CBA Negotiations Continue

The collective bargaining agreement negotiations have wrapped up for three days, but things aren’t over yet. The current CBA expires on September 15th, so the object is to come to some sort of agreement before the expiration date. So far, only the league have made demands, which we have seen come at a high price.

The initial news of the demands leaked last week, and there was speculation that a potential work stoppage and player lockout could occur. NHLPA Executive Director stated that even if an agreement is not meant by September, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the league will shut down for a season. One of the two parties has to make the decision to shut it down, but it does not look like the players will be likely to do that at this time.

Although the league have made their proposal, the NHLPA has yet to make a counter proposal. The majority of the past three days of meetings really just consisted of informational meetings. The point was to really explain to the PA how the proposals would be met, as well as trying to educate the players on the numbers that go along with the proposals.

The PA are not quite ready to make their say on what has already been proposed, but rather are taking the time to digest it all. The two parties will be meeting again at the PA’s Toronto offices next week. Player revenue is not the only issue that is going to be discussed. After the PA rejected the initial realignment proposal, talks about how this will work will be happening again. This will also include travel issues, which was one of the reasons that they rejected the alignment plan in the first place. One of the other important issues they have on their agenda for discussion is regarding player safety and disciplinary plans.

As of right now, we’re not sure what is going to happen come Sept. 15. As negotiations continues, more news will come to the forefront, but let’s hope they can reach an agreement so that we actually have a hockey season this year.

I am a recent graduate of West Chester University of Pennsylvania, where I hold a BA in English with a minor in creative writing. My career aspirations lie mostly in novel writing, but I also have an interest in sports journalism. I wrote soccer and hockey articles for my University's student newspaper and I currently write for two other sports blogs in addition to Ballhyped. I am the NHL beat writer for Ballhyped, and pretty much live and breathe for the sport of ice hockey.