The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The NHL and the NHL Players Association will meet today for the first time since May 25, when the two sides had a brief discussion during the Stanley Cup final in Tampa Bay. The current collective bargaining agreement will run out on September 15 if a new deal cannot be reached, in which case a lockout would go into effect until a new deal is formed. Both Bob Goodenow, executive director of the NHLPA, and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman are expected at today's meeting at the NHL head office in New York. Experts fear that hockey fans will be waiting a long time for the upcoming NHL season to begin, looking towards January or later as a possible date for the opening face off. The dividing issue is the fact that the NHLPA refuses to consider any form of salary cap or guaranteed revenue for the owners. Owners want an agreement that insures that expenses will be lower than revenues. The league claims that in 2002-03, a total of 75 per cent of revenues were used to pay players, and only 25 per cent remained to pay for coaches, travel, building costs, marketing and advertising. The players claim to have proposed a system that will rectify the situation using luxury tax, revenue sharing and a one-time 5 per cent roll back and changes to the entry-level salaries.
