MM Reviews: A New Season of Hockey

As many people know, the NHL went into a lockout back in September of 2012. This article will give more detail of the league's lockout and the terms of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, or the CBA.

On September 16, the NHL team owners declared a lockout. They were unsuccessful prior to that day in coming to an agreement on a new CBA that both the owners and player’s association, or the NHLPA, could ratify. A big reason the owners were unhappy with the old CBA was the fact that the players received 57% of hockey-related revenues. The owners were also unhappy with the terms of free agency and the limits on contracts and salary arbitration. These reasons were just the tipping points of what caused the lockout, but as far as the public knows, these were the big things that needed to be fixed before a new season could start.

Before the lockout began, there were negotiations going on between the owners and the NHLPA, but the offers never made it far. In one of the original offers, prior to the lockout, the owners wanted to cut player revenues by 11%, set a four year maximum length on new contracts, get rid of signing bonuses, install a uniform salary cap, and extend free agency by three years. It took the NHLPA a month to review and counter-offer a new proposal which had a salary cap - not related to the revenue based income - and a fixed cap for three years.

For the next few months, the league and the NHLPA would continue sending proposals and counter-offers. Even still, the preseason was cancelled first, next was the first two weeks of the season, the rest of October and all of November, and then until Christmas. The first three weeks of January were also cancelled because of the new CBA that would have a 48 game season that was ratified January 9th by the players.

The new CBA terms were decided after sixteen long hours of discussion in New York. While the agreement was there, it still had to be voted on by the players. So when the CBA terms were determined January 6th, the players - who had dispersed themselves among many foreign leagues or where in their place of permanent residence - were called to vote and return for the beginning of a new season.

The terms that were agreed upon include the following: eight years for contract extensions and seven years for new contracts as a maximum contract, a $44 million floor (after the first season on the new CBA) and a $60 million cap for salaries, a 50-50 split of all hockey-related revenue, and a 48 game season in 99 days after ratification.

While the fans were upset with the resulting loss of a season from September to January, the league and its players lost a lot of money. It was said that between everyone who was affected, $30 million could have been lost per day that the lockout continued. Some teams cut staff salaries and laid off others. Metropolitan areas with teams were also greatly affected.

Today brings happiness in the fact that the lockout is over and all of our favorite teams can be seen playing. 48 games in 99 days is a lot on players, so we will see how it goes. But as you have it, the Blackhawks and the Sharks both started 6-0 before losing in any form. It is sure to be an interesting season and even better hockey being played. Have a great hockey season and thank you for reading.

Thanks for editing tui.angel and airi.