CBA controls the future of the game
While the Todd Bertuzzi incident has shed a bad light on the sport of hockey, it is the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that will determine whether the NHL has a season this upcoming fall. The current CBA expires September 15, 2004. Both sides, the NHL and the players’ association (NHLPA), have agreed to talks on April 24-25 and May 24-25. The NHL, led by commissioner Gary Bettman and vice-president Bill Daly, hope to achieve cost certainty for the team owners, which would most likely mean a salary cap, preferably around $31 million. However, the NHLPA, led by executive director Bob Goodenow and senior director Ted Saskin, refuses to negotiate any terms involving a salary cap. The last meeting between the two sides occurred October 1st of last year at which time the players’ association proposed a five percent cut for all players equal to a cut of $50 million along with lowering the rookie salary cap. The league did not find the offer to be acceptable.
Some teams have prepared themselves for the possible salary cap. For example, the Detroit Red Wings had a $70 million payroll at the start of this season, but many of their player contracts end this year. “The Red Wings have planned for whatever comes: a salary cap, a luxury tax, or whatever type of cost control that there might be assuming that there is one. If you notice, a lot of the older players with the bigger contracts have their contracts running out (Yzerman, Chelios, and Hull). If they needed to trim payroll, they could do it,†Detroit Free Press sports writer Nicholas Cotsonika said. Other teams have been taking greater risks financially because they figure it may be the last season for a while so they want to present their best team effort. “The Wings have more flexibility than some teams because they have been preparing for it. The teams that you see taking on money are taking a risk but some of them are worried about a lockup and are thinking, ‘We better go for it now because we might not get another shot with this group,’†Cotsonika said.
Like the organizations are preparing for the worst, players have also been getting ready for the possibility of a lockout next season. Players have started to look for possible places to play hockey next year if an agreement isn’t met for the next season. “There has been talk about the World Hockey League starting up with Brett Hull and his dad, Bobby, involved in it. Obviously, that is something we can take advantage of. North American players don’t have the luxury of European players to go back home like Sweden or the Czech Republic. I think there are some opportunities for players over there and I think the closer the reality [the work stoppage] becomes, you’ll see some players trying to take advantage of heading over to Europe,†Detroit Red Wings center Kris Draper said.
So what does the team plan to do during the off-season? “Basically the way that we’re looking at it right now, the league has asked us until September 15th to act as business as usual. If there isn’t, we still have plenty of things to do from a public relations standpoint that we have to do to keep the Red Wings organization afloat,†Krappmann said. The public relations will be unable to promote specific players because the league is really strict about not promoting players because of the CBA. Teams can promote coaches, scouts, and even broadcasters. “We’ll be planning, I’m sure, a fan grassroots type program marketing-wise to keep the attention up on the organization so they know we’re still here and not going anywhere. We’re a little lucky since we have a deep-rooted fan base,†Detroit Red Wings Assistant Marketing Director Lori Shiels said.
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October 8th, 2005 at 7:47 am
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