Here's a look at some key dates in the NHL CBA negotiations,
lockout, cancellation of the 2004-05 season and playoffs, and the eventual
agreement between the two sides.
| October 1, 2003 |
| NHL and NHLPA hold meeting in Toronto. Players offer a five percent
salary rollback along with a luxury tax based system. League counters
with a salary cap system with the maximum salary set at $31 million. |
| February 12, 2004 |
| Former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, who was hired by
the NHL, releases a report that shows the NHL lost $273 million in
2002-03. The NHLPA disputes the findings of the report saying it is
based on flawed information provided by the league. |
| May 19, 2004 |
| The NHL signs a new U.S. broadcast television deal with NBC that is
much different than the previous deal with ABC/ESPN that paid out $600
million over five years. There is no up front money for the league in
the NBC arrangement. Instead, it is a revenue sharing deal similar to
the one the network has with the Arena Football League. |
| July 21, 2004 |
| NHL presents "six concepts" for a new CBA during a meeting with the
NHLPA. The PA is skeptical of the concepts but asks for more time to
study certain elements of them. |
| August 4, 2004 |
| NHLPA officially rejects the six concepts saying they all begin and
end with a salary cap. |
| August 17 and August
25-26, 2004 |
| Two sides meet. NHLPA insists on going over league finances on a
team-by-team basis. PA calls it a "healthy dialogue" while the NHL says
it is "irrelevant to the process." |
| August 31, September 1-2,
2004 |
| The two sides meet for close to 20 hours during the World Cup. No
progress is reported. |
| September 9, 2004 |
| NHLPA makes proposal that
again features a five per cent salary rollback
along with a luxury tax, changes to entry-level contracts and revenue
sharing. The NHL rejects it. |
| September 15, 2004 |
| NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman holds a meeting with the Board of
Governors and then announces the NHL lockout, which will begin as the
CBA expires at midnight. |
| October 13, 2004 |
| Seven regular season openers, including defending Stanley Cup
Champion Tampa Bay's home opener against Philadelphia, are not played
due to the lockout. |
| November 2, 2004 |
| After some players offered different views than the NHLPA's official
stance, the PA meets with about 70 players and 30 team representatives
in Toronto. The players say they are more united than ever. |
| November 3, 2004 |
| NHL cancels 2005 All-Star Game, which was scheduled for Atlanta in
February. |
| December 2, 2004 |
| NHLPA announces that it has invited the NHL back to the negotiating
table. |
| December 9, 2004 |
| The NHLPA makes a new proposal including a surprising a 24 percent
rollback on all existing contracts. The PA stiffens its previous offer
on the luxury tax and offers changes to
the entry-level system,
qualifying offers, salary arbitration. The league promises to respond
the following week. |
| December 13, 2004 |
| One day before the league and NHLPA are scheduled to meet, an NHL
memo is leaked to TSN. The memo says the league will reject the players'
December 9 proposal. |
| December 14, 2004 |
| The NHL rejects the players' proposal and offers another salary cap
based system. The system calls for a team payroll range of $34.6 million
to $38.6 million. Players would get 54 percent of league revenues. The
league plan also restructures the players' 24 percent rollback to take
more money from higher paid players and calls for eliminating salary
arbitration. The NHLPA immediately rejects the NHL's proposal. |
| December 22, 2004 |
| League confirms it has scheduled a Board of Governors meeting for
January 14. There is speculation season could be canceled at that time. |
| January 6, 2005 |
| League cancels Board of Governors meeting because of no progress in
the negotiations. |
| January 19-20, 2005 |
| The NHL and NHLPA hold small group meetings in both Chicago and
Toronto without the direct involvement of either NHL commissioner Gary
Bettman and NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow. Both sides indicate
little progress has been made. |
| January 26-27, 2005 |
| Small group meetings continue in Toronto and New York. League
presents new salary cap concepts with a team payroll range of $32
million to $42 million, but it does not include a luxury tax.
NHLPA is not impressed. There is still a link between payrolls and
revenues that would give players 54 percent of the revenue pie. |
| February 2, 2005 |
| NHL presents its latest proposal, which includes team payrolls at
$32 million to $42 million and a stipulation that team payrolls would be
linked to revenues at a rate of 54%. The NHLPA rejects the proposal and
calls for a meeting involving NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA
executive director Bob Goodenow. |
| February 3-4, 2005 |
| Two sides meet for close to 13 hours over a two day span. Bob
Goodenow of the NHLPA says no progress has been made. The NHL's Bill
Daly disagrees, saying the talks were "constructive." |
| February 9, 2005 |
| Gary Bettman and Bill Daly present the NHLPA with a compromise offer
that would see the new CBA start with the NHLPA's December 9 proposal
and then switch over to the NHL's February 2 proposal if the NHLPA's
offer fails to meet certain standards. NHLPA quickly rejects the offer.
Bettman sets a deadline that the two sides have to be drafting a new CBA
by the weekend or the season will be canceled. |
| February 10, 2005 |
| The two sides meet once again, but the meeting lasts about three
hours. No progress is made and both sides head their separate ways. |
| February 13, 2005 |
| The two sides meet in Washington, D.C. at the request of the Federal
Mediation and Conciliation Service. The talks last for a little more
than five hours, but no progress is reported. |
| February 14, 2005 |
| NHL commissioner Gary Bettman calls a February 16 news conference as
the two sides meet in Niagara Falls, New York in a last ditch effort to
reach an agreement and save the season. |
| February 15, 2005 |
| In an early morning news release the NHLPA announces both sides have
made major concessions. The PA has proposed an "upper payroll limit" at
$52 million with some exceptions and that the league, which has dropped
its insistence on linking overall player costs to league-wide revenues,
has offered a $40 million cap. Later in the day the league makes a
final, non-negotiable offer of a $42.5 million salary cap with no link
between player costs and league-wide revenues. The players reject the
league's offer and counter with a $49 million salary cap with
exceptions. The league rejects the NHLPA's counter-offer. |
| February 16, 2005 |
| NHL commissioner Gary Bettman officially cancels the 2004-05 season. |
| February 18, 2005 |
| Amid rumors that a settlement may have been reached to "uncancel"
the season, the NHL and NHLPA announce they will meet in New York the
next day. |
| February 19, 2005 |
| The New York meeting accomplished nothing and all hopes for
resurrecting the season were officially dashed. |
| March 1, 2005 |
| Both sides hold separate meetings. The players say they are united
and their resolve is strong. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman says he hopes
to negotiate with players but indicates the league could turn to
replacement players to open the season on time. |
| March 11, 2005 |
| The two sides meet for about an hour-and-a-half in Toronto and say
they will meet again next week. |
| March 17, 2005 |
| At a meeting in New York the league makes two proposals. One is a
flat $37.5 million salary cap without linkage to league revenues. The
other is a system where players would receive 54 percent of league
revenues. |
| March 24, 2005 |
| The NHL cancels the Entry Draft events scheduled for June 25-26 in
Ottawa. |
| March 25, 2005 |
| The NHL files an unfair labor practice charge with
the National Labor Relations Board, claiming the NHLPA is threatening to
revoke lockout pay from players who serve as replacement players in
2005-06. |
| April 4, 2005 |
| The two sides meet in Toronto. The NHLPA rejects the league's two
offers from March 17 and the players offer a team salary cap of $50
million with a floor of $30 million. The two sides then discuss
"concepts' for moving the process forward. |
| April 19, 2005 |
| The two sides meet and discuss a "hybrid concept" of a salary cap.
The concept, which was proposed by the NHLPA, would tie a salary cap to
league revenues. If revenues go up, the cap would go up. If the cap goes
down, the cap would decrease. The two sides agree to meet more often to
hammer out a deal. |
| April 20, 2005 |
| After an NHL Board of Governors meeting, commissioner Gary Bettman
said the 2005-06 season will not start on time if there is no new CBA
agreement with the NHLPA. That eliminates the prospect of replacement
players at least as a way to start the season on time. |
| May 6, 2005 |
| The NHL makes a new proposal to the players with new salary cap
numbers and a revised luxury tax system. |
| May 10, 2005 |
| The two sides begin the tedious task of trying to define revenues. |
| May 27, 2005 |
| As the league and NHLPA continue to negotiate, ESPN announces it
will decline its $60 million option to carry the NHL in 2005-06. It
wants to negotiate a deal |
| May 31, 2005 |
| ESPN breaks off talks with the NHL on trying to negotiate a new
television deal. |
| June 8, 2005 |
| The Globe and Mail reports that the league and NHLPA have reached an
agreement on a salary-cap system. |
| July 13, 2005 |
| After a 301 days of the lockout, the two sides announce that they
have reached an agreement in principle on a new CBA. |
| July 21, 2005 |
| On the second day of a two-day NHLPA meeting, the players vote to
ratify the new CBA. |
| July 22, 2005 |
| The NHL Board of Governors ratifies the new CBA, officially ending
the lockout that began on September 15, 2004. |
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