Another NHL lockout? Fans say NO!

With the NHL Players Association introducing a new executive director and extending the current collective bargaining agreement until the end of the 2011/2012 season, one has to wonder if hockey fans can expect another battle and possibly a lockout.

Even though players are now raking in more dough than ever, the current CBA obviously works for both sides. The fact that teams have been allowed to spend more on player salaries each year not only says players are reaping the benefits, but also that NHL revenues have gone up each year since the current CBA was ratified in 2005.

So after six years under the current CBA, which we all had to pay for with a long winter without hockey, fans are starting to get squeamish once again with rhetoric building on both sides.

One of the clear indicators that the NHLPA is gearing up for a fight in the next round of negotiations is the hiring of former Major League Baseball Players Association executive director, Donald Fehr.

This is a man with a reputation of being a rugged, hardnosed negotiator and he is also credited for skyrocketing salaries in the MLB. When he was leader of the MLBPA from 1983 to 2009, we all watched in amazement as player salaries shot from an average $289,000 USD to over $3 million USD.

Fehr was also heralded by some for his negotiation skills when the MLB demanded a salary cap. However, he won that battle, as team payrolls and player salaries continue to rise to astronomical heights (see Alex Rodriguez at $275 million over 10 years). In essence, Fehr has been a major factor in why the MLB is the way it is today. The fact that he is now leading the NHLPA causes puck junkies everywhere to cringe.

After the New Jersey Devils mortgaged part of their future to acquire the dynamic Ilya Kovalchuck from the Atlanta Thrashers last season, general manager Lou Lamoriello took a big gamble and signed Kovalchuk to a monstrous 17-year contract at a cost of over $100 million.

With a CBA that was supposed to put an end to these mammoth contracts, the NHL obviously failed and they are happening more and more. As teams scramble to hold on to their assets in a competitive league, players are now richer than ever.
For example, mega-star Alex Ovechkin’s long-term deal with the Washington Capitals at 13 years and $123 million and the enigmatic Vincent Lecavalier signing in Tampa Bay for 11 years and $85 million.

With Fehr at the helm for the players association, can we expect more of these types of deals in future? Probably so, as the NHLPA is not expected to “lay down” in these negotiations as many believe they did in 2005.

When it comes down to it, hockey fans all over can agree that these next two years will be somewhat nerve-racking. Both sides will be jockeying for support and leverage, and the rhetoric will start to heat up as 2012 comes closer.

After the lost season in 2005 there is little reason to believe that the NHL would consider locking out the players for the second time in a decade with so much at stake. Since the lockout, revenues have gone up, along with attendance (in most NHL arenas), and interest in the game has started to pick up in the United States and overseas.

With whispers of a major TV deal in the United States, both the NHL and the NHLPA would be wise to not mess with what little steam they have in the US markets. In Canada the game will always be loved regardless, but in the United States, another lockout is not worth taking the risk.