[ken5050]

No..because the higher paid stars, for at least one more season, will stay out, thinking they can win, or go to Europe..Bettman is thinking 20 years out..a player today, who may have a 3-5 year career...is thinking about next season..

The league will declare an impass, announce its new terms, and open camp..They have to do it in order to have an draft..You'll have 2/3 of the players cross the line..and the NHLPA wil go the way of PATCO in another year..

Want a real long shot prediction..The next baseball commissioner..not Condi..but Bettman..

[Alberta's Child]

The league will declare an impass, announce its new terms, and open camp.

Can they do that? One thing that complicates this process is that there are six NHL teams in Canada that operate under different labor laws. This should not be overlooked -- in fact, the NHLPA was originally accepted by the NHL owners as a collective bargaining organization in 1967 because the NHLPA as it was constituted back then was a lot better than what the players could have formed under Canadian labor laws.