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Daly says decertification “would likely lead to the end of the season”

Daly

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly has a message for any player that thinks blowing up the NHLPA is the way to go – be prepared to lose the rest of the season.

Friday in an interview with Sportsnet radio, Daly called decertification a “time consuming process that would likely lead to the end of the season.”

Others have argued that decertification, or at least the threat of taking the battle to the courtroom, is exactly what’s needed to end the lockout. But are the players willing to take that chance?

When asked if the NHL underestimated the players’ resolve in the CBA negotiations, Daly said no; however, he did admit he may have “underestimated the magnitude of the gulf between” the two sides.

Daly ended the interview with a shot at NHLPA leadership by suggesting the players may be more interested in making a deal than the men leading them.

Exit Daly, enter NHLPA special counsel Steve Fehr.

“Of course we want to get a deal done,” Fehr told Sportsnet shortly after Daly’s interview ended.

And does the NHL want to get a deal done?

“We have our doubts,” said Fehr, alluding to the league’s decision to lock out the players and its stubbornness during negotiations.

“We moved a couple of miles (with the NHLPA’s latest proposal); they moved a couple of inches.”

As for the potential for decertification, he’d only say that “all things are under consideration.”

Click here to listen to the Daly interview and here for Fehr.