Governors Will Caucus With No Time to Waste : Labor: Board unlikely to set deadline, but owners say players realize an agreement must be reached before year’s end.

Not every member of the NHL’s Board of Governors believes the league must set a deadline at its meeting today to caution players that time is running out to salvage the season.

“I don’t know if you have to put up a traffic signal. We all know if this thing isn’t done by the 27th or 28th of December, church is out,” said Peter Pocklington, owner of the Edmonton Oilers.

“But it’s tough to chisel something into concrete until you get down to the short strokes and say, ‘Look guys, we’ve had it, go away. We have to start renting our buildings.’ ”

The board meeting represents the beginning of the end of the tedious, two-month negotiating process. The governors will review the players’ last proposal--which already has been labeled inadequate by Commissioner Gary Bettman--but it’s unlikely they will vote to cancel the season while at least two weeks remain to make a deal and play 40 to 50 games.

“You can’t support it (the players’ proposal) now because we didn’t get anything, we didn’t get any significant gifts,” one governor said. “I’d guess (Bettman) will poll each team, see what people are thinking and see if any new or different ideas can be incorporated into a new proposal. Then he’ll go back to the union and say, ‘This is our last and best deal. Take it, or see you in August.’ ”

The league’s proposed payroll tax continues to divide players from owners--and has caused a split among owners. They hired Bettman expressly to institute salary controls, but there is some disagreement over whether he has been too inflexible in achieving those goals.

Of the 26 clubs, eight can be classified as insisting on a collective bargaining agreement that contains a tax and tough cost containment. Eleven are moderates who want to reform the economic structure but aren’t convinced the payroll tax is the way to do it, especially if it’s the only obstacle to an agreement.

The remaining seven, principally clubs that are plagued by financial problems and need gate revenues, would begin the season tomorrow if possible.

Those leanings will be crucial when the governors vote. Only a majority is necessary to accept a deal that has been recommended by the negotiating committee. A 75% tally (20 votes) is required to reject a deal recommended by the committee, or to take a deal that is not recommended by the committee.

If the negotiating committee rejects the union’s last offer, as it is sure to do, the “doves” could not cobble together a 20-vote bloc to overturn that decision and get the season started.

It can be difficult to categorize clubs, because some have changed their stance during the talks and others that are financially stable have conservative leanings.

Although the Detroit Red Wings are assumed to be doves, Jimmy Devellano, their senior vice president, insists they’re firm on getting salary controls.

“We feel we need some type of cap more than a tax,” he said. “You look at the two leagues that are successful--the NFL and the NBA--and the reason is they have some control over their player costs. Owners and players do very well in the NBA.

“A lot of people think because we’re a high-revenue club we’d want to do just anything to play, and that’s not so. We’re also a big payroll club (about $20 million this season) and if things go on as they have for another year, we’re going to lose money. A building of our size (nearly 20,000) and we can’t make it? Then who can?”

Buffalo Sabres’ Governor Robert Swados, who once warned a player during contract negotiations, “You’re driving the Cadillac over the cliff,” was a hold-the-line hawk. However, he has softened because he knows it would be easier to sell luxury boxes and tickets in the Sabres’ new arena if prospective buyers could attend games and sample the product.

Personalities might also come into play. Several clubs are angry that Bettman has excluded them from negotiating sessions.

Bob Goodenow, executive director of the NHL Players Assn., said last week players had made enough concessions in entry-level salaries, free agency and salary arbitration to warrant eliminating the tax. Bettman, however, downplayed the extent of the givebacks. Pocklington claimed 13 voters “are tired of compromising” and won’t drop the tax.

“With what’s on the table at the moment it’s got no shot,” said Tony Tavares, president of the Mighty Ducks. “The chasm is so wide, what you’ve done is only thrown a rope across it to bridge it.”

Moderates and doves say that if players so strenuously object to the payroll levy, the bridge can take a different form.

“It doesn’t have to be a tax, just something that helps us stay competitive,” said Don Maloney, general manager of the New York Islanders. “The last offer (which included a 25% payroll tax), I guarantee there could be some negotiation off that level that will still present some slowing down of salaries. . . .

“We’ve done it to ourselves. We’ve awarded such exorbitant (salary) figures, but now we need help. What we need is almost more than what players are willing to accept right now. But we have no other options. We can’t price tickets higher. We’re driving fans out of the building already. I don’t know how much is enough.”

Tavares said there’s room for compromise on free agency, perhaps with the NHL lowering the age for unrestricted free agency to 29 if players accept a modest tax. Said a governor: “I don’t think anybody is enamored of the tax but they’re saying if they don’t get a win in other areas, they need it.”

Maloney, who was a union representative during his playing career, said he doesn’t begrudge players their lucrative salaries.

“I’d be the first to say they should get every penny they can,” he said. “There were some discrepancies in the past and maybe some players were underpaid in the past, but that’s not true now. They are well paid and they will continue to be well paid, but just not at the rate they’ve been in the past. “What bothers me is the idea that $300,000 or $400,000 is not a lot of money, that it’s the bottom range.”

However, he remains optimistic. “I still think enough people at the end of the day will say, ‘Let’s play,’ ” he said. “Is it the league that will be stepping back or the players? I don’t know.”

Tavares is less sure the puck will be dropped, “but I’m a pessimist,” he said. “Nothing would make me happier than being wrong. Logic tells you there’s going to be a season, but the whole process has been so bizarre that logic means nothing.”