Meanwhile, NHL Talks Still Have Miles to Go

While the NBA and its players have managed to agree in principle on a new collective bargaining agreement, the NHL remains in the same predicament that ruined the 2004-05 season.

The two sides in the NHL negotiations, which met in New York for a second consecutive day Tuesday, have agreed to a framework for a salary cap linked to league revenue, believed to be 54%, with a 24% rollback on current salaries.

Yet major issues remain. A source familiar with the negotiations said the two sides have recently “butted heads” over entry-level contracts and buyouts of existing contracts.

“They are working toward a new CBA,” player agent Ron Salcer said. “It’s going to be very lengthy and very complex, and it’s going to take a long time to sift through it all. It’s certainly going to change the way agents approach their business.”

There are concerns that players might not ratify the deal presented by the NHLPA’s executive committee. Another prominent player agent said that only a few of the players he has talked to said they would ratify a CBA that includes the provisions that have been reported.

The agent, though, said, “I think when it comes down to it, and they have it in front of them, they will change their minds.”

In hindsight, players have questioned the stand, spurred by union chief Bob Goodenow, made against a salary cap.

“We started the fight because we didn’t agree with the introduction of salary caps,” New York Ranger forward Jaromir Jagr told a Czech hockey website.

“Now, we’ll be happy to get them. We didn’t expect the owners to be so tough and persistent. It was a risk that didn’t pay off.”

Commissioner Gary Bettman canceled the season Feb. 16, making the NHL the first major sports league to drop a season. NBA officials, on both sides of the labor issue, took note of the damage caused to the NHL.

“Well, you certainly know that it’s better to be operating than not be operating,” NBA Commissioner David Stern said during a news conference Tuesday. “You know, I don’t mean to make light of it, we were certainly aware.... We know from our own somewhat bittersweet experience seven years ago what could happen to our business.”

National Basketball Players’ Assn. chief Billy Hunter didn’t mention the NHL in the news conference in San Antonio but did seem to speak to hockey’s woes.

“We decided it was time to back away from the abyss and decide if we really could do a deal,” Hunter said.

The NHL, which in 2002-03 boasted of being a $2.1-billion business, has tumbled into that abyss. Still, Bill Daly, the NHL’s chief legal officer, refused to compare the labor situations, saying, “It was a different negotiation in a different league.”

The NHL, meanwhile, has suffered severe financial damage and could lose more sponsors.

“They’re not spending 15 hours a day arguing, they are actually negotiating and working toward a new deal,” Salcer said.

“I’m concerned how long it is going to take and worried about the timing. The longer this takes, the more I see the season getting pushed back into November.”