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| Carolina Hurricanes dressing room in practice facility - Peter Koutroumpis, PKS Consulting |
The Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the
National Hockey League Players Association (NHLPA) and the
National Hockey League (NHL) is about to expire in just over two and a half hours.
Without a new agreement signed by that time, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has stated that the owners will lock out the players accordingly.
That is why
many players have already taken their equipment and will have to endure not starting training camp as scheduled.
That was supposed to happen by next week.
It's still possible, but highly unlikely that a deal at the final minute will be made to avoid a lockout.
How long this will take is unknown - a few days, weeks, months, or more?
The players, and the fans who have been waiting all summer for the season to begin, may not have one to play or follow due to a lockout.
With the NHL bringing in approximately $3.3 billion dollars last year, an amount that it shared with the players, the owners are saying that they can't afford to do it again under the current structure of the CBA, and need a new agreement in place for business to continue.
Otherwise, the locks keep the players from coming in and the players are on their own - without a rink, dressing room, games to play, and a paycheck.
The players have said that they are willing to work to help make the game better financially and to grow it more, but not willing to make up for financial shortfalls and expenses that they are not in control of in running each team's business.
The middle ground exists and is somewhere to be found, but when that will happen is the key factor to consider.
Tick, tick tick.
Time to get to work on how to get back to work.
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