Last week during players-owners meetings, Kevin Westgarth says the NHLPA reps had a greater understanding of the state of negotiations than those across the table.
“It became obvious that the guys they brought in had nowhere near a complete understanding of what the proposals were and where we were in the negotiations,” Westgarth told the New York Times.
“I thought it was great that Ron Burkle, Larry Tanenbaum, Mark Chipman and Jeff Vinik got involved — clearly they’re passionate and care about the game — but it shows how tightly controlled the league is.”
Westgarth echoed that statement again today during an interview with the FAN 590, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Nick Cotsonika. Westgarth claimed that the players had to politely correct the owners new to the talks.
If true, it may lend credence to Ron Hainsey’s claim that miscommunication was partly to blame for the breakdown of talks.