The latest work stoppage in the NHL — lasting from September 15, 2012 to January 6, 2013 — was not nearly as destructive as the stoppage less than a decade earlier, which completely wiped out the entire 2004-05 campaign.
But the optics of what stood as the third work stoppage in Gary Bettman’s first 19 years as NHL commissioner were far from encouraging, to say the least — with fans, media and many more now still on high alert for the next potential crisis.
It could come sooner rather than later, unfortunately, as both the league and the NHL Players’ Association (NHLPA) entered September with the option to opt-out of the current collective bargaining agreement (CBA), which would then expire in September 2020. With its expiration, of course, comes the threat of another potential work stoppage ahead of the 2020-21 season.
However, it appears as though at least one side of the table is not interested in opting out of the CBA early — which would otherwise run through the end of the 2021-22 campaign.
On Thursday, Bettman and the league office released a statement, announcing that they will NOT opt out of the current CBA. The league had until September 1 to inform the NHLPA that it was going to move forward with the current bargaining agreement.
Bettman’s statement read:
“Based on the current state of the game and the business of the game, the NHL believes it is essential to continue building upon the momentum we have created with our Players and, therefore, will not exercise its option to reopen the CBA. Rather, we are prepared to have the current CBA remain in effect for its full term – three more seasons through the conclusion of the 2021-22 season.
“It is our hope that a continued, sustained period of labor peace will enable us to further grow the game and benefit all constituent groups: NHL Players, Clubs, our business partners and, most important, our fans.
"In any CBA, the parties can always identify issues they are unhappy with and would like to see changed. This is certainly true from the League’s standpoint. However, our analysis makes clear that the benefits of continuing to operate under the terms of the current CBA – while working with the Players’ Association to address our respective concerns – far outweigh the disruptive consequences of terminating it following the upcoming season.”
As a whole, this is good news for the league — and a sign that the owners are not looking for much of a fight over the current CBA. However, the NHL is not out of the woods quite yet when it comes to a potential work stoppage.
While the league has opted to not tinker with the current CBA (and all the potential drama that would follow) the narrative now shifts to the NHLPA — which certainly has a bone to pick with the league’s current labor framework.
A statement from the NHLPA read:
“Today the NHL advised the NHLPA that the league will not exercise its early termination right under the CBA. The NHLPA now has the same option. We will continue to discuss this matter with players as our September 15 decision approaches.”
As noted above, the NHLPA now has until September 15 to choose to follow suit with the league and opt to not mess around with the CBA, or choose instead to opt-out and accelerate a potential lockout scenario next year.
Players have been vocal about the shortcomings with the CBA — headlined by escrow and revenue-sharing discrepancies, along with participation in the Olympics and much more. As such, if there was a party that would choose to opt-out the current CBA, it would be the players, and not the league.
So, as the pessimistic folks that we are when it comes to the NHL and work stoppages, we should expect the worst ahead of September 15, right? Well, not exactly.
While the NHLPA has some issues with the current framework of the CBA, forcing another work stoppage may not be the best route — and based on Elliotte Friedman’s tweets on Friday, it seems as though the players are more focused on sorting things out by way of negotiation rather than starting a doomsday scenario in 2020.
As Friedman notes above, the NHLPA is not ruling out potentially pushing back the Sept. 15 deadline if it feels as though progress is being made with the league.
That’s a sign of optimism, for sure. Add in the fact that both the NHL and NHLPA appear
, and one has to think that something’s gotta give when it comes to participation in international competitions, headlined, of course, by the Olympics.
Still, as we’ve seen over the last three lockouts, things can change
real quick
when it comes to CBA talks in the NHL.
Fallout from latest New England Sports Survey
For the eighth year in a row,
Channel Media & Market Research released its
— designed to get the pulse of the local market on the pro sports team in the area.
Top 10 Worst Things In Sports This Year
Team Most Likely to Win A Championship
The Patriots are still the odds-on favorite in the area with 56% of the vote, but the Bruins are right behind them at 22%. That isn’t much of a shock, considering that Boston brings back most of the core that fell just one game short of a title, while younger players like
Charlie McAvoy, David Pastrnak, Jake DeBrusk, Brandon Carlo
and more are expected to take major steps forward in their respective careers.
Management Performance
A year after leading all teams with 32% of the vote,
Cam Neely, Don Sweeney
and the rest of Bruins’ management ranks second overall in terms of the team that’s done the best job running a club, trailing only
Bill Belichick
and the Patriots. There’s certainly a lot to like with what the Bruins did to put together a winning club, and as a result, Sweeney came away with a GM of the Year Award in June. Still, considering a number of holes in Boston’s lineup are primed to be filled with in-house options once again, perhaps this high ranking is more of an indictment on the offseason moves of clubs like the Red Sox (9%) and Celtics (8%).
Top 5 Most Admired Players:
Patrice Bergeron (32%)
Brad Marchand (17%)
Charlie McAvoy (9%)
Tuukka Rask (8%)
Zdeno Chara (8%)
No surprises here - although have to say, kind of impressed that the collective fan base gave the thumbs up for Rask, who seems to always catch flak year in and year out.
Players That Did Not Meet Expectations:
David Backes (21%)
David Krejci (15%)
Ryan Donato (13%)
David Pastrnak (8%)
Zdeno Chara (6%)
Alright, here we are. Well, some of this list is valid, at least when talking about Backes and Donato — who was hearing whispers about Calder Trophy hype going into the year before bottoming out with Boston.
But, man. What on earth is David Krejci doing at No. 2 overall on this list? While the pivot has been a bit of a polarizing figure due to his contract (which is well within market value now) and supposed injury history, the 33-year-old forward should have very few detractors — if any — after the 2018-19 season.
While injuries decimated Boston’s lineup for most of the season, Krejci was a model of consistency, tying a career-high with 73 points over 81 games — while the lone game he missed was due to scheduled rest in the team’s penultimate matchup of the regular season.
Even when Boston lost Bergeron for an extended stretch in November and December, Krejci helped keep the B’s offense humming along — with a line of Marchand-Krejci-Pastrnak scoring nine 5v5 goals in 131 minutes of TOI together.
And elsewhere, the pivot continued to produce despite not having a regular RW to play alongside all season long. In fact, Krejci was able to hit the 70-point plateau despite being part of FOURTEEN different lineup combinations that
logged at least 15 minutes of 5v5 TOI this season.
Sigh.
Players Most Desired:
Connor McDavid (21%)
Steven Stamkos (18%)
Sidney Crosby (17%)
Jack Eichel (12%)
Patrick Kane (7%)
Least Favorite Player To Win A Championship:
Nathan Horton (14%)
Tim Thomas (12%)
Chris Kelly (6%)
Adam McQuaid (5%)
Top 5 Possible Improvements
Tougher On The Ice (18%)
Don’t Let The Best Players Go Unsigned (16%)
More Physical Players (11%)
Get A True Goal Scorer (6%)
