Time runs down for NHL owners, players to save season
NEW YORK – One more day, one final offer, and one last chance to save the hockey season.
The NHL made a take-it-or-leave-it pitch of a $42.5 million cap to the players’ association Tuesday night, just hours before hockey was set to be canceled altogether. But the union responded with a counteroffer of a $49 million salary cap that was rejected by the league.
A few hours after the league’s final offer, the union lowered its cap proposal from $52 million. But the NHL said it was still too high.
“If every team spent to the $49 million … total player compensation would exceed what we spent last season,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in his second letter of the day to NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow. “We cannot afford your proposal.”
On Monday, the players’ association said for the first time it would accept a salary cap once the NHL dropped its demand that league revenues be linked to player costs.
“We wish that the NHL had offered a ‘no linkage’ proposal before yesterday so that negotiations in that arena could have commenced sooner,” Goodenow said in a letter to Bettman. “However, we recognize that they did not and we agree that time is short.”
The league had bumped its salary-cap offer up from $40 million and gave the union until 11 a.m. today to accept. Bettman said if the offer was rejected, the season would be canceled two hours later, according to a letter he sent to Goodenow.
In his first letter, Bettman said there was no time or flexibility for bargaining.
“This offer is not an invitation to begin negotiations – it’s too late for that,” Bettman said. “This is our last effort to make a deal that’s fair to the players and one that the clubs (hopefully) can afford. We have no more flexibility and there is no time for further negotiation.”
In the union’s counteroffer, teams would still be allowed to spend up to 10 percent higher than the threshold, but they would only be able to do it twice during the six years of the deal and would be subject to a luxury tax on anything higher than $40 million.
The union’s offer would also require the 30 teams to have a minimum payroll of $25 million, but clubs would be allowed to drop no more than 10 percent less than the total twice during the deal.
Bettman scheduled a news conference today with the intention of announcing that there wouldn’t be any hockey until at least next fall.
“Hopefully, the press conference will not be necessary,” Bettman said.
That shifted the pressure to the players, some of whom stated they were surprised that the union accepted a salary cap this late in the game.
“We probably could’ve gotten this thing done in the summertime,” Chicago forward Matthew Barnaby said. “I’m just a little disappointed that it went this far to play poker and to have someone call your bluff.”