February 15, 2005
NHLPA climbs down on cap
With the National Hockey League season scheduled to be cancelled at 1 p.m. Wednesday, the Players Association made a major concession in its negotiations with the league last night. According to the NHLPA, it agreed to a salary cap of $52-million per team (something it has said it would never do) after League bosses agreed to drop a demand that league-wide compensation be limited to a percentage of league revenues.
"The League rejected the Players' proposal," the NHLPA said in a news release this morning. The NHL has yet to publicly speak about yesterday's session but it appears the main disagreement is over the level of any salary cap. The NHL wants the cap set a $40-million.
The difference look trivial - $12-million - but across the league it is the equivalent of a $312-million gap per season and $1.5-billion over a five year agreement. That is a lot of money, but for the first time in months, it looks like a deal is possible. The only question is whether they can make that deal in time to beat tomorrow's deadline.
Further Reading:
Players yield on salary cap (Canadian Press)
NHL rejects $52M US salary cap offer: report (CTV News)
NHLPA statement following CBA meeting (NHLPA News Release)
Posted by maxthecat at February 15, 2005 10:21 AM
http://www.maxsmewsings.com/mt/archives/2005/02/nhlpa_climbs_down_on_cap.php