Is it just me, or is the NHLPA acting like a bunch of spoiled brats?

Maybe it's just me, but a lot of the quotes I'm hearing coming out of the mouths of NHL players recently sound like things that come out of the mouths of spoiled brats the first time their parents decide to drop the hammer and not give them what they want.

I mean, how many players have given out quotes about how they were shocked that the NHL didn't gobble up their latest offer immediately?

How many players keep saying that the NHLPA is the only side that is negotiating? Or that there is no way to even consider a salary cap?

This all sounds to me like a group of people that are so used to getting their way that they don't know how to react when things aren't going like they always have.

Ever since Bob Goodenow has taken control of the NHLPA from Alan Eagleson, he has bested Gary Bettman and the owners at the bargaining table. So naturally, the players have a lot of faith in Goodenow. And they expect that when push comes to shove, that the owners will be the ones that fold.

And now that that appears like it won't happen, the players don't know what to do. They certainly don't want to "lose" the battle of "cost certainty" vs "a marketplace system". But they really have no idea how to do that, so they start making comments that sound childish, at best.

Hopefully the NHLPA members grow up soon and take their medicine for the first time in history of the Goodenow-Bettman NHL. If not, they could be seeing the industry in which they make a living shrink quite a lot. And that will make a guaranteed average team payroll of $34 million look like what George Steinbrenner pays out every year.