Donald Fehr and the NHL lockout standoff

"Until we hear from them and they make some movement or show some willingness to compromise, I'm not sure how we get this done."

"From our standpoint you ought to be continually talking, even if you are disagreeing and not making progress, because you never know when somebody is going to say something that's going to spark an idea that will allow you to make progress."

It is hard to believe that the mix of personalities could fail to shape the negotiations. The dynamic between the commissioner and Bob Goodenow, which went from hostile to poisonous, certainly helped write the script for the two previous lockouts. And this time it will again come down to a competition between the two smartest boys in the room. The fact that Bettman and Fehr are more alike than they are different is the wild card. It could give rise to common ground, or just as easily descend into folie à deux.

For the worried fans, the idea of a baseball guy squaring off against a former basketball executive to decide the future of hockey isn't a comforting one. The best they can hope for is that it will be a short chapter in an already troubled history.

It's a theme Daly and the owners have been hammering at lately; that they're ready and willing to work toward a deal, except that the players won't talk about the important stuff, like how to split the money.

And he may have a point.

The players have stuck with the bones of their initial proposal — raises of two, four and six per cent over the first three years of any agreement — since Aug 14. They've offered concessions by offering the owners the opportunity to grow their share of hockey related revenue as league income grows.

But if the owners, or Daly or Bettman, want to better understand why the players won't come to the table with a new proposal even as the first two weeks of the regular season or more are poised to be cancelled, they can only look to history and blame themselves.

There are factions in any organization, but the NHLPA has a particular propensity for dissent and disharmony in high-pressure moments. It's a past that hasn't escaped Fehr's notice. Indeed, he said of all the aspects an executive director needs to master, "internal politics is the one indispensable thing."

So he has made a point of visiting teams, holding dinners, appointing divisional player representatives, and doing things like creating a software application that allows NHLPA members to receive real-time information and messages from Fehr on their phones. He has also courted player agents, the wild cards in any contract dispute.

The fact players in increasing numbers are fleeing the fight and heading to Europe every day tells you all you need to know about NHLPA unity. But this fact is also true; there won't be a mutiny this time.

Not because the players are any more dedicated to each other or the cause. There's just no way to make it happen, or no easy way, at least.

Why? Well, because in attempting to establish a democracy within the NHLPA, an iron-fisted dictatorship has been created. They toppled Bob Goodenow last time, tore down his statue in city square. Don Fehr, who knows Goodenow well, won't be letting that happen to him.