The Semi-Official Hockey Thread...
Joined: Jul 2001
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From: This is not my house!
Don't know the details yet so I don't know if the PA gave too much. With that said, I doubt a player would turn it down. Bear in mind the majority of players will be unaffected by most of the cap type concessions.
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 93,305
Likes: 820
From: Nowhere
ESPN is reporting it's a done deal, minus player ratification.
I can see a lot of intra-owner fighting on the revenue sharing. Should help keep the 4 minor Canadian franchises in good shape. However it will also prop up poorly run franchises at the expense of the well run franchises like Toronto, Minnesota, and Colorado, which is 
I think the players will ratify this (albeit narrowly), if only based on the minimum salary increase. About 1 in 6 players is below this threshold. A lot of the guys just above that will go for it just to get back on the ice, too.
Term: Six years.
Salary rollback: All remaining contracts will be rolled back 24 percent. The rollback will also impact players who must be given qualifying offers for new deals. Those qualifying offers will be based on a player's salary in his last contracted year, minus the 24 percent rollback.
2004-05 contracts: Those contracts will simply disappear from the ledger. Players, however, will be credited with a "year of service." Years of service can determine a player's free-agent status.
Salary cap: Each team must meet a minimum, but not exceed a maximum payroll number. For the 2005-06 season, the high-end threshold will be approximately $37-$39.5 million. The low-end threshold will be between $21.5-$24.5 million.
The numbers are based on the league's projection of revenue for the 2005-06 season. The projection is approximately $1.7-$1.8 billion. According to the league, total revenues for the last complete season (2003-04) were $2.1 billion.
If revenues increase, the salary cap thresholds will increase on a season-to-season basis. If revenues decrease, the salary cap thresholds will decrease on a season-to-season basis.
Buyouts: Teams will be allowed a window of time to buyout player contracts. A player can be bought out for two-thirds of the total remaining value of his contract, minus the 24 percent rollback. A team will not be allowed to re-sign a player they have bought out for a still to be determined amount of time. The money spent to buyout a player will NOT count against the salary cap.
Escrow: A still to be determined percent of players salaries will be placed in an escrow account. In the new deal, league-wide payroll can't exceed 54 percent of total league-wide revenue. If league-wide payroll is determined to be more than 54 percent of revenues, the escrow account will be passed back to the clubs. If league-wide payroll is determined to be less than 54 percent of revenues, the escrow account will go to the players.
Individual team-by-team player cap: No single player can earn more than 20 percent of his team's total payroll. For example, a team with a total team payroll of $37.5 million couldn't pay a single player more than $7.5 million.
Revenue-sharing: The top 10 revenue clubs will contribute to a pool that will be redistributed to the bottom 10 revenue clubs. The NHLPA proposed a similar revenue sharing component in 1994 during the league's first lockout.
Unrestricted free agency: It will remain frozen at age 31 for the first year of the new CBA. It will gradually decrease to age 28 during the life of the deal.
Salary arbitration: The club and the player will both have ability to elect to go to arbitration. Although not confirmed, I believe NHL will go to a baseball-style arbitration system that calls for both sides to submit a salary figure and an arbitrator to decide on one number or the other. There will be a limit on the number of times a team or player can go to arbitration. And, the clubs will have a limited number of times they can walk away from an arbitrator's decision. Under the old system, the clubs could not take players to arbitration.
Qualifying offers: Players making less than $660,000 must be tendered qualifying offers of 110 percent of their final contracted season's salary. Players making between $660,000.01 and $1 million must be tendered qualifying offers of 105 percent of their final contracted season's salary. Players making over $1 million must be tendered qualifying offers of 100 percent of their final contracted season's salary.
Entry level contracts: Entry level contracts will be capped $850,000 per season, with a maximum signing bonus at 10 percent of salary per season. The contracts will be three years in length.
Minimum salary: The minimum salary will be $400,000. Under the old agreement, the league minimum was $175,000.
2006 Winter Olympics: The NHL will shut down operations in February 2006 to allow players to participate in the Winter Olympics. To accommodate the scheduling issues, the league will cancel its 2005-06 All-Star Weekend (scheduled for Phoenix).
Salary rollback: All remaining contracts will be rolled back 24 percent. The rollback will also impact players who must be given qualifying offers for new deals. Those qualifying offers will be based on a player's salary in his last contracted year, minus the 24 percent rollback.
2004-05 contracts: Those contracts will simply disappear from the ledger. Players, however, will be credited with a "year of service." Years of service can determine a player's free-agent status.
Salary cap: Each team must meet a minimum, but not exceed a maximum payroll number. For the 2005-06 season, the high-end threshold will be approximately $37-$39.5 million. The low-end threshold will be between $21.5-$24.5 million.
The numbers are based on the league's projection of revenue for the 2005-06 season. The projection is approximately $1.7-$1.8 billion. According to the league, total revenues for the last complete season (2003-04) were $2.1 billion.
If revenues increase, the salary cap thresholds will increase on a season-to-season basis. If revenues decrease, the salary cap thresholds will decrease on a season-to-season basis.
Buyouts: Teams will be allowed a window of time to buyout player contracts. A player can be bought out for two-thirds of the total remaining value of his contract, minus the 24 percent rollback. A team will not be allowed to re-sign a player they have bought out for a still to be determined amount of time. The money spent to buyout a player will NOT count against the salary cap.
Escrow: A still to be determined percent of players salaries will be placed in an escrow account. In the new deal, league-wide payroll can't exceed 54 percent of total league-wide revenue. If league-wide payroll is determined to be more than 54 percent of revenues, the escrow account will be passed back to the clubs. If league-wide payroll is determined to be less than 54 percent of revenues, the escrow account will go to the players.
Individual team-by-team player cap: No single player can earn more than 20 percent of his team's total payroll. For example, a team with a total team payroll of $37.5 million couldn't pay a single player more than $7.5 million.
Revenue-sharing: The top 10 revenue clubs will contribute to a pool that will be redistributed to the bottom 10 revenue clubs. The NHLPA proposed a similar revenue sharing component in 1994 during the league's first lockout.
Unrestricted free agency: It will remain frozen at age 31 for the first year of the new CBA. It will gradually decrease to age 28 during the life of the deal.
Salary arbitration: The club and the player will both have ability to elect to go to arbitration. Although not confirmed, I believe NHL will go to a baseball-style arbitration system that calls for both sides to submit a salary figure and an arbitrator to decide on one number or the other. There will be a limit on the number of times a team or player can go to arbitration. And, the clubs will have a limited number of times they can walk away from an arbitrator's decision. Under the old system, the clubs could not take players to arbitration.
Qualifying offers: Players making less than $660,000 must be tendered qualifying offers of 110 percent of their final contracted season's salary. Players making between $660,000.01 and $1 million must be tendered qualifying offers of 105 percent of their final contracted season's salary. Players making over $1 million must be tendered qualifying offers of 100 percent of their final contracted season's salary.
Entry level contracts: Entry level contracts will be capped $850,000 per season, with a maximum signing bonus at 10 percent of salary per season. The contracts will be three years in length.
Minimum salary: The minimum salary will be $400,000. Under the old agreement, the league minimum was $175,000.
2006 Winter Olympics: The NHL will shut down operations in February 2006 to allow players to participate in the Winter Olympics. To accommodate the scheduling issues, the league will cancel its 2005-06 All-Star Weekend (scheduled for Phoenix).
I think the players will ratify this (albeit narrowly), if only based on the minimum salary increase. About 1 in 6 players is below this threshold. A lot of the guys just above that will go for it just to get back on the ice, too.
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 93,305
Likes: 820
From: Nowhere
Originally Posted by jedwards,Jul 13 2005, 12:48 PM
Don't know the details yet so I don't know if the PA gave too much. With that said, I doubt a player would turn it down. Bear in mind the majority of players will be unaffected by most of the cap type concessions.
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 93,305
Likes: 820
From: Nowhere
The Devils look to be ok. They fall under the $37.5 cap (narrowly) based on '03-'04 contracts. Their highest paid player (Stevens) will probably retire, or surely willing to play for less to finish his career in NJ.
The Avs need to cut $14 mil. If Forsberg stays in Norway, it's a non-issue (his salary is $11 mil). If he returns, Selanne, Morris, and Blake may be on the auction block.
The Avs need to cut $14 mil. If Forsberg stays in Norway, it's a non-issue (his salary is $11 mil). If he returns, Selanne, Morris, and Blake may be on the auction block.
Registered User
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 2,098
Likes: 0
From: Kelowna, BC
WooHoo... The Strike is over! Hockey is back!
Too bad you bastards beat me to the post
Here is some more reading for you:
Article 1
http://g.msn.com/0US!s6.73430_734763/2...1/2??cm=CTVNews
NHL reaches agreement in principle with players
CTV.ca News Staff
The longest labour strife in the history of pro sports in North America is over, with both sides coming to an agreement. That means fans will see a 2005-2006 NHL hockey season kick off this fall.
After marathon talks that began Tuesday at noon and continued through the night into Wednesday morning, the NHL and the NHL Players' Association put the finishing touches on a six-year collective bargaining agreement.
"The National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players' Association have reached an agreement in principle on the terms of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement," says the NHLPA in a statement.
Both the NHL Members and NHLPA Board of Governors must ratify the deal, which is expected to happen within a week.
Details of the new agreement -- a document reportedly numbering more than 600 pages -- won't be made available publicly until that formal ratification process is complete.
Through Tuesday, the NHL and NHLPA have held 82 negotiating sessions since commissioner Gary Bettman cancelled the season Feb. 16. They've met for 10 consecutive weeks since early May, cramming in marathon sessions in the final six weeks to try and get a deal done.
The NHLPA is expected now to schedule a mass players' gathering within a week to ratify the agreement. The league, in turn, will hold a board of governors' meeting so owners can vote on the deal.
Once the deal is ratified on both sides, a formal announcement "re-launching" the game will take place, likely on July 21.
The current dispute officially started on Sept. 15, 2004, when the previous collective bargaining agreement between the NHL owners and the NHLPA expired. After 154 days, the season was officially cancelled on Feb. 16.
Owners come out on top
The two sides were miles apart philosophically. The owners wanted "cost certainty" -- which they said meant linking salaries to revenue, or a salary cap -- while the players were seeking a more market-based solution.
It was a long and bitter battle, "essentially a war," said TSN hockey analyst Pierre Maguire. "And it looks like the owners have won."
According to Maguire, the players have accepted a salary cap as part of the new agreement, which is something they said they would never do.
"It's been quite difficult for the players to get through this thing," he told CTV Toronto. "They picked a fight they probably could never win. They're basically battling 26 billionaire owners versus millionaire players."
Changes to the game
With hockey now expected to return this season, most hockey fans will be interested in finding out what changes are coming, says Steve McAllister, the sports editor of The Globe and Mail.
"I think everybody's pretty tired of the talk about salary arbitration, and salary caps and revenue sharing," McAllister told CTV Newsnet.
He said that making hockey a product that people can embrace will likely be the league's toughest sell.
"It's obvious when you look at the league, and look at the attendance and look at television ratings, especially in the United States, that it's not a very good product right now."
To revitalize their on-ice product, the league is expected next week to announce, along with details of the new agreement, major changes to the game's rules which are intended to increase the game's appeal and win more fans.
These include:
A three-minute overtime period with three players from each team, should the score remain tied following the current five-minute overtime.
The fan-friendly shootout, which will be used if games remain tied.
Removing the red line to allow two-line passes without an off-side being called. This would presumably open up offensive chances and allow for more breakaways.
Reducing the size of goalie equipment, intended to allow for more goals to be scored.
Entry draft
When both parties give the agreement their stamps of approval, a frenzied off-season will likely ensue.
The Canadian Press reports that the belated 2005 NHL entry draft will be held in Ottawa on Saturday, July 30, although it will be a much smaller event with only the top prospects invited, including the coveted Sidney Crosby.
The draft lottery is slated to be conducted during a board of governors meeting next week in New York. And teams will be scrambling to revamp their rosters under the new CBA rules.
TSN details the possible CBA features as follows:
Term - 6 years (through 2010-11), with option
Revenue split - Players get 54% of defined revenues
Payroll in Escrow - Percentage of Salaries
Payroll Range (including costs) - $21.5 to $39 million US, which is based on projected revenues of $1.8 billion US
Salary Rollback - 24% across the board
Maximum Salary - 20% of Team Cap ($7.4 Million US)
Minimum Salary - $450,000 US
The wiped out 2004-05 season marked the first time NHL fans were denied a Stanley Cup championship game since a flu epidemic cancelled the 1919 final.
Article 2
http://g.msn.com/0US!s6.73430_734763/3...1??cm=TSNSports
Tentative deal finally done after NHL, NHLPA talk around the clock
13/07/2005 1:15:00 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Printer-friendly page
(CP) - The NHL and NHL Players' Association finally announced a deal to end the lockout Wednesday, meaning the league could be back in business as early as next week pending ratification by both sides.
NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow closes his eyes as he apologizes to fans during a news conference in Toronto on Feb. 16, 2005. (CP/Frank Gunn)
The "agreement in principle" came after the two sides met for more than 24 hours straight in New York, the culmination of 10 consecutive days of talks.
The process is not quite over. The players' rank and file and the owners have to ratify the agreement. That is expected some time next week.
Both sides are expected to approve the deal, paving the way for the NHL to reopen for business this fall.
The NHL and NHLPA said details of the agreement will not be released pending ratification.
But it's believed the six-year deal contains the following:
-A 24 per cent salary rollback on all existing contracts;
-The upper limit on the salary cap for 2005-06 will be $39 million US while the minimum floor will be at $21.5 million, based on projected revenues of $1.8 billion;
-A percentage of salaries will be put into escrow until the new salary cap can be calculated at the end of each season;
-No player can earn more than 20 per cent of the team cap, which for 2005-06 means no player can earn more than $7.4 million;
The game will return looking drastically different both on and off the ice. A vastly different and complicated collective bargaining agreement has given owners their long-desired "cost certainty."
Teams will come back looking vastly different as well. Mass player movement is expected with a high number of free agents on the market as well as several high-paid players expected to get bought out so teams can fit under the cap.
On the ice, major rules changes are being examined which will hopefully open up the game and create more excitement, likely including the reduction in the size of goalie equipment, allowing the two-line pass, and the penalty shootout to decide tie games during the regular season.
And there's much work ahead to lure back bitter fans and an apathetic corporate community.
A source also said Wednesday that the belated 2005 NHL entry draft will be held in Ottawa on Saturday, July 30, although it will be a much smaller event with only the very top prospects invited, including Sidney Crosby, the consensus No. 1 pick.
The draft lottery is slated to be conducted during a board of governors meeting next week in New York where the owners are also expected to ratify the deal.
In the end, the players caved in on an issue they swore they never would: the salary cap.
It's clear this isn't a deal NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow was in favour of but he went along with it, respecting the wishes of union president Trevor Linden and the rest of the players' executive committee.
It's been a long and tumultuous road towards a resolution. From the first labour meeting in January 2003 to the last on Wednesday, both sides met 82 times over two and a half years before finally agreeing on a new deal.
The lockout wiped out the entire 2004-05 season, including all 1,230 regular-season games, denying hockey fans a Stanley Cup champion for the first time since a flu epidemic cancelled the 1919 final. The NHL became the first major professional league in North America to loose a season from beginning to end because of labour strife.
Once commissioner Gary Bettman announced the season cancelled Feb. 16, both sides returned to the negotiating table March 11 in the first of 44 meetings aimed at making sure the 2005-06 season wouldn't be delayed.
The two sides met every single week starting in early May and didn't let up until the end, cramming in long days in the final six weeks in an effort to finally get it done.
A number of player agents are angry with Goodenow, feeling betrayed by his strategy from the get-go.
But while the owners appear to have scored a one-sided victory, it remains to be seen at what cost. The damage to the industry from not having any hockey played for a year may have both sides singing the blues.
Too bad you bastards beat me to the post
Here is some more reading for you:
Article 1
http://g.msn.com/0US!s6.73430_734763/2...1/2??cm=CTVNews
NHL reaches agreement in principle with players
CTV.ca News Staff
The longest labour strife in the history of pro sports in North America is over, with both sides coming to an agreement. That means fans will see a 2005-2006 NHL hockey season kick off this fall.
After marathon talks that began Tuesday at noon and continued through the night into Wednesday morning, the NHL and the NHL Players' Association put the finishing touches on a six-year collective bargaining agreement.
"The National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players' Association have reached an agreement in principle on the terms of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement," says the NHLPA in a statement.
Both the NHL Members and NHLPA Board of Governors must ratify the deal, which is expected to happen within a week.
Details of the new agreement -- a document reportedly numbering more than 600 pages -- won't be made available publicly until that formal ratification process is complete.
Through Tuesday, the NHL and NHLPA have held 82 negotiating sessions since commissioner Gary Bettman cancelled the season Feb. 16. They've met for 10 consecutive weeks since early May, cramming in marathon sessions in the final six weeks to try and get a deal done.
The NHLPA is expected now to schedule a mass players' gathering within a week to ratify the agreement. The league, in turn, will hold a board of governors' meeting so owners can vote on the deal.
Once the deal is ratified on both sides, a formal announcement "re-launching" the game will take place, likely on July 21.
The current dispute officially started on Sept. 15, 2004, when the previous collective bargaining agreement between the NHL owners and the NHLPA expired. After 154 days, the season was officially cancelled on Feb. 16.
Owners come out on top
The two sides were miles apart philosophically. The owners wanted "cost certainty" -- which they said meant linking salaries to revenue, or a salary cap -- while the players were seeking a more market-based solution.
It was a long and bitter battle, "essentially a war," said TSN hockey analyst Pierre Maguire. "And it looks like the owners have won."
According to Maguire, the players have accepted a salary cap as part of the new agreement, which is something they said they would never do.
"It's been quite difficult for the players to get through this thing," he told CTV Toronto. "They picked a fight they probably could never win. They're basically battling 26 billionaire owners versus millionaire players."
Changes to the game
With hockey now expected to return this season, most hockey fans will be interested in finding out what changes are coming, says Steve McAllister, the sports editor of The Globe and Mail.
"I think everybody's pretty tired of the talk about salary arbitration, and salary caps and revenue sharing," McAllister told CTV Newsnet.
He said that making hockey a product that people can embrace will likely be the league's toughest sell.
"It's obvious when you look at the league, and look at the attendance and look at television ratings, especially in the United States, that it's not a very good product right now."
To revitalize their on-ice product, the league is expected next week to announce, along with details of the new agreement, major changes to the game's rules which are intended to increase the game's appeal and win more fans.
These include:
A three-minute overtime period with three players from each team, should the score remain tied following the current five-minute overtime.
The fan-friendly shootout, which will be used if games remain tied.
Removing the red line to allow two-line passes without an off-side being called. This would presumably open up offensive chances and allow for more breakaways.
Reducing the size of goalie equipment, intended to allow for more goals to be scored.
Entry draft
When both parties give the agreement their stamps of approval, a frenzied off-season will likely ensue.
The Canadian Press reports that the belated 2005 NHL entry draft will be held in Ottawa on Saturday, July 30, although it will be a much smaller event with only the top prospects invited, including the coveted Sidney Crosby.
The draft lottery is slated to be conducted during a board of governors meeting next week in New York. And teams will be scrambling to revamp their rosters under the new CBA rules.
TSN details the possible CBA features as follows:
Term - 6 years (through 2010-11), with option
Revenue split - Players get 54% of defined revenues
Payroll in Escrow - Percentage of Salaries
Payroll Range (including costs) - $21.5 to $39 million US, which is based on projected revenues of $1.8 billion US
Salary Rollback - 24% across the board
Maximum Salary - 20% of Team Cap ($7.4 Million US)
Minimum Salary - $450,000 US
The wiped out 2004-05 season marked the first time NHL fans were denied a Stanley Cup championship game since a flu epidemic cancelled the 1919 final.
Article 2
http://g.msn.com/0US!s6.73430_734763/3...1??cm=TSNSports
Tentative deal finally done after NHL, NHLPA talk around the clock
13/07/2005 1:15:00 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Printer-friendly page
(CP) - The NHL and NHL Players' Association finally announced a deal to end the lockout Wednesday, meaning the league could be back in business as early as next week pending ratification by both sides.
NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow closes his eyes as he apologizes to fans during a news conference in Toronto on Feb. 16, 2005. (CP/Frank Gunn)
The "agreement in principle" came after the two sides met for more than 24 hours straight in New York, the culmination of 10 consecutive days of talks.
The process is not quite over. The players' rank and file and the owners have to ratify the agreement. That is expected some time next week.
Both sides are expected to approve the deal, paving the way for the NHL to reopen for business this fall.
The NHL and NHLPA said details of the agreement will not be released pending ratification.
But it's believed the six-year deal contains the following:
-A 24 per cent salary rollback on all existing contracts;
-The upper limit on the salary cap for 2005-06 will be $39 million US while the minimum floor will be at $21.5 million, based on projected revenues of $1.8 billion;
-A percentage of salaries will be put into escrow until the new salary cap can be calculated at the end of each season;
-No player can earn more than 20 per cent of the team cap, which for 2005-06 means no player can earn more than $7.4 million;
The game will return looking drastically different both on and off the ice. A vastly different and complicated collective bargaining agreement has given owners their long-desired "cost certainty."
Teams will come back looking vastly different as well. Mass player movement is expected with a high number of free agents on the market as well as several high-paid players expected to get bought out so teams can fit under the cap.
On the ice, major rules changes are being examined which will hopefully open up the game and create more excitement, likely including the reduction in the size of goalie equipment, allowing the two-line pass, and the penalty shootout to decide tie games during the regular season.
And there's much work ahead to lure back bitter fans and an apathetic corporate community.
A source also said Wednesday that the belated 2005 NHL entry draft will be held in Ottawa on Saturday, July 30, although it will be a much smaller event with only the very top prospects invited, including Sidney Crosby, the consensus No. 1 pick.
The draft lottery is slated to be conducted during a board of governors meeting next week in New York where the owners are also expected to ratify the deal.
In the end, the players caved in on an issue they swore they never would: the salary cap.
It's clear this isn't a deal NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow was in favour of but he went along with it, respecting the wishes of union president Trevor Linden and the rest of the players' executive committee.
It's been a long and tumultuous road towards a resolution. From the first labour meeting in January 2003 to the last on Wednesday, both sides met 82 times over two and a half years before finally agreeing on a new deal.
The lockout wiped out the entire 2004-05 season, including all 1,230 regular-season games, denying hockey fans a Stanley Cup champion for the first time since a flu epidemic cancelled the 1919 final. The NHL became the first major professional league in North America to loose a season from beginning to end because of labour strife.
Once commissioner Gary Bettman announced the season cancelled Feb. 16, both sides returned to the negotiating table March 11 in the first of 44 meetings aimed at making sure the 2005-06 season wouldn't be delayed.
The two sides met every single week starting in early May and didn't let up until the end, cramming in long days in the final six weeks in an effort to finally get it done.
A number of player agents are angry with Goodenow, feeling betrayed by his strategy from the get-go.
But while the owners appear to have scored a one-sided victory, it remains to be seen at what cost. The damage to the industry from not having any hockey played for a year may have both sides singing the blues.