “a significant counter-proposal,” in the first meeting between the players association and the NHL since the NHLPA rejected two league proposals last Wednesday.

Most significantly, the NHLPA’s new revenue-sharing proposal revealed on Monday now uses a graduated levy on player payrolls of the top 16 revenue teams--starting at 5.5%, with the highest rate at 7%--hitting the top spenders the hardest. The other 10 clubs would pay no levies.

Second, there was a reduction in the levy on gate receipts, moving from a proposed rate of 5.5% to 3%. The NHLPA plan “guarantees” a revenue pool of $20 million, $1 million more than the NHL suggested with its most recent proposal.

Goodenow spoke about the graduated rates on Monday.

“We’ve always felt that any tax is a drag on salaries,” he said. “The simple notion of taxes on salaries is repugnant to the players and to the players association.

“Today’s move is very significant. We’ve gone that extra mile.”

NHLPA President Mike Gartner of the Toronto Maple Leafs agreed that the levy on salaries runs against the players’ interests but contended they were trying to accommodate the owners.

“I hope the owners see that,” he said. “But I do not know how they’ll react.”

There are many options, depending upon the reaction of Bettman and the owners. If Bettman determines he has seen enough movement, he can accept the union’s no-strike, no-lockout pledge made on Sept. 29 and start the season on Saturday.

He also could announce another postponement to Nov. 1 or later. Or, he could start the season, allowing for negotiations in a specified time frame, and if no agreement is reached, impose a lock-out.

But almost everyone seems to agree that a decision to start playing games on Saturday will have to be made no later than Wednesday. Management, coaches and players believe they would need at least two or three days of practice before playing games.

In a statement, Goodenow discussed the difference between the union’s plan and the NHL’s most recent proposal, saying they had produced enough movement for the season to begin.

” . . . The NHL’s plan will not achieve any revenue sharing, since it will drive the high-paying clubs to cut their payrolls to avoid paying the tax,” he said.

“This remains the critical difference between our respective plans: Our tax plan will create a guaranteed pool of money to distribute to clubs and would result in a greater after-tax balance in the revenues of all clubs.

“The NHL plan remains designed to encourage clubs to avoid paying the tax by slashing their player payrolls, producing very little money for the distribution pool and operating as a salary cap.”