NHL, NHLPA to Meet With Mediators Again Today After Nothing Was Mediated Over Yesterday
Pierre LeBrun at ESPN.com reports that yesterday's initial CBA negotiations with the federal mediators saw the owners and players spend most of the day in separate groups.
...so wait, if the NHL and NHLPA reps were separated for most of the day, what exactly did these guys from the federal government mediate over?
...i thought the idea was for the mediators to sit in on the negotiations and help move them along. So now instead of trying to get both sides to talk like adults, the guys from Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service have the owners and players in separate rooms? Pretty much what I expected when the federal government got involved.
Both sides will meet with the mediators again this afternoon.
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It makes sense to me. Mediators need to be impartial, so meeting with each side separately is an absolute must. What has appeared in the media up to this point is just PR crap. We haven't seen what's really being discussed at the table and we can't expect the mediators to magically know all the details. Walking into a war zone without being briefed by both sides would be naive and irresponsible.
I know it's frustrating, but that's how life is.
@ryantaussig I just assumed that would have been done before they announced that the mediator was brought in. Was hoping for real negotiations yesterday and today. Guess I was getting way ahead of myself. Not like there's any time limit or anything.
@TheNYRBlog maybe mediators can mention to @nhl that negotiating is a two-way street. They need to give @nhlpa incentive to give up rights.
@NYRinQueens Not exactly sure these guys are grownups after the whole Twitter fiasco got one of them taken off the mediation. But I hear u.
@TheNYRBlog they bring both sides together later in the process once the mediators figure out what each side really wants
@TheNYRBlog I know. We all are. Maybe the mediator will help by telling both sides they're being stupid and wasting money with this lockout.
@gonyr24 @thenyrblog guys, I'm tellin you, we are about to get closure on this whole thing. Either season is canned or we get a deal, soon
@gonyr24 You'd think they'd be smart enough to know that already. But I guess that's asking too much. lol
@TheNYRBlog that's how mediation works out here in the legal field, both parties start separate so mediators can figure out both sides
believe it or not, separating them that way is the best way for mediators to handle it. They can listen to what each side is wants and without the two sides getting in the way, they can find the overlap and see where compromise can be made.
