Although a potential labor conflict is still over two years away, the upcoming NHL season feels like to many a make or break year. At some point during the 2010-11 season, the hockey world will get its first look at Donald Fehr 2.0, as the seminal sports labor leader shifts from his short-lived retirement from the MLBPA into a new role with the NHLPA. Fehr’s leadership is expected to morph the NHLPA from a punching bag into a formidable bargaining force.
Fehr, 62, should be a bridge leader for hockey’s fledgling union. As an unpaid union advisor, Fehr has already assisted the NHLPA with its new executive director search as well as revamped the union’s constitution. However, his most significant impacts surely lie ahead.
Many within the hockey world are holding their collective breath in anticipation of how Fehr, once installed, with interact with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. While some believe Fehr will adopt a more militant approach that former union chief Bob Goodenow successfully exploited during the late 1990s, it is more likely that Fehr will take a moderate viewpoint when interacting with whom many refer to as the most powerful person in hockey.
While Fehr will not always adopt an adversarial nature when dealing with the league, there are more than a few contentious issues to be bargained over. The league’s most important issue is probably tinkering with the salary cap. League executives will most likely negotiate with the union to reduce the percentage of hockey-related revenue, currently at fifty seven percent, which is allocated toward paying player salary. Fehr will not give up any percentages without league concessions.
Players will also want to address financial topics as well. A major sore spot is most likely the escrow concept. Players, who under the current CBA, deposit eighteen percent of their earnings into a league-mandated escrow account, will want to renegotiate the current escrow system. Of course there are other issues. The players want to address NHL involvement with the Sochi Olympics, long-terms contracts, and whether the league and its players can change their relationship from one of being adversarial to one of partnership. There are other issues but, because hockey’s financial landscape is at times precarious, these financial issues will probably be the most fiercely negotiated.
Although the current CBA does not expire for another two years, the NHL and its stakeholders cannot afford another lockout. Both sides must strike a cooperative tone and negotiate an accord that fine-tunes the new NHL financial model. The new CBA should also include additional mechanisms to help correct the financial woes that many southern US franchises are still experiencing within this troubled economy. Now that the NHL has, over the last five years laid a new foundation, both Fehr and Bettman must work together to ensure that this foundation and the momentum of the new NHL is not lost to another lockout. As the season starts on Thursday, it is only a matter of time until these labor events begin to unfold.
Jeff Levine is a staff member of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He is a sports attorney, and the Executive Director of One Sports and Entertainment, International.
The Summer of Kovalchuk ended with a “fair” contract for Ilya, a ridiculous penalty imposed on the Devils and the NHL with new restrictions on long-term deals. All’s well that ends well (unless you are the Devils or anyone who covered this mess). The words “circumventing the cap” were pounded into our collective brains as bad. The league sent a message to NHL executives to play nice or lose draft picks.
If the league thought it tied up all the loose cap circumventing ends, they were wrong. Just weeks after the Devils were penalized, the Chicago Blackhawks opened up nearly $6 million of cap space by loaning goalie Christobal Huet to Switzerland. Huet was benched midway through last season for poor performance, leaving the ‘Hawks with a replacement level goalie with superstar salary. Shipping Huet across seas to get around his cap hit or, say, circumvent the salary cap, was no different than the Devils’ attempt to sign Ilya Kovalchuk to a 50-year contract.
The Blackhawks aren’t the only club using any means possible to erase their bad decisions. The New York Rangers dug an AHL sized hole and tosses Wade Redden’s $6.5 million cap hit in it. The Toronto Maple Leafs’ GM Brian Burke told SportingNews that since these types of moves aren’t against the Collective Bargaining Agreement, there is nothing wrong with them. Sound familiar?
The SportingNews story notes that agents will be taking action on future big money contracts to include no-movement clauses to ensure teams don’t bury their clients in the AHL or send them to Prog.
Matthew Coller is a staff member of the Business of Sports Network, and is a freelance writer. He can be followed on Twitter
We’re getting the feeling the NHL is starting to get it. First, the hiring of former NFL’s vice president of programming Charles Coplin as executive vice president of content, then the idea to start an HBO show comparable to “Hard Knocks,” now the NHL will allow in-market streaming, including extending the rights to mobile devices according to John Ourand of Sports Business Journal.
The SBJ report Monday said the league is close to an agreement that would have U.S. teams launch in-market streaming of live games on both broadband and wireless platforms. This, Ourand says, will change the way fans can view local game telecasts and without question promote the game and popularity of in-market teams.
The NHL is closest to agreeing with Fox Sports Net, which holds the rights to 13 teams. The league is also working with Comcast SportsNet, according to the SBJ report.
As for the “they get it” department, the NHL could potentially put itself far ahead of other leagues when it comes to in-market streaming, Major League Baseball has only two teams streaming in-market, the NBA only has one.
OTHER NEWS FROM THE BUSINESS OF SPORTS NETWORK
(THE BIZ OF BASEBALL)
Stan Kasten Seems Destined for the Commissioner's Office
Inside the Numbers: How MLB Postseason Gate Revenues Are Split
Washington Nationals Release 2011 Season Ticket Prices
MLB.com At Bat Mobile App Now Allows You to Order Food at Ballpark with iPhone
Matthew Coller is a staff member of the Business of Sports Network, and is a freelance writer. He can be followed on Twitter
NHL.com featured this video along with the official changes to the NHL rulebook concerning head hits.
Here’s how “rule 48” reads:
48.1 Illegal Check to the Head- A lateral or blind side hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and/or the principle point of contact is not permitted.
48.2 Minor Penalty- There is no provision for a minor penalty for this rule.
48.3 Major Penalty- For a violation of this rule, a major penalty shall be assessed (see 48.4).
48.4 Game Misconduct- An automatic game misconduct penalty shall be assessed whenever a major penalty is assessed under this rule.
48.5 Match Penalty- The Referee, at his discretion, may assess a match penalty if, in his judgment, the player attempted to or deliberately injured his opponent with an illegal check to the head. 48.6 Fines and Suspensions- Any player who incurs a total of two (2) game misconducts under this rule, in either regular League or playoff games, shall be suspended automatically for the next game his team plays. For each subsequent game misconduct penalty the automatic suspension shall be increased by one game.
OTHER NEWS FROM THE BUSINESS OF SPORTS NETWORK
(THE BIZ OF BASEBALL)
How Ines Sainz As a Poor "Journalist" Does Good in the Overall
Jeter's Next Deal Hinges on Playoff Performance
Joe Torre Steps Down; Don Mattingly To Manage Dodgers in 2011
Texas Rangers Enter Four-Year Player Development Agreement with the Triple-A Round Rock Express
Matthew Coller is a staff member of the Business of Sports Network, and is a freelance writer. He can be followed on Twitter
The Pittsburgh Penguins announced Monday that the team and general manager Ray Shero have agreed to a new five-year contract. Shero has been dubbed “the architect” of the 2009 Stanley Cup winning Penguins team.
Shero is responsible for the long-term contracts of stars Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, Marc-Andre Fleury as well as the promotion of head coach Dan Bylsma (who had been coaching in the AHL) late in the 2009 season.
“I’d like to thank Mario Lemieux, Ron Burkle and the ownership group for showing confidence in me,” Shero said via the Penguins’ website. “They made a decision to hire me back in May of 2006, and it’s worked out for both of us. The ownership group has supported me and given me the resources to do the job. The stability we get from with our ownership group is how you have success both on and off the ice.”
Shero’s craftiness during the ’09 cup run was no more apparent than at the trade deadline when the GM acquired several players who had key roles down the stretch including Chris Kunitz from Anaheim, Bill Guerin from the New York Islanders and claiming Craig Adams from the Chicago Blackhawks.
Matthew Coller is a staff member of the Business of Sports Network, and is a freelance writer. He can be followed on Twitter
Penn State President Graham Spainer announced that the largest donation in the University’s history, $88 million from Terrence and Kim Pegula, was given to the school to fund a multi-purpose arena and establish an NCAA Division I men’s hockey program, according to a release from the school. The Pegulas earned their millions (billions?) in the oil and natural gass industry. Terry Pegula is the founder and former president and CEO of East Resources Inc. The new hockey program will be without conference affiliation for its first two seasons, 2012-13. After that, some, like ProHockey Talk’s Joe Yerdon expect Penn State to form a conference with other Big Ten hockey schools including Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Minnesota. The move could have a domino effect. Top teams could be lured by the Big Ten Network’s money and exposure, which would cripple three of the teams’ current conference, the CCHA. The other two teams’ conference, the WCHA, would lose successful programs North Dakota and Minnesota.
Matthew Coller is a staff member of the Business of Sports Network, and is a freelance writer. He can be followed on Twitter
Alliance Tickets carries an extensive inventory of all NHL Tickets, including Colorado Avalanche Tickets, and we also carry tons of Colorado Rockies Tickets
