Bettman Defers House Appearance

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman deferred an invitation to appear Thursday in front of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce in order to resume labor talks with the players’ association, Bill Daly, theleague’s chief legal officer, said Monday.

“Unfortunately, because of the pre-existing conflict we had with having committed to meeting on Thursday and Friday with the union, we will be unable to be in Washington on Thursday,” Daly said. “We do, however, look forward to participating in this important initiative and hope that an alternative date can be scheduled in the near future.”

Four members of the committee sponsored the “Drug-Free Sports Act,” which directs the secretary of commerce to issue rules requiring pro sports to adopt and enforce policies to test for performance-enhancing drugs. NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig have appeared in front of the House Government Reform Committee to discuss steroid use in their sports.

This week’s meetings between the NHL and the union in Toronto will kick off a series of sessions. They also plan to meet twice next week and twice the following week, after the end of the world championships in Austria. Players are scheduled to gather in Toronto on May 24.

Although progress appeared to have been made last month, when discussions centered on a salary cap that would vary by team and rise or fall with NHL revenue, negotiators couldn’t agree on the cap range or on issues such as arbitration and free agency. Sources said the union proposed 27 as the age for free agency, four years sooner than under the last CBA, but the NHL hasn’t agreed.