"Oh, to be a fly on the wall when Gary Bettman and Donald Fehr, along with their lawyers, sit across the table to discuss a new collective agreement.

All the more in view of the stunning announcement on Friday that the National Hockey League is shelving plans for the massive realignment it had agreed upon for next season following the NHLPA's refusal to agree to the changes.

The NHL, as you know, announced in early December that it planned to switch from two three-division conferences to four seven-or eight-team conferences. At the time, there was no reaction from the players' man. On Friday, Fehr told Bettman and the owners – who had agreed to realignment by a 26-4 margin – to shove it."