It's September 15th. NHL Training Camps are underway and another season of hockey is upon us.
At least that's how this blog should be starting out today. Instead we are looking at our third work stoppage in the last 18 years as NHL owners are prepared to lockout the players at midnight tonight if a new CBA is not reached.
For a lot of hockey fans this is frustrating to see the same song and dance taking place again. Especially after losing a whole season during the last lockout.
In this column I'm going to do my best to answer the questions that I have heard asked by hockey fans as another lockout is upon us.
Why are the owners locking out the players?
The CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) between the owners and the NHLPA expires at midnight. The NHL could still operate under the current CBA while a new one is being negotiated but the owners are adamant about having a new deal in place before proceeding with another season.
What's wrong with the current deal?
The main issue is how revenue is distributed between the owners and the players. Right now players receive 57 percent of revenue from games played. The proposal made by owners last month wanted that percentage to drop from 57 to 46.
The owners also want to limit the length of contracts to five or six year deals and get rid of the long term contracts that players have signed under the current CBA.
A rollback of players salaries? Didn't the owners get this in the last CBA?
Yes, yes they did.
In the last CBA the owners were able to rollback player salaries by 24 percent and were able to impose a salary cap that was linked to revenue. When the salary cap came into play the limit was $39 million per team. Seven years later the salary cap number grew to $70 million per team.
So if the owners got what they wanted in the last CBA, why is another lockout happening?
Because despite the owners getting what they wanted they still aren't able to police themselves.
The purpose of a salary cap was to keep owners from spending recklessly. For the first couple years that worked. But as the salary cap kept rising that meant more money for owners to spend on players. It also meant more owners giving out longer contracts to spread out the financial hit against the cap.
This past summer we saw the owner of the Minnesota Wild, Craig Leipold give contracts of $98 million dollars each to Ryan Suter and Zach Parise.
We also saw the owner of the Philadelphia Flyers, Ed Snider sign defenseman Shea Weber to a 14 year offer worth over $100 million dollars.
By the way both of these owners are central figures in the lockout demanding that players rollback their salaries as the owners are paying them too much money.
For some NHL teams this isn't a problem as they draw well and have solid fan support with the money the fans spends being able to go right back into the team.
There are some cities though where teams are struggling to make a profit despite a salary cap. With poor attendance it's hard for the owners of those teams to keep up with teams like Philadelphia, New York and Boston who have no trouble drawing fans.
Isn't it hypocritical that the owners are claiming to lose money despite handing out these long term contracts.
It is. But the owners can also justify it by saying they are going by the rules as the current CBA allows. If Leipold didn't sign Parise and Suter to those deals another team would have as both were high in demand as free agents.
We know what the owners want as far as the CBA goes. What do the players want?
The players were fine continuing under the current agreement as they were still making good money despite taking a rollback in salary under the current CBA.
What the players want is to be treated as an equal partner and keep their share of the revenue. That's why Donald Fehr was hired to lead the NHLPA.
Donald Fehr? The same Donald Fehr that oversaw the Major League Baseball Players Association in the 80's and 90's
Yes, that is the same Donald Fehr.
The NHLPA has been in turmoil since the last CBA with Fehr being the fourth person in charge since Bob Goodenow stepped down as the head of the PA.
The main goal from Fehr is to get the best deal he can for the players and make it a partnership between the NHL and the NHLPA. Something that has been lacking between the two for years.
So whose to blame for this lockout? Is if Fehr or is it Commissioner Gary Bettman?
Both men will receive a share of the blame as they are the figureheads for both groups but right now I put the majority of blame at the hands of the NHL owners.
This lockout is being driven by them. While I'm not a huge fan of Bettman as commissioner keep in mind that he works for 30 NHL owners. If it wasn't him it would be someone else carrying this out.
As for the players I sympathize with them from the aspect that all they want to do is play hockey. You only have a certain shelf life to play the sport. Nobody wants to see a prime year or the final year of a great career end because of a work stoppage.
However the players will have to realize that by locking them out the owners have the leverage. If they want to rollback the players salaries that is what is going to happen. There is little the players can do to stop it.
So are we going to lose a whole season of NHL Hockey then?
I don't think we will.
The last time there was a lockout the salary cap was the big issue as the players were refusing to accept it and the owners were willing to sacrifice a whole year to get it.
I don't see that being the case this time as the biggest issue is how to divide revenue between the players and owners and how the owners share revenue with each other.
If you think there will be a season when will it start?
I wouldn't expect a resolution during training camp. While most players are adamant about playing I don't think it will bother many of them to miss preseason games. My guess is once the season starts on October 11th and the first regular season games are missed negotiations will pick up.
Remember unlike the last lockout the NHL has a great TV deal with NBC Sports and they have the Winter Classic which has become the greatest in season promotion the NHL has ever had.
The NHL can afford to miss the first month of the season as playoff baseball dominates the sports scene with football taking it spot on the weekends.
Once the World Series ends and the NBA and College Basketball starts the NHL runs the risk of getting lost in the shuffle completely. My guess is that a deal will be reached around Thanksgiving at the earliest.
Is there anything as fans we can do?
Right now the only thing you can do is let your displeasure be known through social media.
Seven years ago we didn't have Twitter or Facebook as options to let our voice be heard. We have those now and the NHL is very active on social media. It's now easier to voice your opinion to them and let them know how you feel.
The only other option is one I don't like to recommend but it's one that will get the NHL's attention.
When the game returns, don't rush back.
One of the reasons the owners insist on locking out the players is because of how the fans came back in droves the last time.
If the fans don't come back right away that will get the owners attention and make them think twice about imposing another lockout.
Look what MLB went through after the 1994 strike. Fans were very hesitant to return right away. Don't think that hasn't played a big role in the labor peace MLB has had since the strike.
As a fan you do have a say in what happens.
Unfortunately your voice won't be heard in time to stop the lockout.
