NHL: The Pros and Cons of Players Competing in Europe During a Lockout

September 11th, 2012 by Steve Silverman Leave a reply »


A lockout appears to be on the horizon.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said that if the league and the Players' Association did not have an agreement by Sept. 15, players would be locked out and that training camp would not go on as scheduled.

The NHL has a poor track record as far as labor negotiations are concerned. Owners and players did not come to an agreement in 2004-05 and the season was cancelled. Players were forced to consider other leagues outside of North America if they decided they needed the money to survive or if they just wanted to play.

This is an option that is not as plentiful in other sports. There are no meaningful options for NFL players in a similar work stoppage. There might be a few limited opportunities in Asia for Major League Baseball players in Asia.

NBA players would have some options, but not as many as NHL players who could compete in Russia, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Finland and Germany. Sweden may not be an option because the Swedish Elite League does not allow its member clubs to sign locked-out NHL players to temporary contracts until the NHL would actually cancel the season ...

Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
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