NHL Lockout Ends
The most idiotic labor dispute in sports history appears to have ended.
The most idiotic labor dispute in sports history appears to have ended. From ESPN–
A tentative agreement has been reached between the NHL and the players’ association.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr stood side by side in the early hours of Sunday morning to announce there was a framework in place for a new collective bargaining agreement.
Bettman and Fehr didn’t join hands and sing Kumbaya together.
The deal still requires majority approval from both the board of governors — as early as Tuesday — and the NHLPA membership before it can become official.
The tentative agreement is a 10-year deal with a mutual opt-out clause after eight years and includes contract term limits at seven years (eight years for a team to re-sign its own players), a source confirmed to ESPNNewYork.com.
“I am happy deal has been reached and excited to get back to playing hockey,” Penguins star Sidney Crosby said in an email.
For the first year, the salary cap is $60 million but teams can spend up to $70.2 million in the transition period, while the floor is $44 million.
Sources said the 2013-14 salary cap, a very divisive issue, will be $64.3 million, while the floor will remain at $44 million.
Contract salary variance is capped at 35 percent from year to year, with the provision that the last year can’t vary more than 50 percent from the highest-salaried year, a source told ESPN.com.
Revenue sharing will spread $200 million, with a $60 million NHLPA-initiated growth fund included.
The players did well after the last CBA was agreed to, and I expect the same result this time around. I think some owners may benefit also but the NHL has at least one team with severe financial problems and a couple more possibly waiting in the wings. This labor dispute cost the team owners millions and I wouldn’t be surprised if there is fallout from it.
Why did this dispute take four months to resolve? It came down to personalities, the owners don’t like Fehr and both sides complained and whined about the other instead of playing hockey. I’m a die hard Florida Panthers fan who can count the televised games involving the cats over the last five years that they have missed watching on one hand. Right now I have very little enthusiasm for a shortened bogus season.
Yawn. Yet another reason why college and minor league sports are so much better to watch.
I finally get to see a banner raised, so I can still be a little excited.
The hard line owners did it again. The NHL is pathetic.
As a Panthers fan, you probably don’t wanna hear this….but GO AVS!
Yep. My feelings exactly. I would have rather the entire season been canceled at this point. It’s going to be, what, a 50 game season? Who wants to hoist the Cup after all this? It’ll be meaningless.
That said, it’ll still be nice to see the Bruins out on the ice again. A huge part of me has been missing without them out there.
Well I have missed hockey like mad and am glad they finally reached at deal.
NHL: most people don’t care and will follow college hockey and basketbsll. NHL doesn’ t even have a major full time tv network (NBC for playoffs). The players should have joined up with those WalMart workers who were striking and had some good poker games.
Aren’ t most of those WalMart people on Social Security anyway?
@Chris Berez:
I think these guys would disagree…
I used to watch a lot of hockey, but now mostly only watch when the Wings are in the playoffs. But this latest dispute has really turned me off. My understanding is most of the teams are basically subsidized by the profitable ones anyway, and here the owners and players are pathetically fighting over scraps. In other words, I like hockey but I know it’s not popular enough to make everyone a multi-millionaire; I wonder when those involved will learn that.
@Mikey:
Damn straight. My favorite picture ever!
I grow weary of people saying “there’s no hockey!” or “hockey’s coming back!” That’s nonsense. NCAA. Major junior. American Hockey League. Other, regional AA professional leagues. There’s hockey *all over* the place. Hell, Watch ESPN has the KHL!
I’ve been in hockey a long time, and I line college. THe NHL is, at this point, irrelevant to me.
@Christopher Bowen: Yep–and Team USA took the gold in the World Junior Championship this year. A fine game to watch, too.
I wouldn’t say the NHL is irrelevant to me at this point, but I am not nearly as thrilled at its return as I thought I’d be. The whole stupid mess has just turned me off.
I got a nice e-mail yesterday with Ted Leonsis’ name at the end. I wrote back and told him he wouldn’t see me at the Verizon Center unless he comped me two tickets for the next time the Red Wings visit…
Wait, there hasn’t been a hockey season?
Has anyone but a few noticed?
@Mikey: As a native Canadian, :(. That’s all I can say. 🙁