Knight Ridder Newspapers

NEW YORK – With or without a new collective-bargaining agreement, the NHL will open its training camps in the fall, even if it means using replacement players.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman made that vow Tuesday during a five-hour meeting attended by more than 100 league owners, general managers and executives at the Westin Times Square.

Bettman would not be specific on how the league would operate without a new labor agreement, but he said emphatically: “We, as a league, are committed to working toward opening the 05-06 season.”

Flyers chairman Ed Snider would not say whether replacement players are a viable option in a union city such as Philadelphia. “All of these things were discussed, and various possibilities were discussed,” Snider said. “I can’t say anything with certainty.”

Would the Flyers open the doors of the Wachovia Center with replacement workers?

“I have not even thought about that,” Snider said. “I am hoping a deal can be made with the union.”

Several owners said they have been assured there will be a season.

Asked about using replacement players if an impasse is declared, Bettman said: “We have not decided exactly what options we would or would not pursue in the event we have no deal. We discussed a variety of options, and I don’t want to focus on any one. Everybody’s first and primary focus is to make a deal with the union.”

Several owners said that opening with replacement players was discussed in detail. The visa issues that would prevent the use of replacement players on both sides of the United States-Canada border could be circumvented by using AHL players who had minor-league contracts and then promoting them to the NHL. The league sees this as a last resort.

“I guess only if we can’t negotiate a deal with the union” we’d use replacement players, said Edmonton owner Cal Nichols, a hard-liner on the salary cap.

Just as the NHL Players’ Association expressed solidarity during a meeting Tuesday in Toronto, the executives who spoke here said they had given Bettman unequivocal support.

“Clearly, it was the sentiment in the room,” said Bill Daly, the league’s chief legal officer.

Nichols acknowledged that significant differences of opinion remained between small-market clubs such as the Oilers and other teams like the Flyers – one of the league’s top four revenue-producers with more than $100 million annually.

Daly said the revenue-producers got their points across in a “constructive” way during the debate with the small-market clubs.

“I wouldn’t say there was anger,” Daly said. “There was good discussion.”

Toronto Maple Leafs owner Richard Peddie, like Snider, was pointed in his remarks Tuesday that other revenue-producers such as the New York Rangers, Detroit and Colorado are not happy that the non-producers such as Edmonton, Carolina and Nashville are controlling the state of negotiations.

Snider was diplomatic.

“We are interested in the welfare of the league as a whole,” he said. “I have never seen more solidarity among the 30 owners, and I have been in the league since 1966. . . . We’re shutting down for the welfare of the league. You are only as strong as your weakest link. It’s not one or two weak links. We have a lot of weak links.”

Snider, club president Ron Ryan, general manager Bob Clarke, and lawyer Phil Weinberg attended the meeting, which included a one-hour executive board session.

Bettman said he intends to call NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow “very, very quickly,” to get both sides back to the bargaining table. It’s been suggested that Snider get involved in the talks to give the revenue-producers some leverage.

“I am very happy with my life as it is,” Snider said, smiling. “I don’t need aggravation from Bob Goodenow. I might jump over the table and choke him to death. That would not be good. That is why they keep me out of negotiations. I am a throwback to the old hockey days.”

One issue that was decided concerns this summer’s draft in Ottawa. Bettman said the draft would not take place unless there is a new collective-bargaining agreement.

“We have to jointly reflect the change of circumstances not having a season has brought to bear,” Bettman said. “Sometimes work stoppages change perceptions. We are not going to take a step back and let lines of communications shut down. This is too important.”

Snider wore a look of frustration when he met with reporters.

“We can’t make a deal with the union,” he said. “We’ve tried every which way. We don’t know where to go from here. We want to be partners with our players and build the game. . . . We can’t be adversaries with our players. You have a union leader who thinks if (the union) keeps saying no, the owners will cave. It ain’t going to happen.”