The Latest On The CBA Talks

from David Shoalts of the Globe and Mail, Neither Fehr nor Bettman would discuss what each felt were the major issues. Bettman said he only hopes they can reach an agreement quickly once the talks begin.

?My hope is that we can reason together and that collective bargaining will be painless and quiet and quick,? Bettman said following an NHL board of governors meetinf. ?That would serve everyone?s best interest.?

Union sources say a quick resolution is possible but only if the players present a united front to the owners. That might be enough to convince the owners to avoid a lockout, which could severely damage a league that is still recovering in some markets from the season-long lockout in 2004-05.

The two biggest issues involve revenue sharing. The owners want to reduce the players? take of hockey-related revenue from the current 57 per cent to less than 50 to mirror the agreements recently reached in the NFL and NBA. The players want the owners to radically change their system for sharing revenues between richer and poorer teams and increase the amount of shared revenue.

Fehr said just because the NBA and NFL players agreed to reduce their overall share of league revenue it does not mean the NHL players will follow suit.

more

Source: http://www.kuklaskorner.com/index.php/hockey/comments/the_latest_on_the_cba_talks/

Tampa Bay Rays Texas Rangers Toronto Blue Jays chicago blackhawks columbus blue jackets detroit red wings