NHL Lockout Ends After 113 Days, Season to Open January 19th…
Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
BREAKING NEWS: The NHL and NHLPA have reached a 10 year agreement on a new CBA which effective ends the lockout which has severely hampered a good portion of the 2012-13 season. The agreement was reached after marathon negotiations in New York City which lasted over 16 hours, ending shortly after 5am ET (2am PT). According to TSN, part of the agreement sees the league come off their demand for a $60 million cap in Year 2 of the new deal to meet the NHLPA’s request to have it at $64.3 million – which was the upper limit from last year’s cap. The salary floor in Year 2 will be $44 million.
Federal Mediator Scot Beckenbaugh met with both sides as the negotiations lasted until middle ground could finally be established and an agreement could be reached which would allow for the NHL to begin play on January 19th. The tentative plan is for the original schedules being completely scrapped with reserved arena dates being kept. There will be no interconference play. All Western Conference Teams will play each other within their division seven times and have a home and home with teams outside of their division. Eastern Conference Teams of course will do the same. The only East-West Conference games that will be seen this season will be in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Commissioner Gary Bettman met with the press early Sunday Morning. “We have reached an agreement on the framework of a new collective bargaining agreement. I want to thank Don Fehr. We still have more work to do, but it’s good to be at this point.”**
More details will be made available as this story develops. One week training camps are slated to begin next Saturday, January 12th…
**source TSN