Hockey fans throughout the World are anticipating the greatest sport on Earth to reconvene on January 1, 2021, as Gary Bettman and the NHLPA are continuously working to achieve this start date. So what is the holdup with announcing the official start date for the new season? With the new CBA that was ratified last July, there were agreements on deferred money for 2020-21 and escrow during each season of the agreement. According to multiple sources, the league submitted two proposals to the Players association. The first proposal asked for changes solely to the upcoming season with deferred compensation moving from 10 percent to 20 percent, and escrow moving from 20 percent to 25 percent.
Originally with the newly ratified CBA in July, all players agreed to a 10 percent deferral for the upcoming year. Escrow was 20 percent for 2020-21, 14-18 percent in 2021-22, 10 percent in 2022-23, and 6 percent for the remaining three seasons.
The second proposal asked for deferred compensation to be raised to 26 percent for next season, with the escrow not being effected until years four-six of the CBA, rising from 6 percent to around 9 percent.
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Covid is really hampering the sport, and other leagues for that matter. These are not easy times for the players or ownership. Monies are being lost, and with no fans making up for the majority of the loss of revenue, times become even more trying. When the CBA was officially agreed upon in July, there were some that predicted there would be a battle ensuing with monies.
To the public this looks really bad. People are being beaten and battered with Covid-19: mentally, physically, and many have lost jobs to this brutal virus. They do not want to hear people arguing over dollars and cents when people are suffering themselves. The truth of the matter is that the players want to play. There is a 60 game schedule in place with division only play, to include a Canadian only division, in their own arenas with the playoffs starting by mid May and ending by July 15. Here’s a look at the divisions of eight teams:
I think both sides will agree to a deal, but in my opinion the season will be pushed back from the targeted start date of January 1, 2021. Monies are not easy disputes to settle, thus both sides have to come to an agreement by the end of November for the targeted start date of January 1 to ensue. In the end this will get rectified sooner rather than later.
