NHL labor leader warns NBA players about missing season

Former Dallas Stars standout Bill Guerin lived through the NHL’s labor lockout of 2004-05. It cost him a year of his career.

That’s whyin a recent Fort Worth Star-Telegram interview.

“I learned a big lesson: It’s not a partnership,” Guerin said. “It’s their league, and you are going to play when they want,” he said.

The players have already lost two weeks of earnings and likely will lose more after the abrupt ending of negotiations.

Guerin urges the players to get their best deal as quickly as possible.

“It is not worth it to any of them to burn games or to burn an entire year. Burning a year was ridiculous,” Guerin said. “It wasn’t worth me giving up $9 million a year, or 82 games plus the playoffs, then having a crappy year and being bought out…. Guys in the NBA making $15 million or however much better think long and hard about this.”