Report: NHL and NHLPA have tentative deal for 56-game season
Sportnet’s Elliotte Friedman is reporting that after weeks of negotiations and meetings, the NHL and NHLPA have reached an agreement on a 56-game season.
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Sportnet’s Elliotte Friedman is reporting that after weeks of negotiations and meetings, the NHL and NHLPA have reached an agreement on a 56-game season.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Chris Johnston spoke with David Amber to talk about the latest developments between the NHL and the NHLPA on Friday.
While Friedman repeated his earlier report that the players and the league are focusing on a 52-56 game regular season, he did share a a bit of new news. Friedman says the NHL is not expected to have any exhibition games before the start of the new season.
Johnston added that while the players and owners want to play in their home arenas, the league may be forced to begin the season in a bubble or hubs due to the coronavirus pandemic.
By Ian Oland 2 years ago
The NHL and NHLPA have been cranky with each other over the last week and there have been some concerning headlines such as Gary Bettman says NHL not trying to back out of CBA and NHLPA weighing options if NHL cancels season.
But on Friday, there were finally some “positive developments” — Elliotte Friedman’s words, not mine — on next season. According to Friedman, “it sounds like” the NHL’s Escrow Ask of the players is going away and many the details for next season have been settled.
Friedman made his comments to Sportsnet 590 The Fan on Friday morning.
By Ian Oland 2 years ago
For hockey fans hoping the NHL’s 2020-21 season will start on January 1, the latest report from The Star is not encouraging.
According to Kevin McGran, the NHL and the NHLPA haven’t had any serious negotiations about the 2020-21 season for over a week. This comes after the league asked the players to re-open the recently signed collective bargaining agreement that was signed in July.
The NHL is looking for $300 million in additional concessions for next season as the coronavirus pandemic rages out of control in the United States and Canada. Fans are not expected to be in arenas for much of next season, complicating the economics of next season.
The NHL and NHLPA announced in a release on Thursday that they extended their agreement with Electronic Arts, the company behind their annual video game, for multiple years.
EA’s latest version of the franchise, NHL 21, was released on October 16 and Alex Ovechkin was the cover athlete.
The NHL and NHLPA jointly announced new initiatives and programs on Thursday to combat racism and accelerate its inclusivity in the sport. The NHL also signaled that it would begin working with the Hockey Diversity Alliance more and continuing its dialogue.
“At this moment, which calls on all of us not only to be clear about our engagement on social issues, but to take action, the National Hockey League announced a series of significant initiatives focused on the fight against racism and the mandate to make our sport and our League more welcoming and inclusive,” the press release says.
The announcement comes a week after NHL players shut down games for two days to protest racism and police brutality.
The NHL is one step closer to returning to complete the 2019-20 season.
Tuesday night, shortly before 11 PM, the NHLPA announced that its Executive Board approved the new CBA, referring it to players for a full member vote.
TSN’s Bob McKenzie is reporting that the NHL and NHLPA have struck a deal on Phase 3 and Phase 4 return-to-play protocols, paving the way for a possible resumption of the season with a 24-team playoff beginning in early August. The NHL and NHLPA continue to negotiate terms to a new six-year CBA.
Once both are agreed to, the return-to-play protocols and CBA will need to be ratified by both the NHLPA executive committee and a simple majority of all NHL players.
The NHL and NHLPA are nearing agreement on a tentative memorandum of understanding for a new six-year Collective Bargaining Agreement and a return-to-play plan that would see the NHL complete the 2020 season with a 24-team playoff. TSN’s Frank Seravalli is reporting that “the deal is believed to be imminent” and that “multiple stakeholders in the NHL community have now been apprised of the details.”
TSN’s Bob McKenzie added that the “real significance of this massive agreement” is that it provides an “economic roadmap” for the NHL and NHLPA to recover from the harmful business effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
The news comes on the heels of the St. Louis Blues canceling practice on Friday due to multiple players testing positive for COVID-19 and the NHL reporting on Monday that 26 players total have tested positive for the novel coronavirus since early June.
The NHL announced on Monday that 26 different players have contracted COVID-19 since the start of Phase 2 activities in early June. This number does not include staff who have reportedly tested positive as well.
While more players across the world have begun making the trek back to North America for training camps — most recently for the Capitals Jakub Vrana, Michal Kempny, and Radko Gudas flew back from the Czech Republic — there is growing unease from players privately about resuming the season. The spread of COVID-19 in the United States is growing out of control as the US sets new daily records for positive cases. The country is not out of a first wave that has tragically killed over 125k Americans.
Players are understandably skeptical they can pull off a safe resumption of the season and Sportsnet’s Eric Engels voiced their concerns in a Twitter thread Tuesday.
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