NHL to Lockout Players Thursday

As predicted the National Hockey League and the Player's Association are headed for a lockout. The dispute is over salaries. Owners want a salary cap and players do not. Many teams are losing money and there is talk of eliminating franchises in a league that has added four teams since the last labor stoppage in 1994. That lockout lasted 103 days and cost over 300 million to teams. This time around teams have created lockout funds for such a circumstance; players on their own and the Player's Association have also been saving up for a protracted holdout.

Viewership is down: According to Wired magazine more people now watch professional bowling on TV than watch the NHL. With 30 teams, stagnant revenues, declining ratings, and average salaries having jumped from about 500k in 1994 to 1.8 million today, something has to give. In 1994 the league, fresh off an exciting Rangers Cup win appeared on the rise. This time the facts are less in the player's favor.

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