With NHL owners standing united, compromise unlikely

0 Comments | USA TODAY, December, 2004 | by Mike Brehm and Kevin Allen

Four days before Christmas, NHL players were critical of Commissioner Gary Bettman's proposed method of reining in salaries and team officials were talking about the season being on death row.

The negativity was rampant Dec. 21, 1994, during the NHL's last lockout, which lasted 103 days. It was settled, though, Jan. 11, and a 48-game schedule followed.

But plenty of differences keep pessimism at a premium this year. The biggest: Owners are united.

"We had a fractured group in 1994, because there were so many buildings going on line -- either they were under construction or recently opened," said Brian Burke, a top negotiator for the league that year. "The debt load was simply too much. We had cracks in the first week among our owners."

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