I agree with the sentiment of your post. I think that the facts noted by the Court of Appeal provide documentary evidence that the noteholders are not in a tenable position anymore (if they ever were other than in their own minds):

"[12] The current Noteholders are hedge funds, some of whom purchased Notes
after Venezuela announced its intention to expropriate Las Cristinas at prices as
low as 25 cents on the dollar." See, Page 6.

IMO this indicates that the Court has little sympathy for, what are clearly to them, vultures, and the Court goes on to detail the misadventures of the noteholders. This is about as clear a signal as I have ever seen from an appellate court that Newbould can do whatever he wants and will not be overturned. That with an uninterested Supreme Court gives Newbould total control.

Newbould seems to be doing what a good judge would -- trying push the parties toward compromise, but he has already slapped down the noteholders on many occasions and it seems unlikely he would now find their unreasonableness acceptable. I take that to be more intended to pressure the noteholders to move toward Crystallex. In my experiences in chambers with US federal judges it is a signal that is more than obvious, and either wonderful or horrible depending on your position in the case, and even the dumbest clients tend to understand.

The the appellate court also noted that, "[90] [w]hile Mr. Fung initially indicated that Crystallex's plan was to stay creditors' claims until the arbitration was settled or realized, his more recent evidence was that approval of the Tenor DIP Loan does not preclude further
discussions about a plan with the creditors. In submissions before the
supervising judge, and again before this court, counsel for Crystallex reiterated
that Crystallex intended to exit from CCAA protection as soon as a plan was
negotiated with the creditors and approved, and that Crystallex intended to
negotiate a plan by the expiry of the stay on July 30, 2012. The supervising judge
found that Crystallex intended to negotiate a plan with its creditors. There is
some basis in the record for such a conclusion." See, Page 39.

The Court agreed that there was evidence that Fung intended to negotiate, which is all the law requires. So Fung can continue to negotiate, now from a position of massive strength relative to the noteholders. If I were him, I'd start with an offer of paying them 50% of face with say 6 percent interest, and while they would not take it, they could continue to negotiate; after all Cliffs Over Maple Bay says that you have to intend to negotiate -- nothing mentioned about reaching an agreement. Moreover, the noteholders have no basis to bitch about poor offers from Crystallex, since they wanted 100% of everything for their minimal investment. That position really bites the noteholders in the ass. These things can take time, often years, by which time the arbitration will be over.

http://documentcentre.eycan.com/eycm_library/Project%20Gem%5CEnglish%5CCourt%20Orders%5CCCAA%20Orders%5CC55434&C55435.rere.pdf