Another Hockey Deadline Approaches
As I write this, it is approaching 11:00 central standard time. The newest deadline for the NHL season is noon. A press conference is scheduled in which the league will either announce the deal they have struck with the players association or, more likely, announce that the NHL will become the first major sport to lose an entire season to a lock-out.
The poker game that has taken place over the past seven years has been infuriating for hockey fans to watch. The league has been getting ready for this lock-out since 1998. I was shocked a few years back when I heard that the NHL was in danger of losing a season...three years down the road. With three years to work out a deal how could a season be in jeopardy?
The poker game continued for a couple years. Finally, after last year's Stanley Cup Finals, everyone knew they wouldn't be seeing a hockey game for quite some time.
Recently, the player's association accepted the idea of a salary cap for the first time. Why did it take until Tuesday for this to happen? If it had happened months ago, or even years ago, we wouldn't have missed 834 games and counting. But each side decided their cause was more important than playing hockey. So this is what we get.
The most recent numbers aren't that far away. The league is offering a salary cap of $42.5 million while the players refuse to go below $49 million. Given more time, the two sides would surely come to an agreement. But the seven years are over, and Tuesday was too late to start negotiating.
The announcement will come in exactly one hour. I'm not keeping my fingers crossed. But I would hope that, when dealing with numbers of this magnitude, $6.5 million won't spell the end of the hockey season. Of course, knowing the NHL, they could always impose another deadline.
The poker game that has taken place over the past seven years has been infuriating for hockey fans to watch. The league has been getting ready for this lock-out since 1998. I was shocked a few years back when I heard that the NHL was in danger of losing a season...three years down the road. With three years to work out a deal how could a season be in jeopardy?
The poker game continued for a couple years. Finally, after last year's Stanley Cup Finals, everyone knew they wouldn't be seeing a hockey game for quite some time.
Recently, the player's association accepted the idea of a salary cap for the first time. Why did it take until Tuesday for this to happen? If it had happened months ago, or even years ago, we wouldn't have missed 834 games and counting. But each side decided their cause was more important than playing hockey. So this is what we get.
The most recent numbers aren't that far away. The league is offering a salary cap of $42.5 million while the players refuse to go below $49 million. Given more time, the two sides would surely come to an agreement. But the seven years are over, and Tuesday was too late to start negotiating.
The announcement will come in exactly one hour. I'm not keeping my fingers crossed. But I would hope that, when dealing with numbers of this magnitude, $6.5 million won't spell the end of the hockey season. Of course, knowing the NHL, they could always impose another deadline.
posted by Joe Siple | 10:46 AM
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