After 113 days of no hat tricks or penalty boxes, the National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players' Association have finally worked out an agreement to end the NHL lockout. And it came just in the nick of time, just five days before the January 11th deadline that would have meant no 2013 season at all. Instead, a 48-52 game season will begin as soon as two weeks!
The deal came after a 16-plus-hour bargaining session at Hotel Sofitel in Midtown that stretched into the wee hours of Sunday morning. The language of the deal still has to be smoothed out and approved by both sides, but it is expected to be done this week. “Hopefully within a very few days, the fans can get back to watching people who are skating and not the two of us,” union executive director Don Fehr said, referring to himself and Commissioner Gary Bettman. ESPN has all the relevant details:
The tentative agreement is a 10-year deal with a mutual opt-out clause after eight years and includes contract term limits at seven years (eight years for a team to re-sign its own players), a source confirmed to ESPNNewYork.com.
For the first year, the salary cap is $60 million but teams can spend up to $70.2 million in the transition period, while the floor is $44 million.
Sources said the 2013-14 salary cap, a very divisive issue, will be $64.3 million, while the floor will remain at $44 million.
Contract salary variance is capped at 35 percent from year to year, with the provision that the last year can't vary more than 50 percent from the highest-salaried year, a source told ESPN.com.
Revenue sharing will spread $200 million, with a $60 million NHLPA-initiated growth fund included.
The NHL had hoped to change the opening of free agency to July 10, but the players stood firm and it will remain July 1, although it will start later this year due to the delayed season.
As for when the shortened 2013 season might start, ESPN reports that a 50-game season would start Jan. 15, while a 48-game season would start Jan. 19. There are still a lot of bruised feelings (and a lot of anti-Bettman sentiments) on all sides—especially for fans—over the fact there was even a lockout to begin with only a few years after the last one, but Phoenix Coyotes captain Shane Doan summed up the feeling around the league this morning: “I’m just excited that we get to play again."
Oh yeah, and we have our first Stanley Cup prediction, via ESPN's John Buccigross: "Stanley Cup Prediction: New York Rangers vs. St. Louis Blues."
