Hockey fans around the world are rejoicing in
the fact that the longest lockout in professional sports is
over. The NHL and the NHL Player's Association (NHLPA) have
reached a tentative deal on a six-year collective bargaining
agreement.
The deal must first be approved by both
parties.
The players and owners are currently meeting
in Toronto and New York to ratify the deal.
The new agreement will end the 301-day
lockout, which has frustrated everyone involved in hockey from
the fans to the vendors to corporate sponsors. Once both sides
agrees, the new contract will officially come into effect on
July 21.
The biggest sticking point in the lockout was
the fact owners wanted cost certainty.
Among the most noticeable features in the
deal are:
-A hard salary cap for each team, with a
payroll range of $21 million to $39 million.
-The league's total expenditure on
player's costs is not permitted to exceed 54 percent of
defined hockey-related revenue, and the salary cap and payroll
range will move up or down as revenues increase or decrease
each year of the deal.
-A 24 percent rollback of on the salaries of
players.
-No player can earn more than 20 percent of
the team cap.
-Revenue sharing where the top 10
money-making teams donate to a fund shared by the bottom 10
teams.
-Participation in the 2006 Olympic Winter
Games in Turin, Italy.
-The NHL Entry draft will commence on July
30, with a lottery to determine positioning on July 21.
Both sides have been working since early May
on the new agreement.
The lockout caused the cancellation of the
entire 2004-05 NHL season, wiping out 1,230 regular season
games and the Stanley Cup final.
The NHL now holds the dubious distinction of
being the first major professional league in North America to
lose an entire season because of labour problems.
