NHL Lockout Begins

It only took eight years for everything to fall apart ... again.

Eight years ago, the NHL imposed a League- wide lockout that cancelled the entire 2004-2005 season. Unlike the NBA and NFL lockouts of the past couple of years, nobody missed the NHL when the entire season was cancelled. A League that has struggled to garner ratings and fans over the years, had the most labor unrest over the last 20 years with three lockouts and a player strike.

The latest NHL lockout began in earnest at midnight when the CBA expired, and both the players union and the NHL owners remain far apart on a new deal; revenue sharing is the main sticking point in the deal.

The lower revenue teams (Columbus, Minnesota, New Jersey) want to be on an equal footing with the high revenue teams (N.Y. Rangers, Boston, Detroit), hoping that the League can make a 50/50 split of revenue sharing, something similar to MLB where the lower rung teams are making money to stay competitive with the likes of the Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers. As a result, look up the AL East standings, and see Baltimore and Tampa Bay in a dead heat with the Bronx Bombers for the division title.

However, the biggest issue is player salaries. The NHL feels that player reveune is too high and wants to scale it back. As of 2010-2011, players reveune was 57 percent of the League. The players do not want to take a major cut in pay and do not want to have to pay back the League for money they earned from their respective franchises.

Here is a link to the NHL lockout rules.

With Donald Fher, best known for leading the MLB players union in 1994 that cancelled the World Series, and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, who has presided over three lockouts during his tenure, this could be a lengthy lockout.

 "Today, we suggested that the parties meet in advance of the owners' self-imposed deadline of midnight tonight. Don Fehr, myself, and several players on the negotiating committee were in the city and prepared to meet. The NHL said that it saw no purpose in having a formal meeting," NHLPA special counsel Steve Fehr said in a statement. "There have been and continue to be private, informal discussions between representatives of both sides."

In a lengthy statement posted on NHL.com, the League said it remains "committed to negotiating around the clock to reach a new CBA that is fair to the players and to the 30 NHL teams." ESPN.

The real losers are the NHL fans, and the League itself which struggled to win the fans back after the last lockout in 2004. One can argue that it was not until the last season that the NHL was starting to return to its pre-2004 form; however, since 2004, the NHL has struggled to find a television home, moving from FOX and ABC to little known stations like Versus and NBC Sports Network. Even the Stanley Cup Finals were broadcast on Versus over the years because nobody cared.

Well, now nobody will care. The NHL, when it returns, will be firmly entrenched as the least popular sport in the country. Too bad, because after last spring's postseaon, it looked like things were finally turning around.