The sides met for about four hours before finishing Saturday, and they agreed to meet again on Sunday. The agenda likely will include discussions on health and safety issues—a topic that made up a chunk of Friday's talks—and miscellaneous legal things, such as grievances, game tickets and other topics. Clarifications as to what will fall under the umbrella of hockey-related revenue going forward in the next agreement dominated discussions Saturday. No concrete resolutions were made, and the topic could be revisited on Sunday.
The
two sides haven't had negotiations over the key economic disputes in
place, such as the owners' desire for the players to go from 57% of
the revenue pie to less than 50%, so these meetings call for guarded
optimism. Perhaps they are simply enough to displace any feelings of
pessimism or desire to watch basketball that NHL fans may now be
feeling. Any talks are a good thing at this point, minor issues or
not. Especially with talks for 3 days in a row now. This doesn't mean
we'll suddenly get a resolution. Unlike in the NFL, NHL players have
plenty of alternate leagues where they can earn a wage. And we all
know that, given past negotiations, Gary Bettman and the owners are
hardly afraid to cancel a season. At least the "I won't budge so
we're not talking anymore!" stage hasn't come just yet. At least
for now, both sides are willing to talk, even about the little stuff.
It's a small shred of hope, it's hard to imagine at least a part of
the season won't be lost, but I'll take whatever shreds of hope I can
get, and I know you will too. We can at least have extremely guarded
optimism, but until they start talking about the serious issues, we
best not get carried away just yet.
The
success of the 2011-12 NBA season gives hockey fans hope that their
favorite superstars will return to the ice this winter. Similar to
the NBA a year ago, by far the biggest issue keeping both sides from
agreeing on a new NHL collective bargaining agreement is the sharing
of hockey-related revenues. According to ESPN.com,
via The Associated Press, "Players
received 57 percent of the net hockey-related revenues in the
previous collective bargaining agreement, and owners want to bring
that number down under 50 percent."
If
you remember back to last fall, the NBA was in a very similar
situation in terms of revenue sharing. The owners wanted more and the
players wanted the same. Although the lockout went nearly a month
into the regular season before it ended, the league managed to
salvage a 66-game season that ultimately led to one of the most
exciting postseasons in the Association's history. Though, looking
back now, last year's NBA lockout seems irrelevant and harmless.
There were plenty of times when basketball fans had little hope to
cling to an agreement that would be reached in time. The same can be
said for hockey fans in North America this year. With regular-season
games at risk of being lost, and precious hockey going un-played,
hope gets smaller and smaller by the day. If the NBA's recent
agreement and even the NFL officials' new CBA has taught us anything,
though, it's that it doesn't take long for these leagues and
organizations to realize what they're wasting. Sooner or later, if a
deal doesn't get done, no one will make money and everyone loses. In
any good deal, both sides must be reluctant to accept, but all that
matters is that they accept. The NBA showed us last fall that if the
threat of losing profit is great enough, one or both sides will cave.
The NBA couldn't withstand a lost season, and basketball is arguably
the second-most popular sport in America. With the NHL already
trailing the NFL, NBA and MLB, it can't afford to suffer a lost
season. In that, hockey fans have hope. As the holidays approach and
players and owners alike begin to feel the pressure of being the
reason why a season was lost, they'll give in. It's a simple lesson
that the NBA learned a year ago: play and generate revenue for both
sides, or bicker and make zero profit. After all, 57 percent of
nothing is nothing.
Evander
Kane is the latest locked out NHL player to sign in the KHL,
agreeing to terms with Dinamo Minsk. Once the contract is finalized,
Kane will be able to play with the Belarus team until the end of the
NHL lockout.
Dinamo
director Igor Matushkin: "We
were able to reach an agreement in principle during the lockout for
the NHL club's young forward Evander Kane, despite his young age, is
already a star of the NHL."
Kane
had a good season for the Winnipeg
Jets last year, scoring 30 goals and adding 27 assists in his
best NHL season to date. That helped earn him a six-year, $31.5
million contract from the Jets, which he signed earlier this month,
just before the lockout started. But with the lockout looking
unlikely to end anytime soon, Kane has found somewhere else to play
and collect a paycheck. Minsk is currently out of a spot for the
postseason, sitting in 10th place in the Western Conference with 11
points after 10 games. The top eight teams in the 14-team conference
make the playoffs.
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