Brave, new world
The NHL announces a labor deal it says will create a utopia for players, owners and fans.
By TOM JONES
Published July 23, 2005
Lawyers can be replaced by checkers. Faceoffs will take place on the ice and not in a boardroom. Instead of using words such as "negotiations" and "proposals" and "concessions," it can now get back to terms such as "glove save and a beauty."
The lockout is over. Hockey is back.
"Let me be the first to welcome you to the start of the 2005-06 National Hockey League season," commissioner Gary Bettman said Friday in New York.
The NHL lockout that wiped out the 2004-05 season officially ended Friday with the announcement of a six-year deal between the players and owners, who unanimously ratified the agreement.
For the first time since the Lightning won the Stanley Cup on June7, 2004, NHL fans have a date to circle on their calendars:
Oct. 5.
That's when all 30 teams return to the ice, including the Lightning. Tampa Bay begins defense of the Cup at the St. Pete Times Forum with its regular-season opener against Carolina. "Let's drop the puck on a fresh start and a wonderful future for the National Hockey League," Bettman said.
Calling it a "seminal moment for the league," Bettman on Friday led the NHL out of the darkest days in its history and into a new era with a recast economic system and a slew of rule changes.
Complete with a new logo, the NHL has a new motto: "It's a Whole New Game."
"It's great that it is finally all done and we can move on to what matters - the product on the ice," Lightning general manager Jay Feaster said. "And it's great for hockey fans everywhere, but especially in Tampa Bay, where we can go back to defending our Stanley Cup championship."
Details of the new CBA have leaked out over the past week, so there were no real surprises. It features a hard salary cap of $39-million per team, a 24 percent rollback on salaries and changes to free agency, revenue sharing and an economic plan meant to curtail costs and increase competitiveness.
"Our foundation for the future now is in place," Bettman said. "It is the mandate of this new partnership, achieved at enormous cost, to reconnect with our fans and refocus the spotlight where it belongs: on the ice."
There, fans will see a game that looks different from the one that disappeared in June 2004. Rules implemented to increase offense and entice jilted fans should produce the biggest shakeup in the modern history of the game.
Most notably, the NHL has eliminated the possibility of ties, announcing a shootout will be used when a winner cannot be determined after 60 minutes of regulation and five minutes of overtime.
Changes to goaltending equipment, offsides and the offensive zones are expected to produce more scoring, something the league has lacked in recent seasons.
"We will return with a modified shield, with a new look on the ice and a new outlook off it," Bettman said. "And we will return this game to our fans with a promise: We will do everything in our power to be the best we can be and to earn your continued devotion.
"This was a terrible time for everyone associated with the game. We will do everything we can to make it up to you."
Bettman apologized to the fans several times but added the owners had no choice but to cancel last season in order to save the league. In the end, Bettman said, it likely was worth losing a season.
"It's a wonderful agreement for the players, a wonderful agreement for the game and a wonderful agreement for our fans," Bettman said.
"It's the type of agreement that we think a professional sports league like ours can thrive under for everyone's benefit because we are true economic partners."
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DEAL- Salaries for players under contract reduced by 24 percent. - A salary cap of $39-million and salary floor of $21.5-million for this season. - Player costs will be 54 percent of league revenues.
- No player can earn more than 20 percent of the salary cap, $7.8-million this season.
- Age for unrestricted free agency remains 31 for upcoming season but moves to 29 or eight seasons played in 2006-07, 28 or seven seasons in 2007-08 and 27 or seven seasons in 2008-09.
- All contracts for 2004-05 season are eliminated.
- Teams have until 5 p.m. Friday to buy out contracts (at two-thirds their value) and not have it count against the salary cap. Players bought out cannot play for that team this season.
- Entry level players are subject to a maximum annual salary (plus signing and games played bonuses) of $850,000 this season.
- Players are subject to two "no-notice" drug tests a year. The first offense is 20-game suspension, second 60 games and third a lifetime ban though players can apply for reinstatement after two years.
- Revenue sharing will benefit teams in the bottom half of revenues.
- Players will compete in the 2006 and 2010 Olympics.
- The draft is reduced from nine to seven rounds.