***Official*** NHL Lockout news thread ***Confirmed***

[Aquaman]

Roundup of expected rule changes

Canadian Press
7/21/2005 7:02:40 PM

TORONTO (CP) - The NHL's relaunch will officially get started Friday with the announcement of new rule changes meant to open up the game.

Colin Campbell, the NHL's director of operations, met with the newly created competition committee Tuesday to nail down a final list of recommendations for owners to vote on Friday. The original 13-point memo sent out to GMs on June 29 has been whittled down somewhat.

"It was revised a little bit," Campbell said Thursday. "The board of governors now have it in their hands."

Campbell would not disclose what was on the final list but here are some of the changes that are expected:

- Allowing the two-line pass (no red line) like international hockey;

- Reduction in goalie equipment;

- Using the AHL crease and limits on goaltender puck handling;

- No tie games; using a penalty shootout after overtime;

- No-touch icing;

- Bringing back tag-up offside;

- Move nets back two feet towards end boards.

No longer on the list, it is believed, is the plan to increase playoff participation to 20 teams from 16. That's going to be reconsidered next year but given the NHL's plan to take a break for the Turin Olympics it doesn't seem to make sense to make the season longer this year. The original idea of going to 20 teams would have seen an extra mini-playoff round with a best-of-three series in each conference between the seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th-ranked teams.

Campbell has garnered feedback from the league's GMs and combined those thoughts with Tuesday's meeting with the committee. Friday's announcement culminates a long process that first began in February 2004 in Henderson, Nev., when some of these rules changes where first brought up. Brendan Shanahan's hockey summit last December also had a major impact, as did the GMs' meeting in Detroit in April.

"We don't want to make changes we're going to have to change back," said Shanahan, a member of the competition committee.

Shanahan also said there will be a determined attempt to penalize obstruction.

"There is once and for all, a commitment by everybody, players and coaches, to go to zero tolerance," he said.

The reduction in goalie equipment, meanwhile, will no doubt be a hot button topic all season long. Several netminders took a look at the new equipment at the end of Thursday's ratification meeting.

"I'm only getting my new pads in late August because my company is having problems getting them out," said Los Angeles Kings goalie Mathieu Garon. " But I spoke to other goalies who tried out the new 11-inch pads and they said after a couple of weeks you don't feel a difference."

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[Aquaman]

New Beginning for NHL

TSN.ca Staff
7/22/2005 11:18:41 AM

National Hockey League owners are expected to follow the lead set by the players on Thursday, ratifying the new collective bargaining agreement and officially ending the over 300 day lockout.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman all but confirmed the expected rubber stamp yesterday, appearing at a news conference with NHLPA boss Bob Goodenow after the players overwhelmingly accepted the deal.

Bettman called the agreement "wonderful" for all concerned, adding it was "the type of agreement that we think a professional sports league like ours can thrive under for everyone's benefit because we are true economic partners, true partners in the game, sharing fairly. And that's always been our goal and objective."

Goodenow was more muted, saying time will tell. But he was able to find some positives, saying the complicated deal had "player-friendly aspects."

The deal will see NHL hockey return this fall under a drastically new financial landscape which includes hard salary cap of around $39 million per team with teams required to spend at least $21.5 million on player salaries. Players will receive 54 percent of league revenues, which are projected to be about $1.7 billion for the 2005-06 season.

The owners are also expected to unveil a "new look" NHL, which includes everything from rule changes aimed at opening up the game and increasing scoring to a redesigned NHL logo.

NHL director of operations Colin Campbell met with the newly created competition committee on Tuesday to finalize a list of recommendations for owners to vote on Friday.

When it comes to the game on the ice it's expected the red line will be eliminated, the width of the blue lines will be increased, no-touch icing, goaltender pads will be downsized and goalies will be limited in where they can play the puck. There is also expected to be another crackdown on obstruction and shootouts will be introduced to decide ties.

A recommendation to increase the number of teams in the playoffs is also believed to be among the proposed changes, but it is unlikely to happen for next season.

Also on tap for today is the NHL Draft Lottery, which will give all 30 NHL teams a chance at the number one draft pick for the first time ever in league history. The weighted lottery will see Buffalo, Columbus, Pittsburgh and the New York Rangers with the best chance of winning the number one pick.

Calgary and Edmonton have the best chance among the Canadian teams with two balls among the 48 balls available to be drawn. Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver will have just one chance of winning the first overall pick.

The prize for finishing with the first overall pick is Sydney Crosby, the most anticipated prospect to come out of junior since Mario Lemieux entered the NHL in 1984. Crosby registered 66 goals and 102 assists in 62 games last season for the Rimouski Oceanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Crosby added 20 goals and 22 assists in 42 playoff games.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[Aquaman]

McKenzie: Goodenow not going anywhere

Bob McKenzie
7/22/2005

On Thursday, NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow sent a message to everyone, saying he likes his job and has a contract and plans to continue doing his job. So if there are people within the NHLPA who don't want Goodenow to lead them, they better organize themselves and go straight at him because he sent a message that he's not going anywhere.

That's what we were all waiting to see. What kind of mood would Goodenow be in? Would it be Bombastic Bob? Would it be Bitter Bob? In fact, it was a very cagey, diplomatic and gracious Bob in terms of his dealings with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and virtually everyone else at the news conference.

Appearances can be deceiving sometimes and we don't really know what's going on internally at the NHLPA right now but we've heard some talk within the NHLPA that maybe they would do well to have someone else who is not a wartime leader who can form that partnership with Gary Bettman going forward.

---

We talked about linkage being the centrepiece of this deal for the owners and that's why they like it so much. The owners know that no matter what, they are not going to spend more than 54% of the designated hockey revenue on player costs. That's great for the owners.

From the players' perspective, they've decided to live with the 54%. But to ensure that the 54% figure is met, every single paycheque they receive will have 4% less than it otherwise would. That 4% goes into an escrow account until the NHL and NHLPA can jointly calculate the revenue and what percentage of that was spent on player costs. If more than 54% was spent, the money in the escrow account goes to the owners and the players never see it. And that escrow number gets adjusted three or four times over the course of the year.

The worst thing that could happen for the NHLPA would be for every team in the NHL to spend close to the $39 million salary cap because there is no way revenues will jump up that much to correspond. Both sides want an average payroll of around $32 million, which is part way between the $21.5 million salary floor and $39 million cap. If it's over that, there's a good chance the players will lose more than the 4% they're putting in at the start.

However, this is not a terrible deal for the players. Yes, they took a huge economic hit but most of them can afford it. From the entry level system to arbitration to the liberalized free agency, there a lot of good things in it for the players. There are some agents that are having difficulties with elements like the minor league salary level but most playuers will be able to live quite nicely on this deal.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[Aquaman]

Goodenow steps down from NHLPA post

TSN.ca Staff
7/28/2005 12:11:29 PM

Bob Goodenow today advised the National Hockey League Players' Association that he would step down as its Executive Director and General Counsel.

The decision followed discussions between Goodenow and members of the Executive Committee about the organization's future.

"With the conclusion of the negotiations and the ratification of the new agreement, the parties concur that this is an appropriate action for the future," said Goodenow. "I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to serve the Players over the past 15 years and to have had the support of a tremendous staff at the NHLPA. I wish the Players every success under the new CBA."

Today, the NHLPA named Ted Saskin, its Senior Director of Business Affairs and Licensing, to succeed Mr. Goodenow as Executive Director and General Counsel. "I have enjoyed working closely with Bob for the Players over the last 15 years. I know how dedicated Bob has been to the Players. I plan to continue to serve them by building on the strong base that Bob created at the NHLPA."

Trevor Linden, the President of the NHLPA, said "Every NHL Player has benefited enormously from Bob's leadership and dedication. He has been a tireless advocate for the Players and he dramatically improved the Players' situation in every respect. Bob built the NHLPA into a first class organization and we are all very grateful to him. Ted has worked closely with Bob every step of the way and has done an excellent job for the Players in our recently concluded CBA negotiations. We have every confidence that he will be able to lead our Association well in the years to come."

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[Aquaman]

22 more days till the pucks drop

Go Canucks Go!!!

Cheers,
Aquaman