There is not enough wood or steel - or ice! - to build a bridge over the major gap between the National Hockey League and its Players’ Association! You know the story by now : players aren’t happy that the NHL has reportedly asked for players to defer 20% of their salaries while escrow increases to 25%. And this despite the fact that both sides agreed to a new six-year collective bargaining agreement before the league’s return to play over the summer that accounted for the expected financial repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic. The union agreed to 10% salary deferrals with escrow capping at 20%. That money was agreed to be paid in three equal, interest-free instalments in October 2022, 2023, 2024.
While fans might be wanting to see players make some concessions to get the ball rolling - the puck, whatever - for the 2021 season, Pierre LeBrun claims that players are sticking to their guns. Here is how he explained it last night on Insider Trading on TSN:
“It’s important to note that at this hour the NHLPA has really stuck to its guns that it hasn’t agreed to anything beyond the terms already negotiated four or five months ago and the MOU (memorandum of understanding) and the CBA extension. That could change, but at this point they are very much in their resolve in believing that the NHL should honor those terms. Now in the meantime, the NHLPA had a return to play committee call and they’d been holding them regularly. But certainly, some growing frustration. One member of that committee telling me today that, you know, he’s frustrated by the lack of urgency that he perceives from the NHL side. That this should be the time that both sides firm up plans for the season. And that’s not happening because of this financial stalemate. So we’ll see where this goes but certainly the players feel that time is being wasted right now.”
We know players are willing to see the 2021 season get cancelled entirely, however, what tells us they’re not going to strike when things don’t go their way moving forward?
Nothing has been decided on what the next season could look like, though an all-Canadian division appears likely given the country’s current border and travel restrictions.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr hadn’t spoken to each other from Nov. 19 through at least Nov. 25, but it seems like negotiations could get going again soon…
But are players too frustrated to even make concessions at this point?
