2004–05 NHL lockout

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2004–05 NHL lockout
DateSeptember 16, 2004 – July 22, 2005
(10 months and 6 days)
Location
Caused by
  • Expiration of the 1995 NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement
  • Failure to reach a new collective bargaining agreement ahead of the 2004–05 season
  • 76% of the NHL clubs' revenues were spent on team salaries prior to the end of the 2003–04 season due to the lack of a salary cap
Goals
  • Salary cap
  • Revenue sharing
  • Luxury taxes
Resulted in
  • 2004–05 NHL season cancelled on February 16, 2005
  • NHL and NHLPA reach an agreement to end the lockout on July 13
  • New eight-year collective bargaining agreement signed on July 22
  • NHL becomes last of the four major North American professional sports leagues to adopt a salary cap or luxury tax
  • Team salary revenues reduced from 76% to 54%
  • Rule changes instituted for regular season games starting in the
    shootout
  • Bob Goodenow resigns as executive director
Parties
National Hockey League Players Association
(NHLPA)
Lead figures

Bob Goodenow (executive director)

Gary Bettman (commissioner)
Bill Daly (lead negotiator)

The 2004–05 NHL lockout was a labor lockout that resulted in the cancellation of the National Hockey League (NHL) season, which would have been its 88th season of play.[1]

The main dispute was the league's desire to implement a

labor union, who proposed an alternative system of revenue sharing
.

Attempts at collective bargaining before the season began were unsuccessful. The lockout was initiated on September 16, 2004, one day after the expiration of the existing collective bargaining agreement (CBA), which itself had been the result of the 1994–95 lockout. During the lockout, further attempts to negotiate a new CBA floundered, with neither side willing to back down, and this led to the entire season being canceled on February 16, 2005. The NHL and NHLPA negotiating teams finally reached an agreement on July 13, 2005, with the lockout officially ending nine days later on July 22, after ratification by the NHL team owners and NHLPA members. The resulting CBA included both a salary cap and revenue sharing.

The lockout had lasted 10 months and 6 days, covering 1,230 unplayed games. As a result, the

postseason was canceled (after the 1994–95 MLB strike).[3]
Large numbers of NHL players elected to play in European leagues during the lockout.

Issues

The NHL, led by

Commissioner Gary Bettman, attempted to convince the players to accept a salary structure linking player salaries to league revenues, guaranteeing the clubs what the league called cost certainty.[4] According to an NHL-commissioned report prepared by former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Arthur Levitt, prior to 2004–05, NHL clubs spent about 76 percent of their gross revenues on players' salaries – a figure far higher than those in other North American sports – and collectively lost US$273 million during the 2002–03 season
.

On July 20, 2004, the league presented the NHLPA with six concepts to achieve cost certainty.[5] These concepts are believed to have included a hard, or inflexible, salary cap similar to the one used in the National Football League, a soft salary cap with some capped exceptions similar to the one used in the National Basketball Association, and a centralized salary negotiation system similar to that used in the Arena Football League and Major League Soccer: Bettman had earlier concluded that a luxury tax similar to the one used in Major League Baseball would not have satisfied the league's cost certainty objectives.[6] While most sports commentators saw Bettman's plan as reasonable, some critics pointed out that a hard salary cap without any revenue sharing was an attempt to gain the support of the big market teams (such as Toronto, Montreal, Detroit, the New York Rangers, Vancouver, and Philadelphia) that did not support Bettman during the 1994–95 lockout.

The NHLPA, under executive director

Forbes report that estimated the NHL's losses were less than half the amounts claimed by the league.[7]

Several players also criticized the contracts that overpaid unproven players: one example was the 2002 Bobby Holik contract, in which the New York Rangers signed him to five years for $45 million. After two years, his contract was bought out by the Rangers: according to Glen Sather, the Rangers' president, "In the new world we live in, Bobby was just paid too much".[8]

Although the NHL's numbers regarding financial losses were disputed, there was no question that several franchises were losing money: some had already declared bankruptcy, and others had held "fire sales" of franchise players, such as the Washington Capitals. Some small-market teams, such as the Pittsburgh Penguins and the remaining small-market Canadian teams, were actually hoping for a lockout, since those teams would make more money by losing a season.[9]

The league did not have large television revenues in the United States, so the NHL was reliant on attendance revenues far more than other leagues: after the lockout of the 2004–05 season, NHL teams made on average only $3 million from television revenues.[10] In addition, in May of the 2004–05 lockout, ESPN formally denied the option to show NHL games on the network due to low ratings in previous seasons.[11] Many NHL teams had low attendance totals in seasons preceding the lockout.

Negotiations

Prior to the lockout, the NHLPA had proposed a system in late 2003 that included revenue sharing, a luxury tax, a one-time 5% rollback in player salaries, and reforms to the league's entry level system. The league rejected this proposal point-blank, saying it essentially maintained the status quo in favor of the players.

Shortly before the lockout commenced on 16 September 2004, the NHLPA offered another proposal to the league, one that was believed to be similar to their earlier proposal. The league rejected the union's new offer, claiming the new proposal was worse than the one they rejected in 2003. At this point, negotiations stalled until early December, when the NHLPA made a highly anticipated proposal based on a luxury tax, increasing the proposed one-time rollback in players' salaries to 24%. The NHL rejected this offer, and put forward a counter-proposal that the union flatly rejected.

In late January 2005 - near what the hockey media believed to be the point of no return for the 2004–05 season - discussions were held by the negotiators from both sides, with Bettman and Goodenow not being invited.

The NHL was represented by Executive Vice President Bill Daly, outside counsel Bob Batterman, and NHL Board of Governors Chairman Harley Hotchkiss, who also co-owned the Calgary Flames. The NHLPA was represented by President Trevor Linden, Senior Director Ted Saskin, and associate counsel Ian Pulver. After four meetings, the sides remained deadlocked because of, according to Saskin, "significant philosophical differences."

Shortly after this series of meetings, Daly presented Saskin a proposal that the league believed made a number of concessions to the players, but was still based on a salary cap linked to revenues. The players' association rejected that proposal, saying that it was "not the basis for an agreement."[12]

After these negotiations failed, Bettman declared on February 9 that if the lockout was not resolved by that weekend, there would be no hope of saving the season. When talks broke off between the NHL and the NHLPA the next morning, there had been no progress in negotiations.

On February 14, the union offered to accept a $52 million salary cap under the condition that it was not linked to league revenues, to which the league proposed a counteroffer of a $40 million cap plus $2.2 million in benefits, which the players association rejected. The next day, Bettman sent Goodenow a letter with a final proposal of a $42.5 million cap plus $2.2 million in benefits, setting a deadline of 11:00 the next morning to accept or refuse the offer. The NHLPA presented a counter-offer involving a $49 million cap, which the league rejected.[13]

With no resolution by the 11:00 deadline, Bettman announced the cancellation of the 2004–05 season on February 16, 2005, making the NHL the first major professional sports league in North America to cancel an entire season because of a labor dispute: the announcement was to have come on February 14, but it was delayed because of the death of the patriarch of the Sutter hockey family four days prior, whose funeral was held on February 15. Two days after the cancellation announcement, The Hockey News reported that a deal with a $45 million cap had been reached "in principle" with the help of owners and former players Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux; both camps immediately denied this report. An emergency 6½-hour meeting took place the next day, but no agreement was reached, formalising the season's cancellation.

Bolstered by the thought of losing a second season to a labor dispute, the sides began meeting again in June, with many pundits believing the lockout would end on July 4, 2005. While that date eventually came and went, sources were reporting to media that marathon sessions were taking place. Indeed, the sides met again for ten consecutive days (July 4–13), and a deal was reached "in principle" (meaning the sides have agreed, but nothing is signed) on July 13.

According to reports, the July 12 session lasted through the night and until 6:00 on the morning of July 13, at which point the talks broke off for five hours, and resumed in time to complete the deal.

On July 21, the players association ratified the agreement with 87 percent of its members voting in favor; the 30 team owners unanimously approved it the next day, officially ending the 310-day lockout.

The salary cap would be adjusted each year to guarantee players 54% of total NHL revenues, and there would also be a salary floor. Player contracts are also

guaranteed. The players' share will increase if revenues rise to specific benchmarks, while revenue sharing will split a pool of money from the 10 highest-grossing teams among the bottom 15. There was a $39 million cap in place for the first year of the CBA.[14]

Effects of the lockout

The words "2004–05 Season Not Played" engraved on the Stanley Cup, acknowledging the canceled 2004–05 season

A Canadian public opinion poll conducted by Ipsos-Reid near the start of the lockout found that 52 percent of those polled blamed NHL players for the lockout, whereas 21 percent blamed the owners of NHL teams. Also hurting the NHLPA was the fact that its players had very visibly high salaries, which removed much sympathy from lower-to-middle class fans, with the NHLPA's cause being further harmed by Jeremy Roenick and several NHLPA executives making controversial statements that showed their disdain for owners and fans alike.[15]

During the lockout, a movement arose to free the Stanley Cup from the NHL.[16] By the original deed of Lord Stanley, the cup was a challenge cup open to the best amateur hockey team in Canada. Only since 1926 has it been exclusively competed for by NHL teams, and with the 2004–05 NHL season being cancelled, the group felt that the NHL had forfeited its right to award the Cup for the year. On February 7, 2006, a settlement was reached in which the trophy could be awarded to non-NHL teams should the league not operate for a season, although the NHL by that point was playing again.

Resolution

The loss of the 2004–05 season meant that there were no results on which to base the order of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. The league settled on a lottery system in which all teams had a weighted chance at the first pick, expected to be Sidney Crosby. The lottery was tilted so teams with fewer playoff appearances over the last three seasons and fewer number one overall picks over the last four seasons had a better chance of landing higher picks. The complete order was determined by the lottery, and the draft was conducted in a "snake" style, meaning in even rounds, the draft order was reversed. This system was an attempt to compromise between those who felt all teams should have had an equal chance at the first pick and those who felt only the weaker teams should have been in the running.

To ease the transition to the salary cap, teams were allowed one week to buy out players at two-thirds the cost of their remaining contract, which would not count against the salary cap. Bought out players could not re-sign with the same team.

Effect on NHL and NHLPA

NHLPA Executive Director and General Counsel Bob Goodenow, seen by many as the biggest villain in the lockout because of his hardline stance against a salary cap, resigned from his position five days after the agreement was ratified amid criticism from many of his constituents. He was replaced by Ted Saskin, formerly senior director of business affairs and licensing for the NHLPA. Saskin was officially named executive director of the NHLPA on November 25, 2005, after the players' vote of confidence was confirmed by accounting firm

PricewaterhouseCoopers
.

NHL Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer Bill Daly was promoted to deputy commissioner after the lockout. Both Saskin and Daly had played a key role in brokering the current agreement.

The lockout did help franchises better manage their finances and increase their value. Combined with finally receiving a stable national television rights deal in the United States with

financial problems since the lockout have been well-documented), New York Islanders, Dallas Stars, and Colorado Avalanche.[9]

Europe

The majority of players who agreed to play in other professional hockey leagues were playing in Europe. During 2004–05 season, 388 NHL players played in European leagues. The most popular countries were Russia, with 78 NHL players, Sweden, with 75 NHL players, the Czech Republic, with 51 NHL players, Finland, with 45 NHL players and Switzerland with 43 NHL players. In many cases, players who had originally begun their careers in Europe returned to those same teams for the lockout.

HC Kladno and then Avangard Omsk
. Morozov never returned to the NHL after 2004 (retiring from the KHL after the 2013–14 season), and Jagr would later play three additional seasons with Avangard.

Other Czech players returned to the

).

Swiss

of the Swiss league. This lockout was a major benefit for Swiss ice hockey.

Swedish superstar

Rogers Sportsnet
in Canada.

Finnish

Pelicans, Brian Campbell who played for Jokerit and Hal Gill who played for Lukko. SM-liiga featured three top goaltenders as Dwayne Roloson played for Lukko, Tomas Vokoun played for HIFK and Tim Thomas (who had had three previous stints in the SM-liiga) played for Jokerit, leading his team to the championship finals and being awarded the league's most valuable player award. Finnish Mestis also featured NHL talent when Sami Kapanen and Kimmo Timonen played for KalPa. Timonen and Kapanen partially owned the team and the duo was joined by Adam Hall
who also played for KalPa during the lockout.

Erik Cole, Olaf Kolzig, and Nathan Dempsey were among the notable players to go to Germany to play in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga.

Fair share of

).

Karlis Skrastins and Sergei Zholtok and the third was American Darby Hendrickson
, who was a close friend of Zholtok. After Zholtok died due to a heart condition, Hendrickson left the club, so that only Skrastins finished the season with the club.

A number of NHL players also went to Great Britain. In the

. In 2008, McCallister signed for the Vipers for a second time.

Another notable move came from Karl Dykhuis. He signed with the Amsterdam Bulldogs in the Netherlands.

GET-ligaen club Trondheim Black Panthers
.

Several NHL players signed in the Italian league

HC Mulhouse
.

.

Most of the NHL players playing for European clubs had contract clauses allowing them to leave for the NHL once the lockout ended.

North America

There were two attempts to form alternative professional leagues in North America during the lockout, but both failed. A revival of the World Hockey Association had been planned since 2002 and was to start play shortly after the lockout was expected to begin. Despite having former WHA star Bobby Hull as commissioner, the league never got off the ground. A lack of stable financing undermined plans to sign both locked-out players and top prospects such as Sidney Crosby.

Another league, the Original Stars Hockey League (OSHL), was established in Canada and expected to play four-on-four games between six teams (ostensibly representing the

Brampton, Ontario
with "Boston" defeating "Montreal" 14–11. Jerseys worn by players were based on Original Six (Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Montreal, New York, Toronto), but all had the words "OSHL" in white, three stars patches on the shoulders instead of team logos or cities. However, escalating salary demands by players quickly bankrupted the league. Shortly after its first two games, OSHL president Randy Gumbley announced that the league had received firm commitments from only twenty players, and the league soon folded.

NHL players looking for a place to play clearly preferred stable, established European clubs to upstart leagues that have since been derisively dubbed as "fly-by-night" operations by their critics. A small number of players played for established minor league teams near their families and homes, while others chose to repay the league which gave them a start by returning.

The

Great Lakes Sports City Superior Arena where he often played growing up. Because of visa problems Kris Draper never played a game for the Mechanics. Later on they also signed Bryan Smolinski and Sean Avery
and were able to roll four NHL players on their opponents. All of the players had some experience or connection to the area.

The

San Diego Gulls, and Bates Battaglia joined his younger brother Anthony on the Mississippi Sea Wolves roster. A pair of Nashville Predators teammates, Shane Hnidy and Jeremy Stevenson, both of whom had early careers in the ECHL, returned to the league and found themselves playing against each other in the first round of the Kelly Cup playoffs, as Hnidy's Florida Everblades faced Stevenson's South Carolina Stingrays
in the American Conference quarterfinals.

Some prospects who may have never had a serious look were given chances they thought they never would have. Undrafted journeyman Chris Minard had been signed with Alaska for his third season in the ECHL when the lockout allowed Davis Payne to assign him on the same line as Gomez at the Aces. Gomez saw a gem that led to the 2005 ECHL All-Star Game, and a top ECHL player that season; the pairing led to Gomez giving Minard a shot after the lockout ended, and he played his way into the AHL, and eventually signing a two-way contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins, receiving in 2007–08 his first call-up to the NHL. Minard said about the experience, "That's when I learned a lot about being a goal-scorer, playing with a guy like that who can pass the puck. It was a pretty cool experience."[17]

In addition, many younger players who would be impact players on their NHL rosters stayed down in the

Charlotte Checkers also saw similar gains, with the Atlanta Thrashers
-affiliated Gladiators receiving a gain of over 20 percent in attendance from the previous year.

However, the lockout negatively affected many minor-league players, where the influx of NHL players forced many to play in lower-level leagues for less money or out of jobs altogether.[18][19]

In addition, other minor hockey leagues benefited from the lack of competition from the major professional league. The Ontario Hockey League was a particular beneficiary, with teams such as the London Knights and Saginaw Spirit garnering considerable attention. The lack of the Stanley Cup playoffs also created increased interest in the 2005 Memorial Cup tournament with record TV ratings. Governor General of Canada Adrienne Clarkson mused publicly about the possibility of awarding the Stanley Cup to the best women's hockey team that year, but this idea was so unpopular that instead the Clarkson Cup was created. The 2005 Allan Cup in Lloydminster also attracted elevated national media interest.

In the Western Hockey League, the Calgary Hitmen were the most watched team in North America, averaging 10,062 fans per game. Their season total of 362,227 shattered the WHL and CHL records[20] and represented a 33% increase over 2003–04.[21] The Vancouver Giants also experienced a massive increase, finishing second in the WHL with 302,403 fans going through the turnstiles.[21]

International hockey

The lockout had a substantial effect on international tournaments run by the International Ice Hockey Federation. The most notable effect was observed in the 2005 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and Thief River Falls, Minnesota. With the NHL inactive, the top eligible U-20 players were not playing in that league and thus were available to their countries for the tournament. The country that benefitted most as a result was Canada. The Canadians not only ended a seven-year gold medal drought at this competition, they outscored their opponents 41–7 and defeated Russia 6–1 in the final game. Many analysts believe that the Canadian team was the most dominating ever in this tournament, aided in no small part by players such as Patrice Bergeron who could have expected to have commitments in the NHL.

At the time that the 2004–05 season was canceled, it was not immediately clear how the lockout would affect the 2005

World Ice Hockey Championships. Normally, NHL players from teams that failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs
participate in this tournament. Since no playoffs were being held, theoretically all NHL players could participate. In reality, however, many NHL players declined to participate, and national teams were naturally reluctant to select players who lacked game conditioning. For all of the teams (including the North American ones), the bulk of the national teams' rosters consisted of players who were playing in Europe.

Effects outside hockey

Canadian sports fans also turned to the

playoff attendance. The league was able to hold onto at least some of these gains in 2005. The National Lacrosse League also saw a modest boost in attendance. Also in the United States, the National Basketball Association (NBA) also saw some big gains in attendance in markets which have both NHL and NBA teams; this is in part because the NHL and NBA season run in a similar time frame within the year and often play in the same venue. The National Football League (NFL) and Major League Baseball (MLB) also saw some minor gains in attendance in 2004–05. Major League Soccer
(MLS) began to become profitable in 2004, which many believed to have been caused by the NHL lockout. To date, the MLS has operated with profit since 2004.

The

2008
as compensation.

References

Citations

  1. ^ Woods, Allan (February 17, 2005). "Game over: NHL officially cancels season". The National Post. p. A1.
  2. ^ Bock, Hal (February 17, 2005). "1921: No Champion". The Tampa Tribune. p. 10.
  3. ^ Heath, Thomas; El-Bashir, Tarik (February 17, 2005). "Cold Reality: NHL Cancels The Season". The Washington Post. p. A1. The National Hockey League became the first major sports league in North America to lose an entire season because of a labor disagreement.
  4. ^ Heika, Mike. "Players reject NHL 'cost certainty' counteroffer". Sign on San Diego. Archived from the original on April 13, 2015. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  5. ^ Naylor, David (July 22, 2004). "NHL opens 6-pack of labour options". The Globe and Mail. p. S3.
  6. ^ "Commish: 'A luxury tax will not work'". ESPN. Associated Press. December 1, 2004. Retrieved December 27, 2007.
  7. ^ Ozanian, Michael K. (November 29, 2004). "Ice Capades". Forbes. Archived from the original on November 14, 2004. Retrieved December 27, 2007.
  8. ^ "Rangers Part Ways With Holik". The New York Times. July 30, 2005.
  9. ^ a b "NHL Franchise Values Before and After the 2004-2005 Lockout". davemanuel.com. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
  10. .
  11. ^ Badenhausen, Kurt; Ozanian, Michael K. (November 28, 2005). "Blood On The Ice". Forbes. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  12. ^ "Union rejects latest league proposal". TSN.ca. February 2, 2005. Retrieved December 27, 2007.
  13. ^ Wood, Dan (February 16, 2005). "League, players look for quick fix". The Orange County Register. Retrieved December 27, 2007.
  14. ^ "Highlights of the 2005 NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement | Agreement Ends NHL Lockout – Highlights of the New NHL CBA". proicehockey.about.com. Archived from the original on January 15, 2012. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
  15. ^ Terry Frei. "Roenick's sound-bite puts NHL in the news". ESPN. Retrieved September 28, 2008.
  16. ^ "THE CAIRNS BLOG: FREE STANLEY". johncairns.blogspot.com. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
  17. ^ Anderson, Shelly (March 16, 2008). "Rookie Minard took long, strange trip into the NHL". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on November 22, 2008. Retrieved May 23, 2009.
  18. ^ "Former Lakers discuss the effects of the NHL lockout on minor leaguers :: Krueckl and Turgeon say there are pros and cons of having NHL'ers in the UHL". Lssulakers.cstv.com. Retrieved September 28, 2008.
  19. ^ Lapointe, Joe (February 27, 2005). "The New York Times > Sports > Hockey > Steve and the Mechanics: Over the Top in the Minors". The New York Times. Retrieved September 28, 2008.
  20. ^ Kisio on the hot seat[usurped], Calgary Sun, March 19, 2005
  21. ^ a b whl.ca team records, Accessed October 15, 2006, Archived August 13, 2007, at the Wayback Machine

External links

Official sites run by the parties involved

News coverage