The NHL collective bargaining agreement is the basic contract between the National Hockey League (NHL) team owners and the NHL Players Association (NHLPA), designed to be arrived at through the typical labour-management negotiations of collective bargaining. The most recent agreement, tentatively reached on July 13, 2005 after a labor dispute which caused the cancellation of the 2004-05 season, was ratified by the NHLPA membership on July 21 and by the league's Board of Governors on July 22. The modernized NHL shield logo debuted in 2005, replacing the orange and black shield, which had been used since the leagues inception. ... The National Hockey League Players Association or NHLPA is a labour union that represents the interests of the hockey players in the National Hockey League of North America. ... Collective agreement is a labor contract between an employer and one or more unions. ... Insert non-formatted text here July 13 is the 194th day (195th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 171 days remaining. ... // Athletics Mens 100 metres - Asafa Powell of Jamaica sets a new world record of 9. ... The 2004-05 NHL lockout resulted in the cancellation of what would have been the 88th season of the National Hockey League (NHL). ... The 2004-05 NHL season would have been the 88th regular season of the National Hockey League (NHL). ... July 21 is the 202nd day (203rd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 163 days remaining. ... July 22 is the 203rd day (204th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 162 days remaining. ...

The previous agreement was signed in 1995 following a lockout which shortened the 1994-95 NHL season by 36 games. (None of the games scheduled for the 1994 segment of the season were ever played, the lockout lasting until after the beginning of 1995.) The collective bargaining agreement was initially to last for six seasons and be open to re-negotiation in 1998, but was eventually extended to last until September 15, 2004 (one day after the World Cup of Hockey final in Toronto). See also: 1994 in sports, other events of 1995, 1996 in sports and the list of years in sports. // Auto Racing Stock car racing: Sterling Marlin won the Daytona 500 NASCAR Championship - Jeff Gordon CART racing - season championship won by Jacques Villeneuve Indianapolis 500 - Jacques Villeneuve. ... A lockout is a work stoppage in which an employer prevents employees from working. ... The 1994-95 NHL season was the 78th regular season of the National Hockey League. ... See also: 1997 in sports, other events of 1998, 1999 in sports and the list of years in sports. // Auto Racing Stock car racing: Dale Earnhardt won the Daytona 500 NASCAR Championship - Jeff Gordon Indy Racing League - Indianapolis 500 - Eddie Cheever CART Racing - Alex Zanardi won the season championship Formula... September 15 is the 258th day of the year (259th in leap years). ... See also: 2003 in sports, other events of 2004, 2005 in sports, list of years in sports. // Events On January 28, International Olympic Committee Vice-President Kim Un-yong is arrested on charges of corruption in Seoul. ... The World Cup of Hockey is the successor to the Canada Cup ice hockey tournament. ...

On the expiration date of the old agreement, the NHL Board of Governors, representing ownership, met and unanimously decided that the 2004-05 NHL season would be delayed until a new collective bargaining agreement is signed into place. The owners' lockout of players began at 12:01 a.m. on September 16, 2004, the day most NHL training camps would have opened had the NHLPA and the NHL come to an agreement. By November 2004 it became apparent that the entire 2004-05 season was in jeopardy and supposedly "last-ditch" efforts were undertaken to avoid this, but little, if any, progress was seen during the last few months of 2004. The general consensus of many sportswriters and other knowledgeable observers was that if the entire 2004-05 season were cancelled, which indeed happened, that the owners would attempt to open training camps in September 2005 for the 2005-06 NHL season using "replacement players" who are nonmembers of the NHLPA and those willing to resign from it. The Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is the contract between the NHL and the NHLPA that defines the structure of procedural, financial, and disciplinary relationships between the NHL, its teams, and its players. ... A lockout is a work stoppage in which an employer prevents employees from working. ... September 16 is the 259th day of the year (260th in leap years). ... See also: 2003 in sports, other events of 2004, 2005 in sports, list of years in sports. // Events On January 28, International Olympic Committee Vice-President Kim Un-yong is arrested on charges of corruption in Seoul. ... November 2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December See also: November 2004 in sports November 2004 in science Events Deaths in November • 30 Pierre Berton • 29 John Drew Barrymore • 26 Bill Alley • 24 Arthur Hailey • 23 Rafael Eitan • 18 Bobby Frank Cherry • 16 John... Sportswriting is a form of journalism who writes and reports on sports topics and events. ... 2005 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Deaths in September September 28 : Constance Baker Motley September 25 : M. Scott Peck September 25 : Don Adams September 20 : Simon Wiesenthal September 14 : Robert Wise September 10 : Hermann Bondi September 8 : Donald Horne September 7 : Moussa Arafat... The modernized NHL shield logo was introduced for the 2005-06 season. ...

On February 13, 2005, the U.S. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service called a meeting between the two sides to negotiate a new deal. Three days later, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman officially cancelled the season. There was briefly hope that a season could still have been salvaged, as hockey legends Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, both now part-owners of NHL teams, brought the owners and players together for talks on February 19. However, the talks failed to bring the two sides to an agreement. February 13 is the 44th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... // Athletics Mens 100 metres - Asafa Powell of Jamaica sets a new world record of 9. ... The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service is an independent agency of the United States Government, founded in 1947, which provides mediation services to industry, community and government agencies worldwide. ... February 16 is the 47th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Gary Bruce Bettman (born on June 2, 1952 in Queens, New York) has served as commissioner of the National Hockey League since February 1, 1993. ... Wayne Gretzky in a New York Rangers uniform in 1997 Wayne Douglas Gretzky, OC (born January 26, 1961) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player who is currently part-owner and head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes. ... Mario Lemieux (born October 5, 1965, in Montréal, Québec, Canada) is a retired professional ice hockey centre who played 17 seasons for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League between 1984 and 2006. ... February 19 is the 50th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ...

Once the possibility of losing a second season to the dispute became real and the two sides realised that the dispute had alienated a large portion of the league's fan base, the league and the NHLPA resumed negotiations again in June 2005. Many pundits thought that the two sides wished to come to an agreement in early July, to coincide with the Canada Day (July 1) and United States Independence Day (July 4) holiday season. While July 4 passed without an agreement, momentum for a settlement was clearly building, with the two sides meeting every day between July 5 and July 13. Reportedly, the July 12 session lasted until 6 a.m. local time (1000 UTC) on July 13, at which time talks recessed for five hours. The sides announced their tentative agreement at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time (1630 UTC) on the 13th. Annually on Canada Day, festivities abound: in Ottawa, the national capital, celebrations on Parliament Hill include the Musical Ride of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Canada Day (French: Fête du Canada) is Canadas national holiday. ... July 1 is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 183 days remaining. ... In the United States, Independence Day (commonly known as the Fourth of July or simply the Fourth) is a federal holiday celebrating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. ... July 4 is the 185th day of the year (186th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 180 days remaining. ... July 4 is the 185th day of the year (186th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 180 days remaining. ... July 5 is the 186th day of the year (187th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 179 days remaining. ... Insert non-formatted text here July 13 is the 194th day (195th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 171 days remaining. ... July 12 is the 193rd day (194th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 172 days remaining. ... Insert non-formatted text here July 13 is the 194th day (195th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 171 days remaining. ... EST is UTC-5 The North American Eastern Standard Time Zone (abbreviated EST) is a geographic region that keeps time by subtracting five hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) resulting in UTC-5. ...

The most important provision of the new collective bargaining agreement is an overall salary cap for all NHL teams, tied to league revenues. The agreement also phases in a reduced age for free agency, which will eventually give players unrestricted rights to negotiate with any team at age 27 or after 7 years in the NHL, whichever comes first. In sports, a salary cap is a limit on the amount of money a team can spend on player salaries, either as a per-player limit or a total limit for the teams roster (or both). ... In North American professional sports, particularly baseball, football, and basketball, a free agent is a team player whose contract with a team has expired, and the player is able to sign a contract with another team. ...

See also

• 1994-95 NHL lockout
• 1994-95 NHL season
• 2004-05 NHL lockout
• 2004-05 NHL season

The 1994-95 NHL lockout came after a year of NHL hockey that was played without a CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement). ... The 1994-95 NHL season was the 78th regular season of the National Hockey League. ... The 2004-05 NHL lockout resulted in the cancellation of what would have been the 88th season of the National Hockey League (NHL). ... The 2004-05 NHL season would have been the 88th regular season of the National Hockey League (NHL). ...

External links

• NHL CBA main page
• Text of the CBA (PDF format)
• League-run page on the CBA negotiations, including articles regarding the lockout
• NHLPA site
• NHL main page