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       #Post#: 57--------------------------------------------------
       NHL Lockout:  Difficulty in Breaking the Ice
       By: Rrashid Date: October 9, 2012, 7:57 pm
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       By Rifath Rashid 14'
       Just like the NBA did, the NHL is now experiencing an unpleasant
       altercation between the team owners and the players regarding
       none other than, money.  The argument is over who should make
       more money, a question that is always brought up by athletes
       making millions of dollars annually.  But, as the saying goes,
       “more money, more problems,” and unfortunately in this case fans
       will be shutout from hockey action until the dispute is
       completely resolved.
       In numerical terms, the conflict stems from the difference in
       share percentage of income between owners and players.  In
       previous years, players have received 57% of the income, while
       owners owned 43%.  With the 10% difference between the shares,
       which when you think about could amount to millions of dollars
       depending on how much revenue a team makes, it’s intelligible
       that the owners would want to negotiate a better deal.  In order
       to close the share gap, owners have asked for the share of
       revenue for players to drop down from 57% to 47%.  As a result,
       the owners’ share percentage would increase to 53%, giving them
       a 6% lead over the players.  The players union has grudgingly
       agreed to accept a share percentage of 53%, but that proposal is
       inconsistent with the owners’ goals and still gives players a 6%
       lead over the owners. On the other hand, for players who would
       hate to see their wallet weigh thousands of dollars less, major
       negotiations, such as a 10% drop in their revenue, appear to be
       nonexistent.
       Both sides have had trouble in breaking the ice and ending the
       lockout.  Owners have failed to persuade the players to accept a
       percentage change, and players have remained intractable.
       Regarding the end of the lockout, Bill Daly, NHL deputy
       commissioner, noted, “Ultimately, it’s their call.  Hopefully,
       we all want a quicker resolution to this negotiation than a
       longer one. How the PA [Player’s Association] ultimately decides
       to deal with that issue will be very telling.”
       “After some of my experiences in baseball, I’m out of the
       prediction business. I don’t think I’m any better at it than
       anybody else. All I can say is, you try every day. You hope and
       you hope it starts just as soon it possibly can,” said Donald
       Fehr, executive director of the NHL Players Association.
       Similar to Daly, Fehr and the rest of the Players Association
       want the lockout to end as soon as possible.
       
       In the meantime, the league will lose an appreciable amount of
       money while the Lockout persists.  Last year, the preseason for
       the NHL was cancelled and the league lost a hundred million
       dollars.   Preseason games don’t even attract that many fans.
       So, if the cancellation of a couple of preseason games results
       in a hundred million dollar deficit, it will be interesting to
       see how much money may be lost due to the cancellation of
       regular season games, which attract hordes of fans.
       Another question that has been brought up as a result of the
       lockout is what should the players be doing in the meantime?
       Well, some are patiently waiting for the conclusion to the
       arguments and are eager to return to the ice.  However, others,
       who are not confident that the lockout will end any time soon,
       have made deals with European hockey teams that are now making
       efforts to attract NHL players.
       “Feels like I’m going to practice without a purpose, and I hate
       it,” tweeted Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who, like many
       players, is anxious to resume playing hockey.
       
       Until the lockout comes to end, players, owners, and even the
       millions of employees that work in NHL arenas, are being greatly
       affected.  So far, prospects of the lockout reaching its demise
       in the near future don’t seem too positive.  However, both sides
       understand that the lockout is detrimental to the welfare of the
       sport and the support of its fans, and are making efforts to end
       it as soon as they can.
       
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