NEW YORK- Representatives from the National Hockey League (NHL) and the National Hockey League Players Association (NHLPA) met for four hours on Thursday, but were unable to come to an agreement on the NHL lockout.
What would have been the first night of the NHL regular season, ended up being a hockey-less evening. The NHL has been in a lockout for about a month now without a resolution in sight.
The NHL entered the lockout after the recent collective bargaining agreement expired on Sept. 15. Although the lockout has left hockey fans broken-hearted, this isn’t the first time. The NHL entered a lockout in September 2004 after the CBA expired, which resulted in cancelling the entire hockey season. The lockout lasted for 301 days, ending in an agreement on a new CBA between the NHL and the NHLPA in July 2005.
There were a total of 1,230 un-played games as a result of the 2004 lockout. So far the NHL has cancelled up to 82 games this season, starting last night through Oct. 24. But who’s to say this lockout won’t turn into a total wipeout of the season like it did in 2004. As of right now, there are games scheduled to start on Oct. 25 as long as the NHL and NHLPA come to terms.
There are a handful of issues on the table that all seem to be stemming from one thing, money. The players salary cap expiring is the main focus. With that brings disagreements on the players’ shares and contracts.
NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daily said that the NHLPA, “Hasn’t shown any willingness to compromise at this point.” At this point in time, there are no future meetings scheduled to resolve the lockout.
