CBA Negotiations Update- 8/14/12

NHLPA Executive Director Donald Fehr addresses the media

It's been a little less than a month since the NHL first laid out their proposal for a new collective bargaining agreement, and the NHLPA has finally presented their counter proposal yesterday. We all hope that this counter proposal will be accepted by the NHL and put into use
within the next few days, but it would go against pro sports policy for negotiations of any sort to go nice and peacefully, so it will likely be awhile before any sort of progress is made.

I took a careful look at both the NHL's proposal and the NHLPA's, and the aren't all too different. While there are some differences that most likely will have to be resolved if the two sides are to eventually come to a decision, the two sides aren't as far apart as many people expected they would be (or for the matter as far apart as they were before the 2004-05 lockout). Below are some differences in the two proposals.



     - The NHL's proposal consisted of a five-year CBA while the NHLPA's lasts just three seasons with a players' option for a fourth.

     - The NHLPA agreed to accept a reduced revenue share within the new CBA, but only about $465 million over the course of three years; less than was first proposed last month by the NHL.

     - The NHLPA would like to see zero contract changes in the new CBA. The NHL, remember, listed several regulations they would like to see instilled in their first proposal [5-year limit, equally distributed annual salary (instead of front, middle, or back-loaded deals), no salary arbitration, etc.].

     - The NHLPA would like to see a system where a team can go $4 million over/under the salary cap limitations by adding or trading cap space.

     - NHLPA requested that the League set forth a limit on non-player spending by teams.



Those are all of the main points that will be focused upon heavily when the debate picks up in the coming weeks. Of those differences, the two sides are farthest apart in terms of the third one (contracts), and more than likely that will be the bug hump that the two parties will need to get over. Obviously the players do not want more rules and regulations applied to the contracts they sign, but the League sees it as a circumvention-preventer and, in the long-run, a safer and more secure way of going about doing business.

One positive that came out of this proposal by the NHLPA was NHL commissioner (or tyrant, your choice) Gary Bettman said that the Players Association's proposal was "very thorough" and that the league will take a very close look at it, and they will have their response in about a weeks time.

Another positive was that many of the NHL's star players were present and backing up Fehr as he addressed the media. Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Steven Stamkos, John Tavares, and PK Subban were among the 23 players present at the press conference. It was a good sign that many of the games stars were there to let the owners know that they mean business, so the NHL better not screw around with crap proposals that favor the league immensely, and they better get to working on a deal that works for both sides fast.

Again, the deadline to get a new CBA constructed  before the season is locked out has been set for September 15.

Bettman Killing the NHL

Commissioner Gary Bettman

Gary Bettman has been the commissioner of the National Hockey League since February 1, 1993, when he replaced Gil Stein, bringing an end to the era of league presidents, and moving towards owner appointed commissioners. There is no denying that he has done done some good for the league and the game of hockey, and that he does
 have intentions to improve the game, but he is single handedly killing the league.

The team owners hired Bettman with the mandate that he would make the game more popular in the United States, complete the plans for expansion, and stop the labor issues between the NHL and the National Hockey League Players Association.

When Bettman took power the league had already expanded to 24 teams, and was about to announce the addition of teams in Florida (the Panthers) and Anaheim [the Mighty Ducks (now called the Ducks)]. Bettman led the league on the Sunbelt Project, a plan to add teams to Southern American areas. Teams were added in Nashville (Predators), Atlanta (Thrashers), Minnesota (Wild), and Columbus (Blue Jackets), bringing the NHL to 30 teams. Bettman also oversaw the relocation of four franchises during the 1990s part of his tyranny, the Minnesota North Stars to Dallas (now the Dallas Stars), the Quebec Nordiques to Denver (now the Colorado Avalanche), the Winnipeg Jets to Glendale (now the Phoenix Coyote), and the Hartford Whalers to Raleigh (now the Carolina Hurricanes). What happened of the teams that came to be under Bettman?

 ‘‘Time is running short, and the owners are not prepared to operate under this collective bargaining agreement for another season, so we need to get to making a deal and doing it soon’’ 
           -Gary Bettman on a possible lockout if no deal is reached by 9/15/12

The Florida Panthers made it to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1996 (where they were swept in 4 games by Colorado). They have been to the playoffs three times since then. The Anaheim Mighty Ducks (now Ducks) won the Stanley Cup in 2007. The Nashville Predators have never lasted 6 games into the second round of the playoffs. The Atlanta Thrashers never won a playoff game, and have since relocated to Winnipeg. The Minnesota Wild have not had any real playoff success, but they are doing well non-the-less (hockey is huge in Minnesota). The Columbus Blue Jackets also haven't won a playoff game, and just finished last in league standings. The Dallas Stars won the Stanley Cup in 1999, but have had a very low attendance recently. The Colorado Avalanche have won two Stanley Cups (1996, 2001), and are doing fine in Colorado. The Phoenix Coyotes just made it to the third round of the playoffs, but they have the worst ownership in sports history, and very low attendance. The Carolina Hurricanes won the Cup in 2006, and are doing fine. There have been five Stanley Cups won in that group, but I tried to keep it positive, and not explain the massive headache that these teams are causing.

 There have been two lockouts under Bettman, one that reduced the 1994-95 season to 48 games instead of 82, and one that cancelled the entire 2004-2005 season. As of right now, Bettman has said that the NHL will once again lockout its players if a new CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) isn't reached by September 15 (the day the current CBA expires).

Bettman's current salary is $7.984 million, more than the majority of the league's players. That's a pretty big paycheck for someone that could be arrested for two counts of attempted homicide, on on the NHL, and the other on the game of hockey. How do we stop this madness you ask?

Doan Update

It looks as though the sale of the Phoenix Coyotes will finally go through, which means that UFA forward and Phoenix captain Shane Doan will most likely stay in Glendale. Staying with the organization he has spent his entire career with was always his first choice, but he said he wouldn't sign there unless he saw stability in ownership.