When the NHLPA rejected the NHL’s proposed realignment and scheduling changes a few weeks back, they released some PR BS (we’ll see lots of that in the coming months) about how the players were concerned about the potential travel burdens and playoff fairness.
While those may be legitimate gripes, make no mistake about it, this was the first shot in the 2012 labour battle.
The NHL wants something. To make it look like they’re working harmoniously with the players, they offered the NHLPA the opportunity to review the proposal. I suspect the NHL presumed it would be a formality. But there are no formalities in the coming war.
The NHL will not get anything for free. The players are correctly viewing this as a potential bargaining chip, and they were right to not concede the point this early.
There are many other topics that are going to come up over the next few months. None of them will be settled until a new CBA is in place.
- Olympic Involvement
- Safety Protocols
- Realignment
- Expansion/Contraction
- Salary Cap/Floor
- Shooutout/Overtime Rules
Most of us sitting at home today have a reasonable approximation of what the final solution will look like, so let’s hope that the NHL/NHLPA are smart enough to not throw another season down the drains.
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