NHL, Players' Association resume talks on new labour deal, want result before expiry -NHL Update
A breath of fresh air for fans of the National Hockey League (NHL) came after the league and Players’ Association resumed talks for a new collective bargaining agreement on Wednesday, July 18, 2012, and have expressed the desire of agreeing on a new deal
before the current one expires.
The CBA, which is in play at the moment, is set to expire by September 15 of this year, a date which by many, has been termed to be one that may result in another NHL lockout similar to that seen back in 2005.
For NHL Commissioner, Gary Bettman, getting the deal done as soon as possible is the obvious objective but it is definitely not as easy as it looks.
"I'm focused on making a deal," Commissioner Bettman said after the two-hour long meeting. "I'm not even exploring right now what we might or might not do on Sept. 15. That's not something we're focused on. We're focused on getting a deal done before the
current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires."
One thing that both sides have agreed is on that the 2012-2013 NHL regular season will go on even if a new contract is not reached by the expiration of the current contract.
"The law doesn't require that the industry shut down if you don't have an agreement," NHLPA executive director, Donald Fehr, said. "Somebody has to choose to shut it down. At the moment I see no reason to do that on the players' side. Hopefully they won't
either."
A number of players like Patrice Bergeron, Jason Chimera, Rick DiPietro, Brandon Dubinsky, Scott Hartnell, Ruslan Fedotenko, Manny Malhotra, Henrik Lundqvist and many others were present on the occasion with a Steve Fehr as well, a special legal counsel.
One of the biggest issues raised during the meeting is believed to be the offer that was made by the NHL in their previous meeting. It included terms that had the players share in team revenue cut from 57 to 46 percent along with the elimination of bonuses
and extending entry-level deals.
For now, it is not clear when a new deal could come into play but one thing can be said for sure, that both sides are working and want one soon.
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