With the NHL's imposed Saturday deadline for a new collective bargaining agreement fast approaching, you might think that the two sides would be hard at work trying to get something done before midnight. According to Reuters, you'd be wrong, as the league and Players' Association are not presently talking.
The two sides, who had been meeting in New York this week, contacted each other early on Saturday but with no movement from the league or union there was nothing to spark last-ditch talks.
With just hours to go until commissioner Gary Bettman locks out the players, it's looking more and more likely that a deal of any kind is not going to get done. There's no hope of a season unless a new collective bargaining agreement is struck, and that won't happen until the NHL and Players' Association come together on the revenue split.
As Reuters notes, the revenue split is a big deal, given that the league enjoyed record-breaking revenues a season ago. The NHL was hoping for the players to take a cut from 57 percent down to 43 percent of all hockey-related revenue. They then followed that up with a six-year deal that starts at 49 percent and ends up at 47 percent. The NHLPA came back with a counter that would see the players get 54.3 percent initially, with a finishing point of 52.7 percent.
The numbers may seem small, but the difference is pretty sizable when you're talking about $3.3 billion in revenue. If the lockout goes through at midnight, it will be the fourth work stoppage in 20 years.
Stick with this StoryStream for more coverage of the NHL labor situation, and for coverage across the National Hockey League head over to SB Nation's hockey hub.
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