NHLPA expects talks to begin with League over CBA very soon -NHL offseason Update
The National Hockey League (NHL) Players Association (NHLPA) has expressed their desire of getting started with the talks over redefining or renewing the previous Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which is set to expire on September 15, 2012.
In recent reports, the NHLPA has termed the talks with the National Hockey League (NHL) over the issue will begin ‘very quickly’ and could even begin sometime this week as the players’ union and league known what a potential disaster there could be if not
dealt with soon.
Prior to the 2004-2005 NHL regular season, problems broke out in the world of hockey, which led to a full locked out year. Working out a CBA was the only solution and has successfully worked up until now.
The first ever CBA in NHL history had one significant aspect to it and that was the salary cap. Before, teams would offer what they would like to a player, which definitely had a lot of inequality widespread throughout.
According to NHLA executive director, Donald Fehr, association’s board is set to meet later on this Wednesday and most likely, the negotiations, in terms of the CBA, will begin after that.
For Fehr, there is no reason to worry about another potential lockout since a clause under the current agreement would allow the season to continue running until and unless both parties involved reach some sort of mutual understanding.
"There's nothing magic about Sept. 15. The law is that if you don't have a new agreement, and as long as both sides are willing to keep negotiating, you can continue to play under the terms of the old one until you reach an agreement," Fehr said.
Nevertheless, a lockout can never be ruled out in such situations.
"The problem that we've had in the salary-cap sports going back 20-plus years now is that in many instances, historically -- I'm not saying it'll be true this time -- a lockout has been the negotiation strategy of choice," Fehr added. "It's unfortunate because
it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Hopefully, that's not going to be true this time."
The ones to ultimately suffer would be fans, which is something the NHL and NHLPA must realise before deciding to go ahead with the talks.
Tags: