CTVNews.ca Staff
Published Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012 8:10AM EDT
NHL players could find out as early as today what the league thinks of their first proposal, as talks for a new collective bargaining agreement continue.
On Tuesday, the NHL Players’ Association presented its offer, in which the game’s stars agreed to a lower percentage of league revenue and proposed a more robust profit-sharing program.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said he would need time to review the proposal, but could have a response when talks resume Wednesday morning.
"It's clear to me that they didn't put it together in an hour or two, and as a result we're going to need to take a little bit of time to evaluate it," Bettman said Tuesday.
The players’ offer includes a proposal to delink the salary cap from hockey-related revenue, and instead set a fixed rate that would increase by two per cent in the first year, four per cent in the second and six per cent in the third. An option for the fourth year would allow the system to revert to the current arrangement, which gives players 57 per cent of all revenues.
The union said the thinking behind their proposal is that owners will end up making more money, which could then be partly distributed among teams that are in dire financial straights.
"We do believe that the proposal the players made today, once implemented, can produce a stable industry ... that can give us a chance to move beyond the recurring labour strife that has plagued the NHL the last two decades," NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr said Tuesday.
The union says players could be leaving as much as $465 million on the table if the league maintains average growth over the next three years.
"I like it a lot," Crosby said of the proposal. "I think, as Don said, it's addressing the issues that the league has. (We're) making sure as players that we do our part to help those (struggling) teams out, but also holding the teams accountable.
"At the end of the day, it's going to take both (sides) to do that."
TSN reporter Sara Orlesky said the players’ deal could be viewed as “an olive branch” to the league, as they make concessions in order to keep the league healthy.
“It’s definitely something that people I don’t think were expecting to see right off the hop, so it’s a good sign,” Orlesky told CTV’s Canada AM on Wednesday.
The players’ proposal comes a month after the league made its first offer, which called for a 24 per cent decrease in player salaries by lowering the union’s share of revenue. The proposal also outlined new contract restrictions, including a five-year cap on contracts.
The union said its own proposal does not include significant changes to players’ contracts.
Howard Bloom, publisher of Sports Business News, called the players’ proposal “innovative,” saying the revenue-sharing proposal shows that the players want “to create a balanced NHL and 30 strong financial teams.”
Bloom told Canada AM Wednesday that the NHL also has the option of contracting and shedding as many as six teams, including Phoenix, Florida, Columbus and Dallas.
“Those teams aren’t making it financially, and what the players want is revenue sharing to create a balanced NHL and 30 strong financial teams,” Bloom said.
The league could also choose to move weak teams to stronger markets, including Quebec City, which is hungry for the return of NHL hockey.
According to Bloom, a deal is unlikely to be reached on Wednesday no matter what the league’s response is. Bloom believes a lockout is likely, despite Bettman’s claim that he hopes “we can take care of business in the next month,” and get a deal by the time the current contract expires on Sept. 15.
Bloom said while the players will be in a strike position on that day, “The owners simply aren’t going to allow that.
“The owners will instead lock out the players. I believe that there will be a lockout and the NHL season will begin sometime between American Thanksgiving and January 1.”
Bloom said “there will be absolutely no way the entire NHL season will be cancelled,” as was the case in 2004-2005.
With files from The Canadian Press
