Lockout looming over National Hockey League, creates confusion -NHL Update
There is not anything as confusing for hockey fans as waiting over the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Players’ Association (NHLPA) to see where they stand in terms of negotiating for a new labour deal.
At the moment, both sides are in a deadlock as the league has not shown any intention of budging from its current stance of no leniency towards the players on core economic issues, like the share of players in the team revenue.
Many players are preparing to head out of the United States as they see a lockout being unavoidable with the current position, while many others like newly inducted Minnesota Wild player, Zach Parise, is hoping for the best.
"I haven't gone down that path because I'm still trying to assume that everything will be OK and we can go about business as usual," Parise said, according to miamiherald.com. "But I'm sure we'll get an idea in the next week or so what it's going to be looking
like and maybe I'll get on the phone with the agent and see what's out there."
Some players are also finding it hard to find a gig anywhere else than the NHL and do not have any other option but to play a potential lockout through and hope for the best.
"I can't see myself going anywhere," said Vancouver Canucks defenseman, Keith Ballard. "I can see a Russian kid going back to Russia or a Swedish player staying at home. But for us to uproot our families for one, two months makes little sense to me."
Removing the option of going into arbitration along with wanting to extend the length of entry-level deals to five years are just some of the things the players union is not willing to accept in any case since they do not term it to be fair in any regard.
Both stakeholders are willingly going into a lockout if they have to prove their point and ultimately, it will be the fans who suffer the most without getting to watch their favorite sport.
Updates on the issue should be expected in the upcoming days or weeks.
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