NHL, Labour Union agree to continue talks in upcoming days in Toronto -NHL Update
The National Hockey League (NHL) and NHL Players’ Association will be continuing talks on a renewed or totally refreshed collective bargaining agreement (CBA) later on this week after their second official sit-down on Friday, July 6, 2012.
Talks between the NHL and NHLPA will continue in Toronto after being held in the official league offices in the past in New York.
Donald Fehr, the NHLPA executive director, was the man leading the labour union with a number of player representatives and a strong legal team at his side. A number of players like John Tavares of New York Islanders, Ruslan Fedotenko of Philadelphia Flyers
and many more accompanied Fehr.
“Eight players, along with NHLPA staff, met with three owners and League officials at the NHL’s office in New York over the last two days," Fehr said. "A number of items were discussed and, along with the League, we will be looking at these CBA matters in
greater detail at upcoming bargaining sessions.”
The previous meeting last for four hours with both sides of the table showing their readiness to compromise on some while staying concrete in their stance on others.
"We covered a number of different subjects, which is what you do when you're beginning the bargaining process. A lot more to go," Fehr told reporters. "We're not at the beginning in the sense that we're just starting with no preliminary work or anything,
but we're at the relatively early stages of the discussions."
Talks opened between the two stakeholders on June 29 and need to be wound up before the expiration of the September 15th deadline, which will bring the current CBA to an end after it was created following the 2004-2005 NHL regular season deadlock.
It is not sure when the NHL and Players’ Association will come to a final decision, but some analysts have even termed the season to be in threat due to a possible gridlock in talks, which might happen at any moment.
Luckily, the current CBA does have a clause that the season may continue even if a new deal has not been reached, but could be halted all of a sudden in the worst case scenario.
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