Post by Yar on Feb 16, 2005 14:08:42 GMT -5
Game over: NHL cancels season
WebPosted Wed, 16 Feb 2005 11:21:13 EST
For the first time in 87 years, the Stanley Cup will not be awarded.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman cancelled the 2004-05 season on Wednesday. (CP File Photo)
National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman shut down the 2004-05 season Wednesday after a series of 11th-hour offers and counter-proposals by the NHL and the Players' Association failed to produce a new collective bargaining agreement.
"When I stood before you in September, I said NHL teams would not play again until our economic problems had been solved," Bettman said in a prepared statement.
"As I stand before you today, it is my sad duty to announce that because that solution has not yet been attained, it no longer is practical to conduct even an abbreviated season. Accordingly, I have no choice but to announce the formal cancellation of play for 2004-05."
Neither the Great Depression, nor two World Wars could prevent the NHL from awarding the Stanley Cup, but with the league and the NHLPA still divided over the issue of a salary cap, Lord Stanley's trophy will not be contested for the first time since 1919 when a Spanish flu epidemic wiped out the finals.
Not only that, but Bettman's announcement means the NHL must suffer the indignity of becoming the first of North America's four major professional sports leagues to lose an entire regular season because of a labour dispute.
The 1995 NHL lockout ended after 103 days when the players accepted a last-ditch offer following 48 hours of intense negotiations. A 48-game season followed.
Bettman refused to budge this time after giving the union until 11 a.m. ET Wednesday to accept a so-called final offer, which featured a $42.5 million US per team salary cap. The league had already moved from Monday's position of a firm $40 million cap.
Wednesday's deadline passed without any word if the league and players were any closer to breaking the labour stalemate.
The last offer by the NHLPA was $49 million per team with a luxury tax component that the NHL swiftly turned down in less than an hour Tuesday evening.
Along with the $49 million cap, the NHLPA restructured the exception provision, so that teams can spend over the cap twice during the six-year term and "for up to only 10 per cent over the limit of $49 million (to $53.9 million), at the tax rate of 150 per cent."
The union also proposed that the rest of the luxury tax would increase like this: 25 per cent on $40 million-$43 million, 50 per cent on $43 million-$46 million and 75 per cent from $46 million-$49 million. The deal also included a minimum payroll of $25 million.
During the 2003-04 season, 13 teams had payrolls in excess of $42 million.
The first legitimate signs of a possible deal came late Monday night when both sides made offers and huge concessions.
After five months of butting heads with the union, the NHL came off its stance of linking player costs and revenues, proposing a $40 million salary cap without linkage.
The NHLPA, steadfastly opposed to any form of a cap, countered with a $52 million salary cap offer that was rejected. Also included was a 24-per-cent rollback on player salaries that was part of the union's Dec. 9 proposal.
A Sunday meeting between the NHL's owners, players and mediators with the U.S. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) in Washington, D.C. yielded little progress in the effort to save the hockey season.
As well, several players reportedly made a push, expressing their concerns to NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow and NHL executive vice-president Bill Daly.
Last Wednesday, Goodenow said it "would be very daunting" to expect a season.
The next day, Daly said the league would have to begin exploring alternatives in the event of a cancelled season, including the use of replacement players to start the 2005-06 season.
Had an agreement been reached, there were plans for a 28-game schedule with each team playing a home-and-home series against its conference rivals. The regular 16-game playoff format wouldn't have been affected.