National Hockey League Board of Governors approves new CBA -NHL Update
Another major hurdle was crossed as the National Hockey League (NHL) Board of Governors officially ratified the terms of the new collective bargaining agreement on Wednesday by voting unanimously ratifying the 10-year deal between the league and NHL Players’
Association.
For both stakeholders, too much time had been wasted up until this point by missing out on over 100 days of the 2012-2013 regular season as the previous CBA came to an end on September 15, 2012. What they now want to do is take this on a fast track route
and get all formalities over with as soon as possible.
"To the players, who were very clear they wanted to be on the ice and not negotiating labor contracts; to our partners, who support the League financially and personally; and, most importantly, to our fans, who love and have missed NHL hockey, I am sorry,"
Commissioner Gary Bettman said. "I know that an explanation or an apology will not erase the hard feelings that have built up over the past few months, but I owe you an apology nevertheless.”
Bettman went on to add that the league has a responsibility to earn back the trust of its fans and followers and that they will be doing anything and everything in their power to do so. It was Boston Bruins owner, Jeremy Jacobs, who is also Chairman of the
Board of Governors, making the news official during a press conference at the Westin Times Square.
"There is no doubt we all love this game," Jacobs said. "Together our collective future is extremely bright. Our only interest now is to look ahead and focus on what this great game can provide to the best sports fans in the world."
A lot has gone down up until this point as over 600 regular season games have been lost due to this along with the 2013 NHL Winter Classic and All-Star Game, both events which were highly looked forward to by all hockey fans around the world.
Updates should be expected in the next couple of days as the league and Players’ Association finalize on how long the shortened season should be and when to start it.
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