Detroit Red Wing defenseman Ian White has had it with the NHL lockout in general and commissioner Gary Bettman in particular.
“I gotta be honest: I personally think he’s an idiot,” White told USA Today on Friday. “Since he’s come in, I think he’s done nothing but damage the game.”
White’s comments refer to the league’s third lockout of the players since Bettman — a former deputy to NBA commissioner David Stern — took over the league in February 1993. The last lockout forced the cancellation of the entire 2004-05 season.
This lockout seems to be headed in a similar direction, considering the sides have made little progress since the Sept. 16th institution of the lockout.
With the league and players unable to come to an agreement since the latest lockout went into effect Sept. 16, multiple sources told ESPN that Bettman suggested to NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr on Wednesday that the two sides take a two-week moratorium from negotiations.
“The whole process has just been frustrating,” White told USA Today. “I think, just where we stand now, you’d think that we’re close to making a deal if they’re willing to come a little bit our way. It’s something that could have been done even in the summer. So it’s frustrating. There’s just absolutely no need to be missing games and doing this kind of damage.”
The two sides remain divided on how to share revenue and player contract issues, as well as who shoulders the financial burden of the losses incurred as a result of the lockout.
With scant optimism that a new collective bargaining agreement will be reached soon, reports surfaced Thursday that the next round of cancellations could be on the horizon.
The league already has been forced to cancel 327 regular-season games — through Nov. 30 — as well as the annual Winter Classic. There also has been speculation that the fate of the season may be in jeopardy soon.