Tag Archives: collective bargaining agreement

Gillis says he’s in no hurry to trade Luongo

Posted on January 13, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

VANCOUVER - Vancouver Canucks general manager Mike Gillis insisted Sunday that goalie Roberto Luongo's long-term contract is not an issue in his trade discussions with potential suitors.

Speaking to reporters Sunday on Day One of training camp, Gillis said he's already had “lots of discussion” with other GMs but is no hurry to deal Luongo unless, or until, his demands are met.

“We're at a point with this team where we want specific types of players coming back to us that can help us today and down the road,” Gillis explained. “I think that's a reasonable request so we're going to stick to it.”

Translation: Gillis is seeking at least a current roster player and a quality prospect. He rejected the notion that Luongo's back-diving contract – it has 10 years and $47.3 million remaining – will scare off rival GMs, especially with the penalty that accompanies it under the new CBA for early retirement. Luongo is 33.

“There's been a lot...

Canucks star Roberto Luongo in town, keeps head above clouds as trade talks swirl (with video)

Posted on January 10, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

VANCOUVER — There never seems to be a dull moment when it comes to Roberto Luongo — is he staying? is he going? — and he's done nothing to quell the interest with his twitter alter ego @Strombone1.

Luongo has shown the public a wicked sense of humour rarely seen in his post-practice and game scrums at Rogers Arena. This week he tweeted “if this keeps up I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have to go on meds” in response to the new CBA 'Luongo Rule' and then the Brian Burke firing in Toronto.

On Thursday, when asked if he was flying to Vancouver, he tweeted a photo from far above a cloud bank and replied: “Is that good enough?”

After then touching down at YVR, a more subdued Luongo told Sportsnet he is not on edge about his situation.

“I've been around a long time and I've learned how to deal with these things a bit better,” said the 33-year-old netminder....

Canucks won’t be helped by NHL’s new ‘Luongo Rule’

Posted on January 8, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

VANCOUVER — Officially, it’s called the “cap-recapture system,” but it has already been dubbed “The Luongo Rule.”

It’s one of the new wrinkles of the collective bargaining agreement hammered out between the NHL and its players and serves to punish not only teams that have signed players to lengthy back-diving or front-loaded deals, but also those teams who acquire a player with such a contract via trade.

And it doesn’t figure to make it any easier for the Canucks to deal goalie Roberto Luongo, who has 10 years remaining on the 12-year contract he signed with Vancouver.

Here’s how it works and keep in mind the salary cap penalties take effect only if a player retires before the end of his contract.

Let’s assume — because nearly everyone is — that Luongo gets traded before this season starts to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Canucks would be responsible for the cap benefit they enjoyed during the first two years of Luongo’s deal.

Luongo’s salary...

So-called Luongo rule: petty, vindictive, counterintuitive — and ‘cute’

Posted on January 8, 2013 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

Don’t expect NHL general managers to play nice when they are forced to deal with the vindictive, petty clause Gary Bettman made sure to include in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The clause works like a time machine, going back to penalize teams which signed mega-long-term deals to take full advantage of a loophole Bettman and his negotiating team left gaping in the last CBA. It has been dubbed the Luongo Rule. To which Luongo responded on Twitter with, “Seriously how cute is that?”

The "Luongo Rule"? Seriously how cute is that? #adorbs #garybest
—
Strombone (@strombone1) January 08, 2013

It may be cute to him, but it is irritating and troubling for NHL executives who will be penalized for signing the so-called back-diving deals, which were all permissible under the old CBA. If the league had an issue, they could have voided the contracts and sanctioned the teams who signed them.

Instead, the...

End of NHL lockout a win for Vancouver businesses (with video)

Posted on January 6, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

Jessica Kelly was getting home from work around 3 a.m. Sunday in Vancouver just as the news began to break: the 113-day NHL lockout was finally over.

The manager of G Sports Bar and Grill on Granville Street checked and double-checked to make sure it was true.

“I was so happy I couldn’t even sleep,” she said. “I could just see dollar signs in my mind. I was really happy.”

Even with college basketball’s March Madness and the Superbowl coming up, hockey is the bread and butter of the business. “With those two put together, it’s nothing compared to what we’ll get for hockey,” Kelly said. While unable to give exact dollar figures, Kelly said bar and food sales have declined about 45 per cent since the lockout began in September. With football games and UFC fights picking up a bit of the slack, the bar — which has seven satellites and caters to out-of-town hockey fans, not just Canucks diehards...

Canucks: Kesler says no timeline for his return

Posted on January 6, 2013 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

Welcome to The Amazing Race.

In a sprint toward the playoffs, a shortened NHL season will challenge the Vancouver Canucks to meet long-standing expectations of returning to Stanley Cup contention with a roster that will look different when the puck is dropped. When a tentative collective bargaining agreement was reached early Sunday morning it placed management in the starting blocks to trade Roberto Luongo, get a better timeline on Ryan Kesler’s rehab from offseason shoulder and wrist injuries, figure out their riddles in the middle and add a depth defenceman.

When Kesler was re-evaluated in early December at the Cleveland Clinic to assess progress from a May 8 procedure on his left shoulder and a June 27 surgery on his left wrist, it was determined that the rehab load placed on one side of his body was taking a toll and that progress to build strength and range of motion had been slow. It led to his agent declaring that...

No matter what the schedule, a 48-game Canucks season will be a grind

Posted on January 2, 2013 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

It’s no secret significant travel challenges await the Vancouver Canucks should a collective bargaining agreement be struck and allow a 48-game schedule to commence Jan. 19. What remains a mystery is how the process will actually play out.

The defending Presidents’ Trophy winners haven’t been told what to expect or how their slate of games will be divided between the Northwest Division and the remainder of the Western Conference.

If they have a day off between games on the original 2012-13 schedule, there won’t be another jammed in the middle. That makes sense. And while that may be of some comfort, the Canucks know it’s going to be a grind. A real grind.

No matter what math or personal preference you apply to the 48-game equation, it could go something like this: seven games against each of four division rivals and a home-and-away against 10 other conference teams or five versus each in the division and the same home-and-away in...

NHL, NHLPA kick off 2013 with full day of labour talks

Posted on January 1, 2013 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

NEW YORK — The push towards a deal that would save a shortened NHL season continued Tuesday.

The league and union were gearing up for a full day of talks with a deadline looming to reach a new collective bargaining agreement.

After the NHLPA presented a counter-proposal on Monday, small groups from each side held a conference call early Tuesday afternoon. Another face-to-face meeting was expected to commence at the league office around 6:30 p.m. ET.

The talks are being held with an eye on preserving at least a 48-game schedule — the same number that was played following the 1994-95 lockout. An agreement would need to be in place by Jan. 11 for that to happen.

"What we've said is we need to drop the puck by Jan. 19 if we're going to play a 48-game season," commissioner Gary Bettman said Monday. "We don't think it makes sense to play a season that is any shorter than that."

League officials met well...

Kuzma: Canucks preparing for the unknown

Posted on December 29, 2012 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

The first post-lockout domino should fall in these parts like a giant Douglas fir if the Vancouver Canucks expect to maximize a return for Roberto Luongo. Should a shortened season come to fruition, a 48-game sprint will test the Presidents’ Trophy winners resolve to not trip over expectations or run out of gas. Or run out of bodies.

“We’re definitely confident,” said defenceman Kevin Bieksa. “But it’s going to be a unique situation. We don’t know how much time we’ll have (to get ready) and we’ll still probably have a few little changes to our lineup.”

In the big picture they may be little. But they will be important.

What the Canucks could or should ice if play commences Jan. 19 starts in goal. Cory Schneider has honed his game in Switzerland and by being crowned the starter in the third game of the Stanley Cup playoffs last spring — in advance of his three-year, $12 million US contract extension —...

Canucks say NHL’s latest proposal addressing buyouts, contract lengths is a positive sign

Posted on December 29, 2012 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

No sooner did a trio of Vancouver Canucks respond Friday to leaked details of the NHL’s latest collective bargaining agreement proposal than the union advised its members to zip their lips. A conference call to review the league’s 300-page document and a crafted response from NHL Players’ Association executive director Donald Fehr would come first. Then perhaps a counter-proposal. Any necessary venom would be spewed later or not at all.

After the sides talked on the phone Saturday in an information session, they agreed to continue the process Sunday and meet face-to-face in New York where there could be a bargaining session.

However, by not initially taking the league to task on only moving contract lengths from five to six years, adjusting contract variance from five to 10 per cent and insisting that one contract buyout next summer that won’t count agains the salary cap will allow teams to comply to a $60 million US ceiling, the union is biting...

Gallagher: NHL takes, players give, league says ‘We want more’

Posted on December 19, 2012 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

There is always something strangely odd about lockouts in professional sports.

But this latest NHL effort, in which hockey played at its highest level has disappeared from view, has really set new standards in bizarre.

Take a look at what happened just right here in Vancouver on Wednesday.

The Vancouver Canucks are head and shoulders the most prestigious sports franchise in the city, yet here were the team’s general manager Mike Gillis and his assistant Laurence Gilman asking the TEAM 1040 radio station whether they could appear for one hour on the B-Mac and Taylor afternoon drive program to essentially let people know that their team still existed.

And they were quick to let the fans know they appreciated their patience.

“When the time comes that there will be hockey played again, and we certainly hope that it is sooner than later, we will do everything in our power to assure our fans that they have not been taken for granted in this...

Ten issues facing the post-lockout Canucks: Depth at centre

Posted on November 29, 2012 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

If and when the NHL returns to action, the Vancouver Canucks are facing a few issues.

After all, they were unexpectedly bounced from the first round of the playoffs last spring, and they’ll return to the league with pretty much the same lineup that couldn’t get the job done.

Over the course of 10 days, Jason Botchford and Ben Kuzma are examining 10 issues that might concern the Canucks and their fans. Follow the series here, where we’ll add a new installment each day.

4. Depth at centre
When the Canucks were at their best in 2010-11, third-line centre Manny Malhotra was a viable Selke Trophy candidate at the three-quarter mark of the season. Then came his eye injury, which made offseason training impossible, and a 2011-12 season in which Malhotra was always struggling to catch up. The Canucks’ depth at centre depends so much on whether Malhotra’s last season was an aberration, or the new norm. And they won’t find...

Canucks: Cory Schneider considers Eurpoe

Posted on October 23, 2012 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

Straight from the file of “discouraging signs about the lockout,” Cory Schneider is now considering his options in Europe.

A member of the NHLPA’s bargaining committee, Schneider had long said he was avoiding the idea of playing overseas. It was going to be his last resort. Well, guess where we are if there’s not a deal this week?

If a collective bargaining agreement isn’t reached by Thursday, many expect what happens next is an extended cooling-off period, which could put the negotiations in a deep freeze. It could be for weeks. It could be longer.

“It would have to become more realistic, for sure,” Schneider said when asked about the possibility of going to Europe if there’s no CBA next week. “If they decide to go into a deep freeze, who knows when they will talk again or when this will get sorted out.

“If everyone is going to start heading over there with bad news, (jobs) are going to start filling...

Jason Garrison uses lockout to kick groin injury

Posted on October 22, 2012 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

Jason Garrison has made a couple of plans.

The first: to be ready if a training camp was held last month. The next: to be ready for start of the NHL season on Nov. 2, should a collective bargaining agreement be struck this week.

As long as a chronic groin ailment doesn’t force the Vancouver Canucks defenceman to extend his current rehab sessions, he won’t have to come up with yet another plan.

“The process is good and I’m making sure I’m working hard every day so I can put this in the past,” Garrison said Monday following his initial skating session with Canucks skills coach Glenn Carnegie at UBC.

“I’ve had [groin] issues the last couple of years, but I’ve done a lot to get past them. It’s just using this time now productively, which is the best way to put it, and really make sure this comes to an end.

“With the situation that happened [the lockout], it really allowed me...