NHL chiefs, players to resume labour talks

24 Jul 2012, 10:28 am   -   Source: AAP

The NHL and the Players' Association will hold more talks on a new collective bargaining agreement amid reports owners want to slash player revenues.

The NHL and the Players' Association (NHLPA) are set for another round of negotiations this week with the hope of establishing a new collective bargaining agreement before the current one expires on September 15.

Executive Director Donald Fehr says owners "have pointed us in a direction of some very tough hills to climb", with three days of talks set to begin on Tuesday in Toronto. He says the NHLPA is not yet prepared to make a counter offer to the owners' initial proposal.

Fehr says the players will make their offer "when we're ready."

There were multiple reports coming out of the last round of talks that the owners' offer included players' hockey-related revenues being slashed from 57 per cent to 46 per cent. It also was reported that players would be forced to wait 10 years before becoming unrestricted free agents and that contracts would be limited to five years.

"We've asked for a bunch of additional financial information," Fehr said. "They've indicated that the preparation is in progress and we'll need to review that before we come to any final conclusions."

The owners want to cap salaries and shorten years of a deal, but that didn't stop the Philadelphia Flyers signing Nashville Predators defenceman Shea Weber last week to a staggering 14-year offer sheet worth $US110 million ($A107.65 million).

"What I've said about player contracts, and I'll continue to say especially when you see one like that one, or the earlier ones this year or things in past years and so on, is that contracts speak for themselves," Fehr said.

"You don't have to be somebody extraordinarily well-versed in the intricacies of hockey and economics and capology to draw conclusions from it."

Fehr said negotiations are scheduled to go on next week, as well.

"There's a ways to go yet," he said.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman oversaw the 1994-95 NHL lockout that delayed the start of the season and forced a 48-game regular-season schedule. When labour problems lingered in 2004-05, Bettman shut down the league. It took years for the NHL to recover from the lost season.

The new NHL season is slated to start on October 11.

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