NEW YORK -- The lockout appears to finally be over. A tentative agreement has been reached between the NHL and NHLPA, multiple sources confirmed to ESPN.com.
The announcement was made after the two sides hashed out their remaining differences for more than 16 hours at a hotel in midtown Manhattan, spelling the end to a lockout that has persisted for almost four months and cost more than half the regular season.
A source told ESPNNewYork.com that the emphasis should be placed on the word "tentative." That source said there is still work to be done but there has been a verbal agreement between the two sides on the major points.
Elliotte Friedman @FriedgeHNIC
On variance, lowest-paid season of any multi year deal can be no lower than 50 per cent of highest season
Another win for the players.
Seems owners bent over on this CBA. I would never have thought that. Amazing that we wasted almost four months and basically we have very much the same CBA we had before. Amazing...
Louis Jean @LouisJean_TVA
Fehr: "Hopefully in a few days people can start watching people who are skating and not us." Bettman "Absolutely."
I can't even begin to imagine the level of booing that Bettman will receive when he hands Dustin Brown the Cup this coming June (July?).
Then again, if the Kings win it again on home ice, probably not too much, because Los Angeles fans are much more respectful then they would be in New York.
Any ideas on when the first home game will be? Looking to buy some tickets before the prices skyrocket.
I have no idea. The Grammy road trip has to be coming up soon. I don't pay any attention to these things, so is it in January or February? That will have a lot to do whether we get the home game sooner rather than later.
They won't be releasing a schedule or even determine the number of games for a few days yet, from the tweets I have been following. Some are posted above in regard to schedule, number of games, etc.
Okay, am I missing something here? Maybe because its past 3 a.m. here in southern California, and I haven't slept, but am I wrong in believing this is a total win for the players?
They won on the 2nd year cap (thank God, the owners had their heads up their ***** on this one).
They won on the pension.
They split on the contract length.
Owners win on the CBA length.
I don't know about some of the other issues (as they have not been publicized), but it seems the players got the better of the owners on this one.
I have no idea. The Grammy road trip has to be coming up soon. I don't pay any attention to these things, so is it in January or February? That will have a lot to do whether we get the home game sooner rather than later.
The grammy roadtrip wont happen, not now at least.It will probably be a reduced roadtrip of a week, not the full 15+ days thats on the current schedule.
Darren Dreger @DarrenDreger
Draft lottery will change. All 14 teams fully eligible for 1st pick overall. Weighting system may remain, but 4-move restriction out
This is a pretty ****ing huge change in the CBA. Even if it's low probability that a team outside of the top 5 gets the #1 overall pick, there's still a chance (inb4 "So you're saying there's a chance...).
Given that he and the players were willing to sacrifice half a season - which I am sure was a decision they made early on in the process - they have managed to get a better deal than I thought they would. By dragging it all out they were able to get the owners to gradually put more and more on the table (compared to their original offer) ... until they reached the REAL deadline to at least have half a season ... at which point they committed to getting a deal done.
I think, if they owners had put this exact deal on the table in the summer ... in the fall ... or at any other previous time ... it would still have been rejected and Fehr would have squeezed even more out of the negotiations. So they had to play the game and only gradually put stuff on the table.
But he's still a ********* and I hope I never have to see his face or listen to his voice again.
Looking so much forward to getting my hockey-fix again ... getting up at 4.30 in the morning to watch my Kings ...
Okay, am I missing something here? Maybe because its past 3 a.m. here in southern California, and I haven't slept, but am I wrong in believing this is a total win for the players?
They won on the 2nd year cap (thank God, the owners had their heads up their ***** on this one).
They won on the pension.
They split on the contract length.
Owners win on the CBA length.
I don't know about some of the other issues (as they have not been publicized), but it seems the players got the better of the owners on this one.
Only if you think that a 50-50 split was a given. Seems to me that taking the split from 57-43 in favor of the players down to 50-50 is a pretty big win overall which will save the owners billions (?) for the duration of this CBA.
Pension is a pretty big win for the players though. In either case, I'm happy I don't have to endure another Bettman-Fehr "negotiation" for at least another 8 years. Deals never get done before they absolutely have to, much like the whole "fiscal cliff" thing. Next time set the deadline to get a new CBA done before training camp, if they can't meet that date cancel the season. If that was the case, we'd have a new CBA done before training camp and not lose a single day of hockey. Sorry, I better stop this rant before it gets out of control.
Better late than never, I'm glad we'll get to see some hockey. I won't spend any money on them though.
