FINAL OFFER FROM NHL!

[Edmonton Fan]

http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?id=115048

[Edmonton Fan]

Re: FINAL OFFER FROM NHL!

The NHL has filed a counter-proposal to the NHL Players' Association offer, upping the salary cap to $42.5 million.

The NHL has told NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow that it's a final offer with no flexibility or room to negotiate and must have a response by Wednesday at 11am.

Details to follow.



Well, they're with-in 9.5 million on the cap issue.

This is it people!

[Edmonton Fan]

Re: FINAL OFFER FROM NHL!

More info:

''This offer is not an invitation to begin negotiations - it's too late for that,'' Bettman told Goodenow in a letter on Tuesday. ''This is our last effort to make a deal that's fair to the players and one that the Clubs (hopefully) can afford.''

The NHL will hold a news conference on Wednesday at 1pm et and if the NHLPA doesn't accept the league's offer it is expected that Gary Bettman will cancel the season.

The NHL's offer comes on the heels of a meeting on Monday that saw both the NHL and NHLPA make concessions in the negotiation process.

At Monday's meeting between NHL executive vice president Bill Daly amd NHLPA senior director Ted Saskin, the league proposed a $40-million US salary cap with no "linkage" to revenue. The NHLPA responded by offering to play under a $52-million US salary cap.

[Edmonton Fan]

Re: FINAL OFFER FROM NHL!

Letter from Gary to Bob -


The following is a letter NHL commissioner Gary Bettman sent to NHLPA Executive Director Bob Goodenow on Tuesday.


Dear Bob:

We attempted to reach out to you with yesterday's offer of a team maximum cap of $42.2MM ($40MM in salary and $2.2MM in benefits) which was not linked to League-wide revenues. As Bill told Ted, "de-linking" a maximum team salary cap from League revenues and total League-wide player compensation has always been problematic for us, especially since we cannot now quantify the damage to the League from the lockout. This presents the risk we will pay out more than we can afford. As you know, if all 30 teams were to spend to the maximum we proposed, and if the damage to our business is as we discussed at our meetings in New York, then the League would continue to lose money.

I know, as do you, that the "deal" we can make will only get worse for the players if we cancel the season - whatever damage we have suffered to date will pale in comparison to the damage from a cancelled season and we will certainly not be able to afford what is presently on the table. Accordingly, I am making one final effort to reach out to make a deal that will let us play this season.

We are increasing our offer of yesterday by increasing the maximum individual team cap to $44.7MM ($42.5MM in salary and $2.2MM in benefits). This offer is not an invitation to begin negotiations - it's too late for that. 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.

If this offer is acceptable, please let me know by 11:00 A.M. tomorrow, in advance of my scheduled press conference. Hopefully, the press conference will not be necessary.



Sincerely,

Gary B. Bettman
Commissioner

[Opus]

Re: FINAL OFFER FROM NHL!

Geez EF.......what are you doing under Goodenow's desk?

[Angelus]

Re: FINAL OFFER FROM NHL!

Wow...between this and CFL free agency, I can't get away from my damn computer!

[Edmonton Fan]

Re: FINAL OFFER FROM NHL!

Geez EF.......what are you doing under Goodenow's desk?

Goodenow has a desk?? That's news to me.

[lloyd]

Re: FINAL OFFER FROM NHL!

The salary cap offer by the union was just a legal ploy to avoid an impasse.

[Esks4ever]

Re: FINAL OFFER FROM NHL!

Just end the fricking thing ...

[Diesel]

Re: FINAL OFFER FROM NHL!

What he said. I don't want a last min deal. The last one almost killed hockey here.

[Edmonton Fan]

Re: FINAL OFFER FROM NHL!

The salary cap offer by the union was just a legal ploy to avoid an impasse.

Wrong there Lloyd, don't put too much stock into some media stories.

[Edmonton Fan]

Re: FINAL OFFER FROM NHL!

The following is a letter NHLPA Executive Director Bob Goodenow sent to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in response to Bettman's letter sent on Tuesday.


Dear Gary,

Yesterday afternoon, Bill Daly presented us with an offer from the League that, for the first time, was not linked to League-wide revenues. We appreciated your willingness to adjust your position and we worked to respond in kind. By evening, we had fashioned and reached out to you with an offer from the PA that included, for the first time, a team maximum cap. This offer built upon the 24% rollback and other changes in favour of clubs, which were presented by the Players on December 9, 2004.

As you know, and as Ted told Bill, our offer of a team cap represented a radical step for the PA. We took this step because we too believe that our sport will be damaged greatly by the cancellation of this season and the continuation of the lockout through next season.

We wish that the NHL had offered a no linkage proposal before yesterday so that negotiations in that arena could have commenced sooner. However, we recognize that they did not and we agree that time is short.

In that spirit, and in a final attempt to reach an agreement, we are adjusting our offer of yesterday in two respects. First, we are reducing the maximum individual team cap to $49 million in salary, which does not include the $2.2 million per team in benefits due.

Second, we will adjust our exception provision so that it is available to teams only twice during the six year term and for up to only 10% over the limit of $49 million (to $53.9 million), at the tax rate of 150%. The exception provision is important so that a successful team does not have to arbitrarily dismantle its roster after it has achieved particular success or is in a unique phase of its player roster cycle.

I have attached a short summary of the main deal points discussed by Bill and Ted yesterday, as modified above.

I can be reached at the usual phone numbers.


Regards,

Robert W. Goodenow
Executive Director & General Counsel



NEW CBA DEAL POINTS

1. Term - 6 full seasons (through 9-15-11).

2. CBA System Incorporation of NHLPA December 9, 2004 proposal into the recently expired CBA, with indexing of financial provisions (per diems, etc.) at 2% per year, with the following additional changes requested by the NHL yesterday:

(a) Increased salary arbitration rights for Clubs -- to be agreed upon. Salary arbitration available after Player leaves Entry Level System.

(b) Cap on Exhibit 5 Individual B Performance Bonuses -- to be agreed upon.

(c) Replace NHLPA Revenue Sharing Plan with NHL Revenue Sharing Plan to share at least $88M in each year of the Agreement. Clubs may credit any payroll taxes paid against their revenue sharing contribution.

3. Team Payroll Limit - $49M in salary and bonuses

4. Minimum Team Payroll - $25M (each team can fall no more than 10% below only twice during term).

5. Minimum Player Salary - $300K (as per NHL Proposal)

6. Payroll Taxes - $40M - $43M (25%)
$43M - $46M (50%)
$46M - $49M (75%)
$49M - $53.9M (150%) only twice per team during 6 year term

7. Indexing of Tax Rates and Payroll Minimums & Maximums All dollar amounts would be in place for 2004-05 (pro-rated) and 2005-06. Dollar levels for tax rates, payroll minimums & maximums for subsequent years either constant or increased by % change in greater of either hockey related revenues or only the gate receipts and broadcasting segments of hockey related revenues from the 2005-06 base year.

8. 2005 Playoffs 55% of playoff revenues to be paid to Players for the 2005 playoffs.

[Edmonton Fan]

Re: FINAL OFFER FROM NHL!

NHLPA rejects NHL proposal, offers counter proposal, NHL rejects

It did not take long for NHL commissioner Gary Bettman to reject the NHLPA's latest offer.

In his reply to NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow, Bettman said "If every team spent to the $49-million level, total player compensation would exceed what we spent last season, and our player compensation cost would exceed 75% of revenues. We can't afford that."

Bettman pointed out in his response that that the league's earlier offer represented a $75 million increase over what was previously on the table

Bettman's response came after the NHLPA rejected the NHL's ''final offer'' and responding with a counter-proposal that featured a $49-million US team-by-team salary cap, down $3 million from its previous offer.

NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow took just over four hours to turn down the league's offer of a $42.5-million salary cap, an offer Bettman warned did not warrant further negotiations.

''We wish that the NHL had offered a `no linkage proposal before yesterday so that negotiations in that arena could have commenced sooner,'' Goodenow wrote in a letter to Bettman. ''However, we recognize that they did not and we agree that time is short.

''In that spirit, and in a final attempt to reach an agreement, we are adjusting our offer of yesterday in two respects.''

Aside from dropping the cap to $49 million, the union also restructed the exception provision so that teams can only go over the cap twice during the six-year term and ''for up to only 10 per cent over the limit of $49 million (to $53.9 million), at the tax rate of 150 per cent.''

The rest of the luxury tax would work like this: 25 per cent on $40 million-$43 million, 50 per cent on $43 million-$46 million and 75 per cent from $46 million-$49 million. The deal also included a minimum payroll of $25 million.

Goodenow ended his letter Tuesday night by stating to Bettman: ''I can be reached at the usual phone numbers.''

The league's final offer Tuesday featured a $42.5-million cap, with a luxury tax of 50 per cent on payrolls from $34 million to $42.5 million.

Bettman said it was as good it got and had given the union until 11 a.m. EST Wednesday to accept it.

''This offer is not an invitation to begin negotiations - it's too late for that,'' Bettman wrote in a letter to Goodenow. ''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.'' Industry sources insist both sides would likely live with a $45-million cap.

The league had no immediate reaction to the NHLPA's counter-proposal. The clock is ticking down to 1 p.m. EST Wednesday when Bettman is expected to cancel the season barring an agreement.

Offers from both sides during the last two days included a salary rollback of 24 per cent on all existing player contracts.

The NHLPA's previous offer Monday allowed provisions for teams to spend as much as 10 per cent more than that on three occasions in a six-year period. The luxury tax worked at 25 per cent on $40 million-$44 million; 50 per cent on $44 million-$48 million; 75 per cent on $48 million-$52 million; and 150 per cent on $52 million-$57.2 million.

The league's $42.5-million salary cap would be the figure for all six years of the new collective bargaining agreement.

Counting the 24 per cent rollback, four teams are currently over the $42.5-million figure and that's before signing any free agents. Detroit ($43.38 million), New Jersey ($46.32 million), Philadelphia ($50 million) and Toronto ($46.6 million) would be over. Dallas ($40.77 million) and Colorado ($40.27 million) would be on the bubble without signing anyone else.

The average team payroll last season, adding the salary rollback, would have been $33.95 million.

So the NHL's deal would definitely have a salary drag on the big spenders, but yet not to the point where owners would get ''cost certainty'' because the league dropped its long-standing demand of a fixed link between player costs and revenues.

''I know, as do you, that the `deal' we can make will only get worse for the players if we cancel the season - whatever damage we have suffered to date will pale in comparison to the damage from a cancelled season and we will certainly not be able to afford what is presently on the table,'' Bettman wrote in a familiar refrain used in recent weeks - basically a threat.

''Accordingly, I am making one final effort to reach out to make a deal that will let us play this season.''

The league counter-offer came around supper time on a tense day where facts were few but opinions were plentiful.

It appeared the door leading to a possible solution had finally started to open following a Monday night revelation that the NHLPA had changed direction at the final turn and offered to play under a $52-million salary cap.

The league, meanwhile, moved by proposing a $40-million salary cap with no ''linkage'' to revenue.

Each side rejected the other's offer but a major buzz was created in the hockey world. The last-minute change in negotiating strategy represents a quantum leap for both sides. The players have insisted a salary cap was a non-starter while the league has built its case around so-called cost certainty - linking player costs to revenue.

''The buzzwords are off the table now, it's a business discussion now not a philosophical argument and that's good,'' Devils GM Lou Lamoriello said from New Jersey.

Flyers player rep Robert Esche applauded Monday's developments.

''I'm sure not everybody is happy out there. I'm sure there's some players not happy with a hard cap and some owners not happy at not having linkage,'' he said.

''But hey, it's a give-and-take world. Now it seems we're just down to numbers.''

Monday's unexpected development probably surprised and unsettled many on each side. But the fact that both felt the pinch may also signify the two sides have finally found an area of compromise.

''Am I excited about a salary cap? No. But it's about trying to get a deal done,'' said Calgary star Jarome Iginla.

Richard Peddie, president and CEO of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment, deflected a question about what the owners had given up by taking the linkage issue off the table.

''All I can tell you is that we've been kept apprised and we'd really like to play hockey this year,'' he said. ''But it has to be the right deal, even for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Even our revenues are drying up, believe it or not. We want a deal that's also good for the Leafs.''

Even if it is too late to save the season, the change in positions may still set the stage for a settlement that could pave the way for the entry draft and a more normal off-season.

McKee was concerned about how much harm a five-month-long lockout has had on the sport and its fan base.

''It's not so much that I'm angry that they offered a cap. I'm angry that why now?'' McKee said. ''Why not last June, last July?''

The surprising developments came during a secret meeting Monday in Niagara Falls, N.Y., between NHLPA senior director Ted Saskin and NHL executive vice-president Bill Daly.

Daly began the process by offering his cap figure without a fixed link between player costs and league revenues. The union countered with the $52-million salary cap per team and its rollback of 24 per cent on existing salaries.

The Philadelphia Inquirer and others reported Tuesday that Flyers centre Jeremy Roenick, along with Iginla, St. Louis's Chris Pronger and others, urged the union leaders to put a cap with no linkage on the table in a bid to save the season.

''I was involved with a group of NHL players who were trying to get to as many people as possible to come on board with a resolution that works for both sides,'' Roenick told the Inquirer. ''The proposal has to have a number that is not tied to revenues.''

But Iginla played down any role he may have had.

''I have talked to Pronger and Roenick but also to many guys around the league, because we're interested in what's going down,'' he told CP. ''But ultimately, it's the committee that's doing all this, not me. If people ask me my opinion, I'll give it, and I have.''

Iginla and Esche both shot down other reports saying the group of players actually had a proposal for the league.

The Monday developments could also have a major impact on the league's ability to declare legal impasse down the road if there's no deal and the season is cancelled. The union could perhaps argue to the U.S. National Labor Relations Board that there is no impasse in talks because the philosophical issue of a salary cap is no longer the deal-breaker.

The NHL is hoping to avoid becoming the first major professional league in North America to cancel a season from beginning to end.

''I'm extremely concerned,'' said Flyers captain Keith Primeau. ''The biggest thing that disturbs me is everyone's true misunderstanding of the fan base. You hear how certain people believe that the hardcore fan will definitely return, that the damage isn't irreparable.

''I think that's a huge miscalculation or judgment in error of who and what your fan base is. That, I think, is going to alarm a lot of people when the doors are re-opened.''

Through Tuesday, 834 of the 1,230 regular-season games have gone by the wayside.

If an agreement can still be reached, the league has a shortened schedule ready to go that would see teams play 28 regular-season games, playing only within their conference. The playoffs would stay the same.

''We probably could've gotten this thing done in the summertime,'' Chicago forward Matthew Barnaby said. ''Am I mad? No. I want to get back to work. But at the same time, I'm just a little disappointed that it went this far to play poker and to have someone call your bluff.''

[Edmonton Fan]

Re: FINAL OFFER FROM NHL!

Well atleast they've kind of bridged the gap, with the unions offer of 49 million they have shaved 1/4 off of the 12 million differential, and between their 49 million proposal and the NHL's 42.5 million proposal they are only 6.5 million apart. I think they can settle on a 45 million cap for the high end, and a 30 million for the low end.

[earl2]

Re: FINAL OFFER FROM NHL!

Personally, I'd just like to see this season die. It's too damn late to try to save it now. A 28 game schedule is pointless. It would be like a 5 game schedule in the CFL. What the hell is the damn point????
What amazes me is that these two groups of idiots can start to agree on points in Feb. but not last July. What a bunch of morons....