COVID COMPLICATIONS COULD RESULT IN MORE CUTS IN PAY FOR Nhlers
NHLPA quiet after meeting as prospects for season look bleak amid rising cases
It's far from beer-leaguers paying for ice time to play their beloved sport at odd hours. But many Nhlers wonder how much more of their money should be sacrificed to get a season, even an abbreviated one, underway.
The NHL already set a 20 per cent escrow on salaries in the new six-year collective bargaining agreement in July, then a 10 per cent deferment on the balance owing. That was back when a normal 2020-21 season was hoped for, an 82-game schedule starting around Dec. 1. Then came the crashing second wave of COVID-19, pushing any plans into January with the spectre of no fans in the rinks, at least at the beginning.
Early this week, there were reports of a further 13 per cent salary cut being considered by the league, the chance of which was broached in debate Wednesday night by the NHLPA. Participating in the Zoom call were its executive, return-toplay committee, team reps and a number of rank and file.
No statement was issued afterward, but having made the financial sacrifices in the summer, with 24 teams consenting to the bubble environment away from family for weeks, players won't be so quick to sign the first document the league formally offers.
The league's board of governors and commissioner Gary Bettman have nothing planned along those lines — yet — with the betting that something must be agreed to by Nov. 26 to make a January start.
However, outspoken agent Allan Walsh tweeted before the union's Zoom meeting: “Imagine if players approached the league four months after agreeing to a new CBA attempting to dramatically change the terms of the deal? How quickly would Gary say `Take a hike?' The ink isn't even dry on the new deal.”
There are also some clubs looking at the high COVID numbers and bleak prospects of so much lost revenue and wondering if it makes sense to attempt a '20-21 season at all. But don't count the league hierarchy in that group, especially with football in full swing and the NBA intending to open its camps in two weeks.
SCHEDULE SKIDS
You'd hate to be Steve Hatze-petros about now.
The league's senior vice-president of scheduling was tasked with salvaging last season's truncated regular slate and likely spent the months during and after the 24-team tournament trying to make Bettman's wish for a full 82 games come true.
But as COVID kept raging and then got worse in the autumn, the talk is 60 games or less, with hub cities south of the border and a Canadian division to the north. Many of the games would have to be back-to-backs, though Bettman indicated any travelling bubble arrangement would include break time at home.
The league has gone down to as few as 48 games in the past when it imposed lockouts, but complicating matters this time is the closure of the Canada-u.s. border, extended Wednesday another 30 days until Dec. 21. Most see president-elect Joe Biden's inauguration a month after that as the earliest that unfettered travel will resume, unless pro sports teams get a pass. So good luck, Steve.
FARM TEAMS FOLD FOR ' 21
Among the first to shelve its season last March as the COVID curtain came down was the ECHL. Now, six teams in its Northern Division, including the Newfoundland Growlers (Toronto Maple Leafs) and Brampton Beast (Ottawa Senators), said Wednesday they're opting out of play in 2020-21, making it eight overall. Along with the Adirondack Thunder, Maine Mariners, Reading Royals and Worcester Railers, the North would have severe difficulty continuing with no fans and its two Canadian teams unable to cross the border.
BRETT LEADS THE WAY
Brett Peterson had this take on being named the first Black assistant general manager in the NHL:
“I'm just happy that now there can be a second and a third,” he told Florida media after being named to the Panthers staff under Bill Zito. “It's going to be exciting times because I think other people will realize that things are possible, and they should be. There's never really been a hard stop, but there hasn't been this type of opportunity yet, so I'm happy that we can hopefully create some more.”
Zito and the 39-year-old Peterson are both former player agents and Peterson played for his home state Boston College Eagles in addition to time in the minors. The Hockey News reports Joel Ward is under consideration for a similar assistant's role with the Vegas Golden Knights farm team.
Sports teams in the Miami area have been active in putting women and minorities in high positions: Kim Ng as the first female general manager in Major League Baseball with the Marlins last week; Chris Grier, a Black GM of the football Dolphins the past four seasons and their sophomore head coach, Brian Flores.
Players won't be so quick to sign the first document the league formally offers.
SETTING THE TABLE
If you can't get to the rink this winter — and have about CDN$6,000 to spare — an American company has fashioned a new tabletop hockey game.
Slot Mods, previously known for its slot-car racing sets, has borrowed elements of the veritable Canadian version and juiced it with gear driven steel players from Original Six teams, spring steel rods, tactile grips, a fivehole open goalie and real mesh nets. The 21-by-35 inch playing surface is housed in a handcrafted oak box, and promises no dead areas for its plastic puck.