I have been seeing several sources saying that there is a deal imminent to end the 113 day lockout by the NHL and to get the players back to the rinks to start the NHL hockey season.
This is the second lockout in the last few years as the entire 2004-2005 season was lost and part of the next season as well by the failure to get a deal done back then as well.
Lots of NHL Contract Sticking Points
There are a few big sticking points this week including player pensions, salary cap, length of contract, and the resolution of how much Hockey Related Revenue (HRR) is and how much each side would get. At the end of this last contract the players were getting 57% of revenue and the agreement is widely expected to be around 50% this time.
This weekend the players and league are meeting with mediator Scot Beckenbaugh to hopefully get some real negotiations done after they have stalled several times over the last few months. Apparently this is really helping things.
Issues Agreed on or Close Today
Today the NHL and NHLPA are getting closer with the NHL proposing a total salary cap of 62.5 million and the NHL expecting to settle at around 64.3 million which is last yrs cap limit.
Another sticking point was length of contract and it looks as though the NHL and the players association has settled that at 10 years, which would be nice and bring a few years of stability and labor peace.
There was talk last week that the league was hoping to start the season on January 19th with a shortened 48 game season instead of the regular 82 games, now the talk is that 52 games is possible.
What do you think? Will this NHL-NHLPA deal finally get done? Let us all know!
