"I had hoped we would never see the NHL owners and their commissioner do the unthinkable and cancel an entire season. Unfortunately, Gary Bettman and the owners did exactly that today," Goodenow said during a Wednesday afternoon press conference in Toronto.
"The players sincerely wanted a fair deal and pushed hard to get one, unfortunately we never had a real negotiating partner."
"Keep one thing perfectly clear," he added. "The players never asked for more money, they just asked for a marketplace to exist where they could negotiate with their clubs' owners for what their value was to their teams."
NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow (CP File Photo)
Bettman officially cancelled the 2004-05 season on Wednesday after a series of 11th-hour offers and counter-proposals between the league and the players' union failed to produce a new collective bargaining agreement.
Bettman refused to budge after giving the union until 11 a.m. ET Wednesday to accept a so-called final offer, which featured a $42.5-million US per team salary cap without linking player costs and salaries. The league had already moved from Monday's position of a firm $40 million cap.
The last offer by the NHLPA was a salary cap of $49 million per team with a luxury tax component that the NHL swiftly turned down in less than an hour Tuesday evening.
Even though the union did a major philosophical about-face when it tabled its proposal that included a salary cap, Goodenow said the negotiations are back to square one and that the union's last offer is now off the table.
Goodenow explained the reason why the union offered a salary cap was because the NHL made a major concession of its own when it tabled a proposal that didn't include linkage.
"I think it's a fresh start," said Goodenow. "I think everything is off the table and we begin anew because we're under new circumstances.
"The process will commence again but under a totally different environment, that is absolutely for sure."
Goodenow downplayed reports that players such as Chris Pronger, Jeremy Roenick and Jarome Iginla approached the league behind his back in an attempt to jump-start talks.
"I'm certain no player would do anything to jeopardize the process," he said.
Goodenow also declined to comment on speculation that the union would have agreed to a deal if the NHL moved off its take-it-or-leave it final offer of $42.5 million and proposed a $45-million salary cap.
Said Goodenow: "I don't think it serves any purpose to be speculating on what ifs, because the what ifs aren't for real."
