NHL negotiates lockout

BUTTERFIELD sports editor

The current National Hockey League Lockout has left the season two months behind the regular starting date of October 11, 2012 to December 1, 2012. 327 games have already been cancelled and only 66 games will be played per team, 990 total games throughout the entire season.

Pierre LeBrun who covers the NHL on ESPN.com says that “The League needs to legitimately honor their codes and take care of existing players” which is what the NHL is trying to do.

The owners of the teams and NHL board members are talking about a revenue sharing among teams in the League; meaning that specific teams do not get direct money when their logo is purchased but rather it is split up among all teams in the NHL. The individual player’s revenue would change from 57 percent to 46.

Another upcoming change is that all new players will have a maximum of 5 years in a signed contract. Signing bonuses will be eliminated and a uniform salary for each year of the contract will be put into play, eliminating the “front-loading” of contracts.

Avid hockey fan Zach Capco said “the lockout makes me feel sad and I miss hockey. The season is shortened so they’re losing money either way but I think the teams and players should be the same. The players need to stop being so greedy. The game isn’t the most popular in the world so the revenue is not going to be top dollar so the players need to be able to understand that the owners are running a business and need to make profit.”

As the season gets closer, fans are becoming more anxious as well as the players and coaches. The opening season shall show us who is top in the league.