The NBA will not be the only league to announce a new CBA.

The players and fans of the National Hockey League can expect an official announcement regarding a new collective bargaining agreement within the next two weeks.

It is being reported that the new deal will include a salary cap model with both an upper and lower spending limit hovering around the $35 million-$40 million US mark.

The players will also be expected to take a 24 per cent pay cut. This system allows the League to achieve cost certainty while still allowing the teams and players to have somewhat of a flexible and competitive marketplace.

After nine months of failed meetings, the NHL and the NHLPA realized enough was enough. It may not be a coincidence that the two sides were able to come to an agreement around the same time North Americans welcome in the summer season. For far gone was the hope that some form of a season could be salvaged, gone was the anticipations of a full playoff format; concluding with the awarding of Lord Stanley’s Cup and most importantly, gone was the immense media coverage that allowed reports of “no progress made in negotiations” to make it as the top news story on all of Canada’s sports networks.

Gary Bettman and Bob Goodnow decided to be the intelligent businessmen that have both claimed to be and stopped their public diss war and tried to work out a deal.

Serious negotiations between the League and the PA began following ESPN’s refusal to negotiate an extension for the broadcasting rights to carry NHL games on their networks. This was a major blow to the League as other advertisers and sponsors threatened to take their money someplace else.

After weeks of marathon meetings, reports that a framework for a deal had been agreed upon began leaking out, but the two sides remained (and continue to remain) very tight-lipped about the details.

Other matters up for discussion includes: changing the age of unrestricted free agency from 31 to 30 years old, extending entry level contracts to 4-years, reducing entry level salaries, reducing the size of goalie equipment, removing the red-line, implementing no-touch icing and other rule changes, such as a shootout to determine ties, are all being considered. Also on the agenda is the debate over whether or not NHL players should participate in the upcoming Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.

All of the above issues can be expected to be cleared up once the new CBA is announced. General managers and player agents can look forward to a busy summer ahead, as teams will be preparing their rosters for the fall.

NHL players have been locked out since September 15, 2004. Commissioner Bettman officially announced the cancellation of the 2004-05 season on Wednesday, February 16, 2005.






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