Union Says NHL Players’ Solidarity Intact

The NHL Players’ Assn. said Monday that its members remained united behind its negotiating committee, despite comments from several players last week about relinquishing their opposition to a salary cap under certain conditions.

Jeremy Roenick, Jocelyn Thibault and Barret Jackman said separately that they would accept a salary cap if the ceiling were higher than the $42 million last proposed by the NHL. Roenick suggested polling members if the league made a more conciliatory offer, but the negotiating committee is required to submit for a vote only those proposals it recommends. It hasn’t recommended any yet.

The owners’ lockout has wiped out 797 games, nearly 65% of the season. Sources have said the league hopes the union will splinter and pressure Executive Director Bob Goodenow into making a deal before the NHL moves to cancel the season next week.

There were no talks Monday, and no meetings are planned.

In the 191-day lockout that curtailed the 1998-99 NBA season, league negotiators tried to bypass the union’s negotiating committee and take a deal directly to players but were rebuffed. However, the negotiating committee was seen as a tool for high-salaried players and faced opposition from many members, including Shaquille O’Neal. Leonard Armato, then O’Neal’s agent, helped broker a deal just before the NBA’s “drop-dead” date.

Ted Saskin, senior director of the NHLPA, said hockey’s negotiating committee faced no similar rebellion from the rank and file.

“We are in constant communication with hundreds of our members ... and the players have complete faith and trust in our negotiating committee,” he said via e-mail.

Colorado Avalanche forward Joe Sakic told the Denver Post last week that players backed the negotiating committee and added, “When the negotiating committee feels there’s a deal where we should take a vote, we’ll have the vote. But right now there’s no reason to, because it’s just going to delay the process.”

Bryan McCabe of the Toronto Maple Leafs told the Toronto Star the union was “strong and united.”

While NHL and union executives were silent, outside observers weighed in.

Mark Cuban, owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, told the Toronto Sun that NHL players “have to stop being religious about the cap.... I think the players are a little out of their minds.”

He also backed the owners’ push for cost certainty in the face of declining TV revenues.

“The players need a bit of a reality check. This isn’t 1995,” he said. “I think hockey has a great future with high-definition television, but the economics have changed.... If the owners give in, then hockey could disappear.”

Ken Dryden, the Hall of Fame goalie and former president of the Maple Leafs who is Canada’s minister of social development, told reporters in Ottawa the lockout had led fans to discover they might be emotionally distant from the game.

“You never want to give a fan a chance to find out whether it was passion or habit,” he said.

Elsewhere, the Arrowhead Pond booked a concert for tsunami relief on Feb. 18, the date the Mighty Ducks were scheduled to play Colorado.*

Times staff writer Chris Foster contributed to this report.