Daly calls NHLPA’s tactics “a joke”

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly isn’t very impressed with the NHLPA’s attempts to prevent a lockout by appealing to provincial labor boards in Quebec and Alberta.

“This is a joke,” he told the Canadian Press in an email.

Daly expanded on that thought to The Record’s Tom Gulitti: “[The hearings] will have absolutely zero impact on the broader negotiation, or on the deal we ultimately agree on.”

Daly also told ESPN’s Katie Strang that owners wanted to negotiate during an unproductive weekend.

“We sat around all weekend waiting for the union. Nothing,” Daly said. “Obviously, [they have] a different agenda. Unfortunate.”

Many observers would probably use the word “unfortunate” to describe the current situation.