NHL owners approve pact
NEW YORK (AP) – The NHL lockout that canceled last season came to an end Friday when the owners of the league’s 30 teams unanimously approved a labor deal that clears the way for play to resume in the fall. “Today our board of governors gave its unanimous approval to a collective bargaining agreement that signals a new era for our league,” commissioner Gary Bettman said at a news conference. “An era of economic stability for our franchises, an era of heightened competitive balance for our players, an era of unparalleled excitement and entertainment for our fans.”
It also begins the era of the salary cap – the very thing the union vowed not to accept when the lockout began. But a majority of players supported the six-year agreement in balloting Thursday, with 464 of 532 (87 percent) voting in favor.
“Let’s drop the puck on a fresh start and a wonderful future for the National Hockey League,” Bettman said.
No payroll will exceed $39 million or go under $21.5 million next season – including salaries, signing bonuses and performance bonuses.
Under the new deal, players are guaranteed to receive 54 percent of league-wide revenues – projected to be between $1.7 billion and $1.8 billion next season. A portion of every player’s salary will be held in escrow if it is determined that revenues are smaller, resulting in players receiving more than 54 percent.
And they will be playing under vastly different rules.
The biggest shakeup for hockey purists will be the institution of a shootout, to ensure that every regular-season game will have a winner.
Goalies will have to stop those shots and all others with smaller pads, which will be shrunk by about 11 percent. The width of the pads will be reduced to 11 inches and the glove, upper-body protector, pants and jersey will also be smaller.
Not only is their equipment shrinking, so is the area in which goalies can go to play the puck. Goaltenders can only go behind the goal line in a trapezoid-shaped area.
The neutral-zone edges of the blue lines will be 64 feet from the attacking goal and 75 feet from the end boards in the offensive zone. That adds 4 feet in each zone, with the thought it will increase scoring – especially during power plays.
Although no-touch icing wasn’t added, players who make long, home-run type passes that miss their target will not be whistled for icing.
How the rules work will be monitored by a competition committee made up of four players, four general managers and one owner.
Colorado defenseman Rob Blake, Calgary’s Jarome Iginla, union president Trevor Linden, and Brendan Shanahan will represent the players.
Approval of the new CBA by the league’s board governors Friday brings labor peace at last to the league, which has already lost one season.
Talk can now shift from debates over money, salary caps and escrow to a discussion of how good Sidney Crosby will make his new team next season.
The Pittsburgh Penguins won a 30-team draft lottery on Friday, and will have the chance to select Crosby.
Still widely unknown in the United States, Crosby is a 17-year-old Canadian juniors phenom who will likely be the first player taken in a makeshift NHL draft next Saturday in Ottawa.
Wayne Gretzky has said that Crosby is the best player he’s seen since Mario Lemieux. Now Crosby will play alongside Super Mario.
“We’ve trained together and skated together,” Crosby said. “He’s been great, just to see how he handles himself.”
In an unprecedented lottery Friday, every team had a shot to land him when a backdoor pingpong ball selection is held in New York. The Penguins – who had the maximum three balls in the hopper – edged out Anaheim for the top pick.
The entire draft order was announced in a televised program, and Crosby’s first NHL news conference was to take place an hour later.
That will be the precursor to a frenzy of free-agent player movement starting Saturday. And the flurry of signings won’t really calm down until training camps open in September.
Some teams only have a handful of players under contract, and many big-name stars will soon go free. Beginning Saturday, teams will have six days to buy out players to make payrolls more cap friendly.