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Posted on 09/11/2012 7:27:12 AM PDT by airborne
Members of three Canadian-based teams are attempting to use provincial law to contest the legality of a potential lockout by the National Hockey League owners.
The National Hockey League Players' Association believes that laws in the provinces of both Alberta and Quebec would make the potential lockout unlawful.
"The filings are intended to interfere with the broader labor negotiating process," NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said Monday. "They will have absolutely zero impact on the broader negotiation, or on the deal we ultimately agree on."
According to the NHLPA, the fact that the Union is not recognized by the Quebec Labor Board makes it unlawful for the Montreal Canadiens to lock out the team's players.
The NHLPA is also contesting the potential lock out of players from the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames.
The Union believes Alberta law states a mediator must be used before an employer can lock out its employees.
A hearing on that matter scheduled for Tuesday was cancelled Monday night, according to reports.
The current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires Sept. 15.
Montreal defenseman Josh Gorges said Monday during a conference call that a favorable ruling for the players from the Quebec Labor Board would allow the players to receive a paycheck and use the team's facilities during a work stoppage.
During a lockout, players do not receive a salary and are barred from using team facilities.
"This is an opportunity to show that we want to play and, from the players' standpoint, we want to do everything we can to show the owners and the fans that we want to play," Gorges said. "This is a tactic for us to use to push the owners to allow us to play."
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The major problem here is that the NHL doesn't seem to be the kind of league that can operate under the NBA-like structure that has been in place since Gary Bettman became the commissioner. I seem to remember reading somewhere recently that two teams -- the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens -- are worth more than the rest of the NHL combined. I don't see how this league can possibly continue to function with so many troubled franchises in places where there simply aren't enough fans to support a team.
Inevitably, the NHL will need to look at contraction. They are in major danger of starting to lose players to the KHL.
They already have a piece of the action, the TV contract is part of the revenue that gets divided up to make the salary cap. The last I saw they were arguing over pennies, they’re both gunning for a 50/50 split the question is 50% of what, and one side’s 50/50 when looked at with the other side’s is about 47/53. But like so often happens in labor negotiations nobody wants to blink and look week. Unless somebody goes nuts any lockout should be quick, this isn’t a fundamental differences argument like the last one that resulted in the NHL being a capped league.
The players currently get 57% of revenue. The owners want a 50/50 split. I’m on the side of the owners in this one. The league is one business with different parts called teams.
Currently the business is on a losing trend with more and more teams becoming financially unstable. I’d also like to see a cap on long term deals, ten years max and make them age dependent. Also more revenue sharing for the sun belt teams.
The lock outs are getting old.
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