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What they’re saying about Friday’s disappointing negotiating session

Gary Bettman

National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman speaks to reporters about on going labor talks with the NHL Players Association outside the league’s headquarters in New York, Tuesday, July 31, 2012. The current collective bargaining agreement ends on Sept. 15, and the NHL season is scheduled to open on Oct. 11. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

AP

The NHL and players’ union ended Friday’s meeting without making any noticeable progress towards a new CBA. As you might expect, plenty of fans, players, and hockey insiders took to Twitter to voice their opinions.

We’ve taken a sampling of some of the insightful, interesting, and revealing tweets to share with you.

First off, it might be helpful to take a step back and look at today’s events as part of a longer process. As Tom Gulitti of The Record pointed out:

With NHL asking NHLPA to take a cut in share of revenue, this isn’t to get done by hugging it out.You had to expect some rhetoric.

— Tom Gulitti (@TGfireandice) August 31, 2012

Montreal Gazette writer Dave Stubbs points out that this isn’t just about the players, owners, and fans. There’s another group of people that will be severely impacted if there’s a lockout, but they can do little more than wait on the sidelines and hope for a resolution:

Deepest sigh? Seasonal workers, small business who NEED hockey to make ends meet. NHL brass, owners & players are not in that group

— Dave Stubbs (@Dave_Stubbs) August 31, 2012

As player agent Allan Walsh points out, there’s at least one man in the hockey industry that’s going to get paid:

Don Fehr does not collect any salary during a lockout of NHL players. Bettman still collects his $8M.

— Allan Walsh (@walsha) August 31, 2012

A number of people shared their feelings and frustrations with CSN Chicago’s Tracey Myers. Here’s one that might echo a number of fans sentiments:

@tramyerscsn I find it very frustrating! We work hard to MAYBE splurge to buy tickets to a game or 2.Feel taken for granted&jipped.

— Linda Baker (@HWKSFN81) August 31, 2012

Tweets like that probably don’t surprise Stubbs:

There’s a huge disconnect between NHL & average fans who pinch pennies to support it. But I don’t see players rolling over this time

— Dave Stubbs (@Dave_Stubbs) August 31, 2012

Finally, Orange County Register sports columnist Mark Whicker might have the solution to all of our problems:

NHL is hiring Clint Eastwood to visit arenas and talk to every empty seat.

— Mark Whicker (@MWhickerOCR) August 31, 2012