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NHL players sign off on deal

Many are upset with the terms, but most decide ratification is the best thing for the league.

It's not the deal that was in place a year ago. It's not the deal that was on the table a few months ago. It's not the deal they wanted or hoped for, ever.

But it is the deal they will live with.

After a year of fighting with the owners, fighting with themselves and, most of all, not playing or getting paid, the National Hockey League Players Association overwhelmingly ratified the new collective-bargaining agreement Thursday with the owners. About 88 percent of the 500 or so players who had voted by noon accepted the deal and virtually guaranteed the end of the lockout.

All that's left is for the owners to ratify the deal today, but that is a mere formality. When the owners do, the players will be in a new world void of outrageous salaries and a free-market system. Instead, the players accepted a 24 percent rollback in salaries and agreed to something they said they would never accept: a hard salary cap.

"This might not have been the deal we wanted when this thing started," Lightning player representative Tim Taylor said. "We didn't want a cap. We didn't want to tie salaries to revenues. But you know what? Time changes things. The owners stood their ground, they were willing to sit out a whole season and we needed to do something to get hockey up and running again.

"So, yes, it might not be the perfect deal for us, but it isn't for the owners, either, and maybe that shows this is the right deal for everyone."

Embattled union executive director Bob Goodenow announced the ratification at a news conference in Toronto alongside NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, who applauded the work of the union and said the bitter negotiations are forgotten by the league.

But they might not be forgotten by every member of the union.

"I get upset when I see the numbers," New York Rangers defenseman Darius Kasparaitis said. "I look at my contract, and I lost a lot of money."

"I don't like the rollback, no question," Columbus' Todd Marchant said. "No one's happy about that, but it's something we had to do."

If the union didn't give in now, it believed the owners were prepared to keep the lockout going perhaps for another season.

"It's the best deal we're going to get now," Ottawa Senators forward Mike Fisher said. "There's no point sitting out any longer and hoping it would get better. There were some guys that were upset and disappointed about how this happened in terms of the cap, but that's going to happen with 700 players. A lot of other guys were happy with the deal and just happy that it's over and that we're playing hockey again. We were in a tough battle with owners who held all the cards."

The players arrived in Toronto on Wednesday to go over the 600-page document. Taylor said the meetings started around noon and lasted until nearly 2 a.m.. About 250 players attended the meetings in person, while most of the remaining players were briefed on conference calls. The players then voted Thursday morning.

"To say it wasn't heated at times would be a misnomer, but it was professional," Marchant said. "People asked questions and got answers."

Some remained critical of the job done by Goodenow and senior director Ted Saskin, but Taylor said the leaders, along with the rest of the union executive committee, should be credited with getting a deal done.

"These guys worked their tails off for seven months and got the best deal that we were going to get," Taylor said. "They did a heck of a job."

Now the job is for the players and owners to work together to get the league up and running and woo back fans sour over losing a season.

"The only real losers in all of this have been the fans," Taylor said. "I think the owners and players realize that, and we'll put all this behind us.

"This whole thing? It was like a long, tough, hard-fought hockey game where we were punching and clawing and clubbing each other with sticks. But now it's over. We're partners now. It's time to shake hands and work together.

"That is what is best for our game."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The owners are expected to approve the new CBA today, officially ending the lockout that wiped out the 2004-05 NHL season.

The NHL is also expected to announce today new rules for this season.

At 4 p.m., the league will announce the results of the draft lottery that will determine the order of the July 30 draft. ESPN News will carry portions of the event. Teams have one week to buy out contracts of players they no longer want. Teams can begin negotiating with their own free agents immediately. On Aug. 6, teams can begin talking to other teams' free agents.

The 2005-06 schedule should be released around the middle of next week.