People and Pop Culture
They ‘got their clocks cleaned’
A breakdown in labor talks in 2004 cost the NHL an entire season. The league’s business has rebounded since then, but with a new CBA looming, some wonder if another showdown is on the horizon.
NHL fans were left with watching other sports after the 2004-05 season was scrapped. These fans made their feelings known while watching a Florida-Villanova basketball game.Getty Images
The 2004-05 season was supposed to be the 88th for the NHL, but it never happened. Instead, the league earned the dubious distinction of becoming the first major North American league to cancel an entire season because of a labor dispute.
It was the third lockout in NHL history, and it centered on the introduction of a salary cap, which team owners and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman wanted for cost certainty. The resulting negotiations lasted more than 10 months, canceling 1,230 regular-season games.
“Let’s face it, the NHL players got their clocks cleaned, and it was an unmitigated disaster for them,” said longtime NHL agent Allan Walsh, co-managing director of Octagon Hockey. “It ended up with a hard cap system and the transfer of billions of dollars from player salaries to ownership — I don’t know if the power dynamic of the relationship has recalibrated since.”
While losing that full season remains a black eye for the league, its business has flourished since then. League revenue went from roughly $1.8 billion to now approaching $5 billion. Franchise values are at all-time highs, with Seattle on the verge of paying $650 million for an expansion team.
Lockouts are devastating for everybody, but the people that really take the gut punch, even more than the players, are the fans.
Allan Walsh
Co-managing director, Octagon Hockey
However, another labor debate is on the horizon, with the league able to opt out of the current collective-bargaining agreement on Sept. 1, 2019, and the NHLPA able to opt out 18 days later. Otherwise, the agreement is set to expire after the 2021-22 season, around the same time existing labor deals run out in the NFL and MLB.
The discussion this time will center on escrow, which holds back a percentage of a player’s paychecks to ensure there is a 50/50 split of revenue with owners. That can result in a forfeiture of that percentage if the salary cap increases but league revenue doesn’t grow in proportion.
Could the NHL again find itself in a lockout? Walsh sure hopes not.
“Lockouts are devastating for everybody, but the people that really take the gut punch, even more than the players, are the fans,” he said. “That’s who I feel sorry for — they’re the ones that make that investment of both time and money, and they do so with the feeling of good faith.
“Three times since 1994, they have taken that gut punch — it would be a tragedy to see it happen again.”
