Bill Daly
Bill Daly
William "Bill" L. Daly III is an attorney and the current Deputy Commissioner and chief legal officer of the National Hockey Leagueunder Commissioner Gary Bettman. He is also a Hockey Hall of Fame Board Member and former NHL Vice President and Chief Legal Officer. Before joining the NHL front office he worked for the New York law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP. He received his bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College and his law degree from New...
benefit certainly decision game great meant players
It's certainly a decision that will benefit NHL players and participating officials. But most importantly, it's great for the game and for our fans. I think Rene realizes that what we're experiencing in the NHL right now is the game the way it was meant to be played. We're very pleased.
average continue dollar league million pay percent player players salary star systems
Any of these new systems would continue to pay star players multi-million dollar salaries, would see the maintenance of an average player salary of $1.3 million and would pay the players more than 50 percent of league revenues,
choose level losing monitor obviously players skilled stay
Obviously we'll monitor it and if we're losing really valuable, skilled players at the NHL level because those players choose to stay in Europe, that's something we'll want to take a look at,
break challenge concern deal decisions difference experience injuries issue issues led location longer number obviously olympics otherwise players plays time whether
Obviously injuries are an issue and a concern of our clubs. Location of the Olympics plays into that, the significant time difference we had in Nagano (for the '98 Games) was a challenge and it led into a longer break than we would have otherwise liked. There are a number of issues that you deal with as you make these decisions each time around, and probably the most significant is our experience here and whether players are getting hurt.
believe choose course depriving develop evaluate extent league losing players
But I don't believe the doomsayers who say it's depriving the league of talent. You're not losing NHL players. But to the extent that there are players who choose not to develop here, that's something we'll evaluate long-term over the course of the contract.
addition attitude environment players rule
In addition to the rule changes, we went out of our way with the players association to make the attitude and environment around the NHL different than in the past.
annual assume certain clubs consequences decide hear intentions longer players release safe until wait willing
We'll wait until we hear for certain what their intentions are before we decide what the consequences will be. But I think it's safe to assume that, at a minimum, NHL clubs will no longer be willing to release players from contractual obligations to participate in the annual world championships.
culture educate gambling players pro
We take this seriously. The pro gambling culture is something we educate our players about extensively.
agree existed fairly further giving issue mandatory matter opportunity players resistance season seemed serious step union vet
The union seemed amenable to giving the matter serious consideration, but indicated that there still existed fairly significant resistance from their membership. They wanted the opportunity to use this season to further vet the issue with their players before they would agree to take the step of implementing a mandatory visor rule.
clubs concern injuries issue
Injuries are also an issue and a concern of our clubs and our players.
difficult dispute labor litigation move page remaining sole time turn
In a lot of respects, the litigation was the sole remaining vestige of a year-long labor dispute that was difficult for us and for our fans. It was time to turn the page and move on.
effort legitimate looking luxury table tax union walk
Not that a luxury tax would work, but we're not going to walk away from the table just because there's one in the offer. What we're looking for is a legitimate effort by the union that we feel addresses our issues.
best break challenge determined imperfect late olympics particular process schedule
These Olympics were a particular challenge to us because we determined so late in the process (because of the lockout) that we were going to take a break in our schedule and come here. Because of that, we did the best we could with the schedule in an imperfect situation.
afraid attendance blame certainly gas helping prices
I'm afraid our gas prices aren't helping things. We certainly can't blame the weather. The attendance is a little light.