NHL Owners Talking Lockout, Players Talking Hope

It was everything that we saw eight years ago when the NHL locked the players out. That turned into an entire season lost, a huge loss of revenue for players and the league, and a bitter disappointment for fans. It’s still too early to tell if the NHL CBA will hold things up for the entire 2012-2013 hockey season. But it’s close enough to the September 15 expiration date on the current CBA to say that this season could very well be held up. By a month or two at least, anyway.

Both the NHL owners and the Players’ Association have brought proposed contracts to the table. And both have been shot down by the other party. The league wants players to take a cut in revenue sharing. While they now enjoy 57 percent, the league would like to see that changed to 43 percent. The league also wants to cut the salary cap in half, from $8 million above midpoint, to $4 million above. This would give teams a total of $50.8 million for the next season, and in all the new deal would cost the players about $450 million each season, according to the Association.

And there’s more. The league also wants contract lengths to be restricted to a maximum of five years, with equal pay spread out each year; and players would need to be in the league for 10 years before they’re eligible for unrestricted free agency. This last takes away a lot of a player’s negotiating power; and some players don’t stay in the league for that length of time and so, they’d never be eligible to become a UFA.

And while the players are willing to give up some things in order to make this season a go, they have a much simpler plan: to simply require the big money-making teams to give $250 million each to the teams that don’t bring in the revenue. Fairer to all teams, less money lost for everyone, everyone should be happy. But that’s far from the case.

Commissioner Gary Bettman has said that he wants to see a new deal in place by September 15. He’s also said that he’s prepared to lock the players out if a new agreement — his agreement — can’t be reached. Donald Fehr though, head of the National Hockey League Players’ Association, says that while the players understand what’s at stake, he’s still hopeful that a new deal can be reached in time. And so is one of the players sitting at the table, David Moss of the Phoenix Coyotes.

“The league are the ones saying that if we don’t come to a decision…The players are still very optimistic and hopeful that things will get done on time, and we’re working in that fashion,” says Moss.

But that doesn’t mean that the players are willing to cave to whatever the owners and Commissioner want, either.

“One of the things the players asked me,” said Fehr after a two-day meeting with them, “is, ‘Why did we give them what we did the last time if this was going to be the result this time?'”

Categorized in: NHL