It’s Tough to Reconfigure This One Out

So, what did happen in the NHL on Friday?

There won’t be any hockey for at least two weeks, but there was no clear-cut consensus on just what to call it. Despite what many fans believe, the players are not on strike. That’s about the only thing players and owners seem to agree upon.

Sound bites from a day of dissension:

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman: “We are going to reconfigure the schedule.”

Bob Goodenow, head of the players’ union: “It’s an owners’ lockout, pure and simple.”

Mighty Duck defenseman Robert Dirk: “You can say what you want about it, it’s a play on words. We’re not going to be playing. Is it a lockout or a postponement? I’m not working as of tomorrow, which I should be, and I’m not getting paid.”

King center Wayne Gretzky: “This two-week thing, as far as I’m concerned, is a bit of a cover.”

Los Angeles labor lawyer Lester G. Ostrov: “It’s typical for both unions and employers who are in the public eye to posture, and to try to say it in a way that puts them in the best light. But if it walks like a duck . . . no pun intended.”