Tag Archives: Boychuk

GAME ON

  By Steve | January 6, 2013 - 2:20 pm |
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NHL Lockout Over: Game On

Well, it appears the NHL Lockout has finally come to an end. Gary Bettman and Donald Fehr announced just a few hours ago that both sides had reached what’s being called a ‘tentatative agreement on the framework of a deal.’ Meaning as long as nobody screws up writing down the details and the players don’t suddenly decide they don’t want to play this season, then we’re going to have NHL hockey soon. Here’s the presser:

 


The details as reported so far:

  • 10 years in length, opt-out after 8.
  • Salary cap for this year is $60 million, with teams allowed to spend up to $70.2 million as part of the transition. Year two the cap will go to $64.3 million. The cap floor for both seasons will be $44 million.
  • In terms of contracts, deals can’t be more than seven years, unless a team is re-signing its own player, in which case the term can be eight years. Value cannot differ more than 35% from year to year, and the last year on the contract cannot vary more than 50% from the highest value year.
  • Revenue sharing will be $200 million, with a $60 million growth fund, initiated by the NHLPA, included.
  • Participation in the Olympics and/or the World Cup of Hockey will not be part of this deal, and instead will be part of a side negotiation.
  • July 1 will remain the free agency opening date, despite the NHL trying to push for July 10.

weird_guy

The season is expected to start January 15 or January 19, depending on whether a 48 or 50 game schedule is accepted. That should be known this week.

Much of the credit was given to federal mediator Scot Beckenbaugh, who had brought the sides together over the past few days and helped nail down agreements on the last few points of contention. With that said, this was also out there this morning:

 


As has been widely reported, the NHL isn’t exactly winning awards for its business model.  While it’s scary to think the league and players got extremely close to having to cancel another season, it’s good that regardless of where the pressure came from, they felt it and got a deal done. It will be very interesting to see how the league does from a business perspective for the rest of the season, but as a fan I’m just glad the B’s will be back on the ice soon.

From Bruin defenseman Andrew Ference‘s twitter account (@Ferknuckle):

“As players we can now do what we do best. Proudly pull on our jerseys and play with complete passion for our cities and fans. I hope that we can replace the intense negativity brought on our sport with a reminder of how great it can be when the action is on the ice. From my grandparents to our B’s fans, I am deeply sorry that we had to miss so much hockey. All we can do now is play our hearts out for you.”

Let’s see it. GAME ON!

 

Loose Pucks

  • We expected to have more time to report on this, but congrats go out to Team USA, who defeated Sweden 3-1 at the World Junior Championships to take home the gold. Team Canada lost to Russia in the bronze medal game, marking the first time in 14 years that they have failed to take home a medal.
  • Johnny Boychuk is already back in town, Zdeno Chara is on his way back Tuesday, and Dougie Hamilton will be at camp when it starts. Finally.

 

NHL Lockout: One Step Closer to the Edge

  By Steve | November 25, 2012 - 12:20 am |
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nhl lockout

Sorry Columbus.

‘Black Friday’ took on some added meaning this year, as yesterday the NHL cancelled more games, this time through December 14. As expected, this round of cancellations also included this year’s All Star Game, which had been scheduled for January 27th in Columbus. This latest move comes as no surprise, as talks once again have broken off between the league and the Players’ Association after the union’s latest offer on Wednesday. A total of 422 games have now been axed as part of the current work stoppage.

 

Significant damage already has been done, from fans jumping ship to sponsors (especially in Canada) reporting large losses, and as the days pass it is only going to get worse. It’s hard to believe that a league coming off a season of record growth now struggles to avoid slipping further into obscurity over what amounts to pennies in the big picture. ESPN’s John Buccigross had a great write-up earlier in the week on the current situation, how we got here and why it doesn’t bother him, and it is that apathy towards the NHL as an entity that could be the biggest enemy to both the owners and the players. There’s plenty of other hockey games to be found, and fans of the game will find them.

 

The clock continues to tick towards zero hour as the time to salvage some semblance of a season runs short. While the union’s latest offer was a clear attempt to bridge the gap that remains by working off the NHL’s framework for a deal, the league and the owners continue to play hard-ball and have made no such concessions. Some believe that the basis for a deal is now out in the open, but there is no doubt that there is still a good amount of work to be done. The union’s option to decertify and take the battle to the courts further jeopardizes the situation, and once again the fans (the ones that remain anyways) are left waiting to see what will become of 2012-13 campaign. With no further talks planned, it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain a positive outlook.

 

Loose Pucks – November 24

  • Johnny BoychukDefenseman Johnny Boychuk became the latest Bruin to sign up for an overseas workout, joining the Salzburg Red Bulls in Austria last week. He was expected to make his debut either last night or in a game tomorrow, and should help the 10th place team on the blue line.
  • Heading in the opposite direction is Tuukka Rask, who will be returning to Boston to wait out the remainder of the lockout after a stint with HC Plzen in the Czech Republic. Rask was stellar during his time with the team, posting a 12-4 record along with a 1.99 goals against average. Let’s hope he can continue that performance when/if the season begins.
  • Tyler Seguin has picked up right where he left off after a short break in the EHC Biel schedule, notching his 20th goal in his 20th game of the season today. He now has 32 points with the team, which sits in 7th place at the moment.
  • Probably accurate: