Stan Fischler
At last it's done!
http://www.msgnetwork.com/content_n...ticle&sports=ice-hockey&team=other&league=nhl
Jul 13, 2005
The ice HAS, at last been broken!
At 8:42 a.m., I got the phone call from one of the NHL’s chief negotiators.
“It’s settled,” he said. “We worked all Tuesday night and finished it Wednesday morning.”
While there remains, as he put it, “a day or day-and-a-half of papering” still to be completed, the basic, new Collective Bargaining Agreement has been written.
“The players side still has to get a look at it before it’s officially announced, but the deal is done,” one of the chief bargaining officials for the league added.
The Union's chief negotiator will be briefing the NHLPA executive committee by conference call. If the NHLPA people are favorable to the material, they will give the okay to the NHL to issue an official release sometime Wednesday.
The fact that a document of more than 600 pages has been written does not yet guarantee the 2005-'06 season only because the NHL Players’ Association now must ratify the pact – and there’s no firm assurance that they’ll give it the green light.
Nevertheless, a number of marquee players -- such as Jarome Iginla -- already have indicated their support and it is expected that the vote will be in favor, although not necessarily by a landslide.
If current plans jell and the paper work is completed by Thursday, it would set the stage for players to convene in Toronto to study the voluminous CBA, meet with their leaders and, finally, have an all-membership vote.
Should the NHLPA approve what amounts to a totally new league constitution, the league’s Board of Governors would meet in New York some time later next week to put its stamp of approval on the CBA.
I have learned that the league already has targeted Oct. 5 as the start of the season.
Although complete details of the new CBA await public release, it appears to have achieved the major goals sought by Commissioner Gary Bettman.
Precise details still are not available, but it has been indicated that it will include a Team Salary Cap between $37 million and $39 million as well as a “floor” of between $21 million and $24 million.
The league, which at one point had delivered about 75 percent of revenues to player salaries, will now have what it fought for; a more even distribution.
Salaries – under the new CBA – will be capped at 54 percent of revenues but the cap will be based on revenue projections.
One of the most startling developments – in terms of player concessions – will be the additional rollback of existing player contracts of 24 percent.
This is expected to include all qualifying offers made this summer for restricted free agents.
According to one report, no player would be able to obtain more than 20 percent of his club’s cap.
A prominent NHL official tells us, “This is going to be great for the league from here on out!”
Once the CBA is formally approved, machinery within the league will grind into motion to prepare for the 2005-'06 season.
The first key piece of business will be arranging the Entry Draft which could be held in Ottawa early in August.
This would allow the league to parade its next, hoped for superstar, Sidney Crosby to the media and public and thereby launch its long program of marketing the “New” NHL.
Crosby’s future home will depend on the contentious issue of a lottery. Still being debated is whether each team will have an equal opportunity to nab the whiz-kid or whether the lottery will be weighted in favor of the teams with the worst records over the past three years.
Following that league, vice president Colin Campbell will submit a long list of rule changes to the Board of Governors for its approval.
Conceivably, such innovations as larger goal nets, shoot-outs, double – four-on-four and then three-on-three – overtimes and an obstruction crackdown are being given serious consideration.
At last it's done!
http://www.msgnetwork.com/content_n...ticle&sports=ice-hockey&team=other&league=nhl
Jul 13, 2005
The ice HAS, at last been broken!
At 8:42 a.m., I got the phone call from one of the NHL’s chief negotiators.
“It’s settled,” he said. “We worked all Tuesday night and finished it Wednesday morning.”
While there remains, as he put it, “a day or day-and-a-half of papering” still to be completed, the basic, new Collective Bargaining Agreement has been written.
“The players side still has to get a look at it before it’s officially announced, but the deal is done,” one of the chief bargaining officials for the league added.
The Union's chief negotiator will be briefing the NHLPA executive committee by conference call. If the NHLPA people are favorable to the material, they will give the okay to the NHL to issue an official release sometime Wednesday.
The fact that a document of more than 600 pages has been written does not yet guarantee the 2005-'06 season only because the NHL Players’ Association now must ratify the pact – and there’s no firm assurance that they’ll give it the green light.
Nevertheless, a number of marquee players -- such as Jarome Iginla -- already have indicated their support and it is expected that the vote will be in favor, although not necessarily by a landslide.
If current plans jell and the paper work is completed by Thursday, it would set the stage for players to convene in Toronto to study the voluminous CBA, meet with their leaders and, finally, have an all-membership vote.
Should the NHLPA approve what amounts to a totally new league constitution, the league’s Board of Governors would meet in New York some time later next week to put its stamp of approval on the CBA.
I have learned that the league already has targeted Oct. 5 as the start of the season.
Although complete details of the new CBA await public release, it appears to have achieved the major goals sought by Commissioner Gary Bettman.
Precise details still are not available, but it has been indicated that it will include a Team Salary Cap between $37 million and $39 million as well as a “floor” of between $21 million and $24 million.
The league, which at one point had delivered about 75 percent of revenues to player salaries, will now have what it fought for; a more even distribution.
Salaries – under the new CBA – will be capped at 54 percent of revenues but the cap will be based on revenue projections.
One of the most startling developments – in terms of player concessions – will be the additional rollback of existing player contracts of 24 percent.
This is expected to include all qualifying offers made this summer for restricted free agents.
According to one report, no player would be able to obtain more than 20 percent of his club’s cap.
A prominent NHL official tells us, “This is going to be great for the league from here on out!”
Once the CBA is formally approved, machinery within the league will grind into motion to prepare for the 2005-'06 season.
The first key piece of business will be arranging the Entry Draft which could be held in Ottawa early in August.
This would allow the league to parade its next, hoped for superstar, Sidney Crosby to the media and public and thereby launch its long program of marketing the “New” NHL.
Crosby’s future home will depend on the contentious issue of a lottery. Still being debated is whether each team will have an equal opportunity to nab the whiz-kid or whether the lottery will be weighted in favor of the teams with the worst records over the past three years.
Following that league, vice president Colin Campbell will submit a long list of rule changes to the Board of Governors for its approval.
Conceivably, such innovations as larger goal nets, shoot-outs, double – four-on-four and then three-on-three – overtimes and an obstruction crackdown are being given serious consideration.
