Grimson Is Hopeful of Settlement : Hockey: Ducks’ winger optimistic there will be games but is surprised the board granted Bettman the power to cancel season.

Mighty Duck left wing Stu Grimson knows time is running out on the 1994-95 NHL season and wonders what the league’s Board of Governors was thinking Monday when it empowered Commissioner Gary Bettman to cancel the season if 50 games and full playoff schedule could not be completed by July 1.

But Grimson also remains hopeful.

“Even as bleak as it looks, and this is more hunch than fact, there is still a window of opportunity to get it done,” he said.

Coach Ron Wilson joined Grimson, the Ducks’ assistant player representative, in expressing optimism.

“I’m hopeful and optimistic we’ll have a deal done in a week to 10 days,” Wilson said. “Maybe as we get closer to the cliff, it seems like it would be easier to jump over. But I think it would be harder to jump when you’re right there (on the edge).”

So what happens if the season is canceled?

“We’re looking at a nuclear winter,” Wilson said.

Of Wilson’s optimism, Duck President Tony Tavares said, “I hope he’s right. There’s nothing that would cause me to be optimistic.”

When pressed about the state of negotiations, Tavares added: “Until we get closer, even the whitest doves will not think about signing a deal based on what’s on the table.”

Grimson said he was shocked the board voted, 26-0, to give Bettman the power to cancel the season. He was concerned why the moderates would give up their votes to Bettman.

“You do have to wonder where it (their thinking) comes from,” Grimson said. “I have no comment about the hard-liners. For the doves and moderates, it stems from what’s on the table today. Most everybody understands there is a profitable future for the league.

“I’m not completely surprised. There’s not a great deal of accountability on the other side. The players feel comfortable that if this thing goes down in flames, we can walk away without any worries.

“If that’s their (ownership’s) thought process, everyone stands to suffer. The fans, the people who work at the concession stands.”

Bettman has not given a so-called drop-dead date for canceling the season but said the players need to make a better offer. He said the players’ latest proposal was unanimously rejected at Monday’s board meeting.

“This is not about a league fighting with a union, this is about a league fighting for its future,” he said.

Grimson wasn’t buying that argument.

“We’ve conceded far beyond the point we ever thought we would,” Grimson said. “Is there any further for the union to come?”

Times staff writer Robyn Norwood contributed to this story.