NHL lockout in the offing after talks adjourned

By Raleigh McPherson

NEW YORK (TheSportsNext) September 2, 2012: The NHL lockout is in the offing after officials of National Hockey League and NHL Players Association decided to adjourn contract negotiations after discussing an elusive deal for less than two hours on Saturday.

The NHL officials and NHLPA representatives discussed many options to avoid the NHL lockout but both sides failed to reach an agreement and with no schedule was issued for any further negotiations the NHL fans are left to believe the unbelievable as the NHL new season is approaching fast.

Saturday’s meeting was the third in four days and with only two weeks left in expiration of the current collective bargaining agreement the two sides are hoping to hold next round of talks at anytime to finish the disagreement.

And with the ongoing tussle between the NHL and the NHLPA, a lockout is all anybody can predict as NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has already made it clear that the NHL will go into lockout if new deal is not finalized by September 15, 2012.

The NHL’s fresh season is scheduled to start in October, 2012 and if the NHL and NHPLA failed to strike a deal within the stipulated time, the NHL season would be either delayed or lost for the second time in eight years. It is merit mentioning here that the last time a full NHL season was lost due to a labor dispute was in 2004-2005.

Under the current NHL agreement, the NHL players receive 57 percent of the total NHL revenues and the National Hockey League authorities want this share to be decreased under the new deal and this has been the main point of contention in the talks between the authorities and the players.

As per the latest NHL proposal, the NHL players have been offered 46 percent of the hockey-related revenues for a period of six years, which is 3 percent more than the previously offered deal which promised 43 percent revenues to the players.

However, the strings attached to the improved revenue share is still keeping NHL players from accepting the deal as they are not feeling good about accepting limits on free agency and an end to salary arbitration.

St. Louis Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk expressed exactly how the NHLPA thinks about the latest offer when he posted on his official Twitter account, “Really disappointing to hear the NHL's reaction today. #theplayers put forward another great solution only for it to be brushed aside".