Wednesday, August 29, 2012

NHL answers NHLPA proposal

Despite morning talks which were brief and failed to be fruitful, the National Hockey League on Tuesday did manage to respond to the NHLPA's alternate proposal of last week.

The centerpiece of the answer revolves around the percentage of hockey-related revenues the players should receive over the life of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. From Tuesday night's story on NHL.com:

"Commissioner Bettman has said previously the owners view the distribution of hockey-related revenue as the most important part of the economic component of the new CBA.
Under the expiring CBA, the players receive 57 percent of the hockey-related revenues. The NHL's initial proposal, made on July 13, called for the players' share of HRR to be reduced to 46 percent.
While Commissioner Bettman would not reveal the details of the proposal Tuesday, he said it was "a significant proposal with meaningful movement."

NHLPA Executive Director Donald Fehr said the Union would spend Tuesday evening analyzing the counter proposal. Fehr said the plan was for the Union to work into Wednesday morning before coming back to the NHL offices for further negotiations Wednesday afternoon.

"It takes some time to review proposals, to analyze them, to make sure you understand them and to formulate an appropriate response to the proposal that's made," Fehr said. "Certainly, at this stage of the negotiations, you don't want to do that before you're ready and before you're sure that you understand it. But, I do expect, as of today at least, that we'll be meeting again [Wednesday] afternoon."

There are 17 days remaining until the current CBA expires.

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