Elizabeth Neumeier, a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators, was just about to hear opening arguments in "Avalanche v. Ryan O'Reilly." Outside a Toronto conference room in which she sat, Joe Sakic, Greg Sherman, Pat Morris and O'Reilly were about to head in, resigned to go through with an arbitration hearing in which the Avs would ask Neumeier to award the minimum $5.525 million on a one-year contract, while the O'Reilly camp would ask for $6.75 million.
"We were right outside the door, ready to do this," Sakic said.
Suddenly, the realization came to both parties: We don't have to do this. We can still strike a deal if we want. And so they did. While a long-term contract remains elusive, the Avs and O'Reilly did the next best thing, agreeing to a two-year, $12 million deal.
It was as simple as it sounds: With the deadline of the hearing bearing down on them and the uncertainty it would bring for both sides, Sakic, Sherman, Morris and O'Reilly all looked at each other and realized it was in everybody's best interests to work something out on their own.