No worries for NHL fans anymore. The NHL lockout finally reached an agreement on January 6, after 16 continuous hours of negotiating. After 113 days in which both parties could not find a common ground to settle on.
“I thought the lockout would last all season, I’m just happy it’s started back again,” said Albert Lea High School junior and hockey player, Adam Syverson.
The dispute cancelled 625 of 1,230 regular season NHL games, including the 2013 NHL Winter Classic between Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs. Also cancelled was the 2013 All-Star Game scheduled for Jan. 27. Many players continued to play hockey but had to move to either Canada or Europe for the duration of the lockout. The players also lost 40% of their profit and owners lost $8 to $10 million a day.
The NHL 2012-13 lockout began mid-September because an agreement could not be made between the league’s franchise owners, led by commissioner Gary Bettman, and National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA). The NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement could not be reached before the deadline; therefore, a lockout was in order. Three of the main issues in the agreement were players’ salary caps, contract lengths and pensions.
Both parties met several times and couldn’t agree on their personal demands. One mediation session was held by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service on Nov. 28 and 29, and the mediators eventually quit because they could not help with the demands of both parties.