NHL Labor Talks: League Formally Informs NHLPA Of Desire To Renegotiate CBA

The NHL has told its broadcast affiliates not to mention or discuss the ongoing collective bargaining agreement negotiations during coverage of the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs Playoffs, according to Andy Strickland of TrueHockey.com. The league formally informed the NHLPA on May 15 that it wished to "terminate or modify" the current CBA, which is set to expire on September 15, 2012. It's a huge story in hockey off the ice this month, but the league does not want the labor issues becoming a part of the playoffs, via @AndyStrickland:

No surprise the #NHL has instructed affiliates not to talk about #cba negotiations (or lack thereof) until after the playoffs are over

— Andy Strickland (@andystrickland) May 17, 2012

The Stanley Cup Final will go into mid-June, but don't expect to hear much about the expiring CBA on NBC, CBC, or TSN until after the season.

For more on the pending drama involving the NHL's collective bargaining agreement, stick with our StoryStream.

It was a foregone conclusion, but as required by the current collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and the NHL Players' Association, the league has informed the union that it wishes to "terminate or modify" the current deal, according to a report from Sports Business Journal. It officially expires on Sept. 15, 2012.

Either the league or the NHLPA had to notify the other side of their desire to renegotiate the deal by May 15, 2012, or 120 days before the scheduled expiration. Had neither party taken that action, the current CBA would have been extended for another season.

It's just a formality, really. We've known for some time that the NHL and its players had planned on negotiating a new deal, and the league has said it's been ready to begin those talks for months. The Players Association, meanwhile, has been busy getting organized under new director Donald Fehr, and it appears as though talks will finally begin after the current season ends in late June.

For more on the pending drama involving the NHL's collective bargaining agreement, stick with our StoryStream.

We don't know what the NHL collective bargaining agreement will look like next season. In the worst case scenario, we don't even know if there will be a season next year thanks to the lack of a CBA between the league and the NHL Players' Association.

That shouldn't stop teams around the league from operating normally this summer, however. At least, that's what Gary Bettman says. Via Yahoo! Sports:

"I'm not going to comment as to what the next CBA may look like," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said as the GM meetings concluded at the Boca Beach Club. "But the CBA that we currently have is in effect until Sept. 15, and we told clubs to continue to operate under the CBA. Business as usual."

Technically functioning under the current CBA and actually acting as though the current CBA is not expiring are two different things, and it's unclear if it will truly be business as usual throughout the summer. There's still the big question of the salary cap and where it will sit, plus whatever other changes could come in a new collective bargaining agreement.

Bettman may say it's business as usual, but if there's CBA uncertainty, it's hard to imagine that will be the reality.

For all the news surrounding the NHL's collective bargaining agreement and the ongoing quest to replace it, stick with this StoryStream.

The collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and the NHLPA expires in September, and as the 2011-12 season winds down, worries of a potential labor stoppage increase. Months back, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman claimed that labor talks would begin with the union at some point around the 2012 All-Star Game.

The All-Star Game has come and gone, and labor talks have yet to begin. Why not, and should we be concerned? Via USA Today:

"I'm not prepared to tell you when we'll begin formal negotiations," [Bettman] said. "That's a call that we pretty much left up to the players association. We're ready and we have been ready, but the union has some work to do."

So what about it, union? Here's Donald Fehr, NHLPA executive director, via the same USA Today story:

"There is this view that somehow to have a big formal meeting you ... have to have a dozen or two, or six dozen people sitting around a table like the auto workers used to do," Fehr said. "That's largely untrue. We'll get to that at the appropriate time."

The biggest worry comes at the foot of Fehr, who presided over the MLB Players Association and that league's 1994 lockout. The NHLPA's rejected of the league's proposed realignment plan seemed like the first salvo in these labor talks, but everything said publicly by the two parties thus far has been rather cordial.

There's no reason to panic or worry just yet, but that doesn't mean it'd be nice to have formal talks take place sooner than later.

For all the news surrounding the NHL's collective bargaining agreement and the ongoing quest to replace it, stick with this StoryStream.

The National Hockey League announced today that it will not move forward with implementation of the Realignment Plan and modified Playoff Format recently approved by the NHL Board of Governors for the 2012-13 NHL season.

The NHLPA has refused to provide its consent to the deal, which signals what is likely the first battle in CBA talks between the league and the players. The current CBA expires after this season.

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly commented on the ordeal:

"It is unfortunate that the NHLPA has unreasonably refused to approve a Plan that an overwhelming majority of our Clubs voted to support, and that has received such widespread support from our fans and other members of the hockey community, including Players."

"We have now spent the better part of four weeks attempting to satisfy the NHLPA’s purported concerns with the Plan with no success. Because we have already been forced to delay, and as a result are already late in beginning the process of preparing next season’s schedule, we have no choice but to abandon our intention to implement the Realignment Plan and modified Playoff Format for next season."

"We believe the Union acted unreasonably in violation of the League’s rights. We intend to evaluate all of our available legal options and to pursue adequate remedies, as appropriate."

As a result of decision, the NHL will maintain its current alignment and Playoff Format for the 2012-13 season. Sorry about that, Winnipeg Jets.

For more on NHL realignment, keep up to date with this StoryStream.

The value of NHL teams has risen over the last calendar year, but rising player costs are still a concern that could lead to contentious labor negotiations between the league and the NHL Players Association. The current collective bargaining agreement between the groups expires after the current season, and new talks are expected to begin early in 2012. 

According to Forbes' Magazine, the average NHL team is now worth $240 million, up 5 percent from a year ago. That's thanks in part to the NHL's new American television deal with NBC, which helped along a 5 percent increase in average revenue per team. 

Since the NHL lockout in 2005, according to Forbes, the average NHL team has seen a 47 percent rise in their value, which signals that the changes made during that lockout are certainly working. It's evident that things are not quite perfect though, with the few huge market teams in the league still controlling the pie, and with player salaries still out of whack in comparison to other professional leagues in North America.

Via the Forbes report:

The league's salary cap, set at 57% of revenue, is too high for some teams to be profitable. As a result, expect the National Hockey League to undergo a cantankerous labor negotiations when the owners and players union begin to hammer our a new collective bargaining agreement to replace the current six-year deal that expires in September.

During their lockout prior to the current season, NFL players agreed to 48 percent of revenue. In the NBA deal reached the other day, owners and players agreed to a 50-50 split.

NHL players aren't likely to back down from the 57 percent that they're currently receiving for obvious reasons, but it is evident that many NHL teams can't compete under the current model. This is the foundation of NHL labor negotiations that will take place in the coming year, and the hope is that no games are missed because of this. 

It's been just six years since the NHL canceled their entire season following the 2004 NHL Lockout. With that in mind, the league and the NHLPA will begin negotiations on a new labor deal early in the new year.

When they do, the NHLPA will have the NHL's calculation of hockey-related revenue in mind, since it's something they think is being miscalculated.

The miscalculation of hockey-related revenue could end up causing delays in return of millions in escrow to players and could lead to an arbitration if the issue isn't remedied to the player's liking.

It could also mean there's a lot more money out there that the players deserve but the league is pocketing.

In other words, if you're looking for an issue to kick-off negotiations in 2012, you've just found it. NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr (yes, THAT Donald Fehr) is expected to start making noise on this and many other issues starting...now.

For more news on the NHL labor discussions, keep an eye on this stream.

The NHL has experienced a ton of success in recent years, growing exponentially each year since the lockout and the lost season in 2004-05. As a result, the league's salary cap continues to increase along with revenues, and next season, it'll be larger than it's ever been.

As first reported by Bob McKenzie of TSN, the NHL salary cap is expected to rise by about $5 million for the 2011-12 season, up from $59.4 million to around $64 million. The salary floor will rise right along with the cap to $48 million. By comparison, the original cap in 2005-06, the first season back after the lockout, was just $39 million. 

Five years after the lockout, the salary floor has risen $9 million above the original cap. That's obviously good news for the league as a whole -- the cap is tied directly to league revenues, and as revenues rise, the cap rises. It's also good news for the large market teams that would spend over the cap if they were allowed. For them, the cap is only a hindrance. 

But for small market clubs that already have trouble reaching the floor, it's certainly not good news. It's more expense that those teams have to add, by NHL law, to their books.