This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses.

A National Hockey League labor dispute in the United States and Canada lasted between September 16, 2004 and July 13, 2005. The NHL and the National Hockey League Players Association have been unable to agree to a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) which will govern the basic relationship between the NHL's clubs and the players. The current CBA, in effect since 1995 expired on September 15, 2004 (one day after the World Cup of Hockey final in Toronto). When no agreement was reached by then, a lockout commenced. Sporadic negotiations have been unable to resolve the dispute, and on February 16, 2005 the remainder of the 2004-05 NHL season was cancelled. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Ongoing events • 2005 Atlantic hurricane season • 2005 Gujarat Flood • 2005 Pacific hurricane season • Expo 2005 in Aichi, Japan • Fuel prices • Gomery Comm. ... September 16 is the 259th day of the year (260th in leap years). ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... July 13th is the 194th day (195th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 171 days remaining. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ... The National Hockey League (NHL) is a professional sports organization composed of ice hockey teams in the United States and Canada, where it is also known by its French name, Ligue Nationale de Hockey. ... 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. ... 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. ... Our list of National Hockey League players is divided into three lists: List of current NHL players List of retired NHL players List of members of the Hockey Hall of Fame Categories: Lists of sportspersons ... The NHL collective bargaining agreement is the basic contract between the NHL team owners and the NHL Players Association, designed to be arrived at through the typical labour-managment negotiations of collective bargaining. ... 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... September 15 is the 258th day of the year (259th in leap years). ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other hockey World Cups, see World Cup (hockey) for disambiguation The World Cup of Hockey is the successor to the Canada Cup ice hockey tournament. ... }|135px|City of Toronto, Ontario Official Flag]]|Coat Image=[[Image:{{{Coat Image}}}|135px|City of Toronto, Ontario Coat of Arms]]}} {{Canadian City/Disable Field={{{Disable Motto Link}}}}} Motto: Diversity Our Strength {{Canadian City/Location Image is:{{{Location Image Type}}}|[[Image:{{{Location Image}}}|thumbnail|250px|City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada Location. ... A lockout is a work stoppage in which an employer prevents employees from working. ... Negotiation is the process whereby interested parties resolve disputes, agree upon courses of action, bargain for individual or collective advantage, and/or attempt to craft outcomes which serve their mutual interests. ... February 16 is the 47th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ...

The league is believed to have saved $300 million to sustain itself during the lockout, and the NHLPA is believed to have a substantial strike fund of its own. The United States dollar, or American dollar, is the official currency of the United States. ...

A showdown over the CBA had been predicted by many hockey analysts for the past few years. Ice hockey, known simply as hockey in areas where it is more common than field hockey, is a team sport played on ice. ...

A tentative deal was reached at 12:30pm Eastern time on July 13, 2005. It is expected to take a week for ratification before the deal is officially done. July 13th is the 194th day (195th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 171 days remaining. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ... Ratification is the process of adopting an international treaty, or a constitution or other nationally binding document (such as an amendment to a constitution) by the agreement of multiple subnational entities. ...

Issues

The NHL, under Commissioner Gary Bettman is attempting to convince players to accept a salary structure which will guarantee the clubs what the league calls cost certainty. According to an NHL-commissioned report prepared by former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Arthur Levitt, NHL clubs currently spend about 76 percent of their gross revenues on players' salaries (a figure far higher than those in other North American sports) and collectively lost 273 million dollars in the 2002-03 NHL Season. National Hockey League Commissioner is the highest executive official since 1993. ... Gary Bruce Bettman (born on June 2, 1952 in Queens, New York) is a former NBA executive who took office as the commissioner of the National Hockey League on February 1, 1993. ... The Securities and Exchange Commission, commonly referred to as the SEC, is the United States governing body which has primary responsibility for overseeing the regulation of the securities industry. ... Arthur Levitt Jr. ... World map showing location of North America A satellite composite image of North America North America is a continent in the northern hemisphere, bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west... The 2002-03 NHL season was the 86th regular season of the National Hockey League. ...

On July 21, 2004, the league presented the NHLPA with six "concepts" to achieve "cost certainty". These concepts are believed to have ranged from a hard (inflexible) salary cap similar to the one used in the National Football League to a centralized salary negotiation system similar to that used in Major League Soccer. According to Bettman, a luxury tax similar to the one used in Major League Baseball will not satisfy the league's objectives with respect to cost certainty. Most sports commentators did see Bettman's plan as reasonable but some critics pointed out that a hard salary cap without any revenue-sharing was an attempt to gain the support of the big-market teams (that did not support Bettman in the 1994 NHL lockout) such as Toronto, Detroit, New York Rangers, Dallas, and Philadelphia. The National Football League has both a hard salary cap and extensive revenue-sharing. July 21 is the 202nd day (203rd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 163 days remaining. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 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). ... NFL logo The National Football League (NFL) is the largest and most popular professional American football league, consisting of thirty-two teams from American cities. ... MLS logo Major League Soccer (MLS) is the top soccer league in the United States in the American Soccer Pyramid, sanctioned by the professional division of the United States Soccer Federation (USSF or U.S. Soccer), a member of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). ... A luxury tax in the sports sense is a surcharge put on the aggregate payroll of a team to the extent to which it exceeds a predetermined guideline level set by the league. ... MLB logo Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of play in professional baseball in the world. ...

The NHLPA, under Executive Director Bob Goodenow, currently disputes the league's financial claims. According to the union, "cost certainty" is little more than a euphemism for a salary cap which they had vowed never to accept, but later began to entertain. On August 18, the union rejected each of the six NHL "concepts", claiming they all contained some form of salary cap. The NHLPA would prefer to retain the present "marketplace" system where players individually negotiate contracts with teams and teams have control of how much they want to spend on players. However, the union has proposed a system since October 1, 2003 that includes revenue sharing, a luxury tax, a one-time five percent rollback in players' salaries and reforms to the league's entry-level system. The league rejected this proposal. At a meeting of the two sides' executive committees on September 9, 2004 the NHLPA made another proposal to the league that is believed to be similar to their earlier proposal. The league again rejected the union offer, claiming the union's new proposal to be worse than the offer they rejected in 2003. The union offer was widely criticized by sports commentators as falling far short of fixing the economic problems because of the weak luxury tax and small rollback. Robert (Bob) W. Goodenow (born October 29, 1952 in Dearborn, Michigan) became the Executive Director of the National Hockey League Players Association in 1992, succeeding the controversial Alan Eagleson. ... A union (labor union in American English; trade union, sometimes trades union, in British English; either labour union or trade union in Canadian English) is a legal entity consisting of employees or workers having a common interest, such as all the assembly workers for one employer, or all the workers... A euphemism is an expression intended by the speaker to be less offensive, disturbing, or troubling to the listener than the word or phrase it replaces. ... August 18 is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... A marketplace is the space, actual or metaphorical, in which a market operates. ... October 1 is the 274th day of the year (275th in Leap years). ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A luxury tax in the sports sense is a surcharge put on the aggregate payroll of a team to the extent to which it exceeds a predetermined guideline level set by the league. ... September 9 is the 252nd day of the year (253rd in leap years). ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

After that, the negotiations stopped for several months. On December 9, 2004, NHLPA made a highly anticipated proposal still involving a luxury tax but increasing the proposed one-time rollback in players' salaries from 5 to 24 percent, which reduced the salary levels to the owner's desired level although there was no guarantee that salaries would remain that low. The NHL rejected the offer and countered with a proposal that included what it considered to be cost certainty and modified the union's rollback proposal. That offer was rejected by the union. December 9 is the 343rd day (344th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

11th hour discussions were held on January 19, 2005, without the participation of Bettman, Goodenow, and the negotiators from both sides. The NHL was represented by Executive Vice President Bill Daly and Board of Governors Chairman Harley Hotchkiss, who also co-owns the Calgary Flames, and the NHLPA was represented by President Trevor Linden and Senior Director Ted Saskin. Each side also had a lawyer present. January 19 is the 19th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ... The Calgary Flames are a National Hockey League team based in Calgary, Alberta. ... Trevor Linden Trevor Linden, formerly van der Linden, (born April 11, 1970 in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada) is a professional Ice Hockey center in the NHL, playing for the Vancouver Canucks. ...

The next day, the same group met again without Hotchkiss, who was not available. After the meeting, Daly said the two sides "still have very strong philosophical differences" but that they would meet again. However, Linden posted a message on the NHLPA's internal website stating that he saw no need for further meetings because the league still refused to compromise on the salary cap issue.

Two more meetings with this group (including Hotchkiss) were held on January 26, 2005, and January 27, 2005. New Jersey Devils General Manager and CEO Lou Lamoriello joined the original group of 6 at the request of Bettman. There are conflicting reports on the proposal the league presented, but all say it included a salary cap, which the players refused. Once again, Saskin emerged saying the sides still had "significant philosophical differences". January 26 is the 26th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ... January 27 is the 27th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ... The New Jersey Devils are a National Hockey League team based in the Continental Airlines Arena of the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey. ...

On February 2, 2005, the league, represented only by Bill Daly and outside counsel, presented the union, represented only by Ted Saskin and outside counsel, with a formal proposal that included a revised arbitration system, maintenance of guaranteed player contracts, and a salary range tied to team revenues starting at $32 million to $42 million. The agreement would run through 2010-11, and the NHLPA would have the unilateral right to reopen the agreement after 2008-09. The players' association, represented by Saskin, rejected the proposal, saying that it was "not the basis for an agreement." According to Daly, the NHL felt the proposal made many concessions to the players, including the retention of guaranteed contracts and salary arbitration, and concessions relating to free agency and the entry level contract system. February 2 is the 33rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ... In North American sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has run out and is now free to sign with another team. ...

On February 5, it was announced that the February 3 negotiations had failed. On February 9, Bettman declared that if the lockout was not resolved by the weekend, there would be no hope of saving the season. When talks broke off between the NHL and the NHLPA the next day, there was no progress in negotiations.

On February 14, the union offered to accept a $52 million salary cap under the condition that it was not linked to league revenues. The league proposed a counteroffer with a $40 million cap plus $2.2 million in benefits, which the players association refused. The next day, Bettman sent Goodenow a letter[1] with a final proposal of a $42.5 million cap plus $2.2 million in benefits, setting a deadline of 11:00 the next day to accept or refuse the offer. The NHLPA presented a counteroffer involving a $49 million cap, which the league refused.

With no resolution by the 11:00 deadline, Bettman announced the cancellation of the 2004-05 season on February 16, 2005, making the NHL the first major professional sports league in North America to cancel an entire season because of a labor dispute. February 16 is the 47th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ...

On February 18, The Hockey News reported that a deal with a $45 million cap had been reached "in principle" with the help of owners Wayne Gretzky, a former player, and Mario Lemieux, a current player. Both camps immediately denied this report. A 6½-hour meeting took place on February 19, 2005, but no agreement was reached. Wayne Gretzky playing for the New York Rangers in 1997 Wayne Douglas Gretzky, OC (born January 26, 1961) is a former professional ice hockey player. ... Mario Lemieux (born October 5, 1965 in Montreal, Quebec) is a professional hockey player. ... February 19 is the 50th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ...

Lockout

After not reaching an agreement in the negotiations, the NHL announced that by a unanimous decision of all clubs, a lockout would begin on September 16, 2004. As a result, it was believed likely that the 2004-05 NHL Season would be cancelled, which indeed happened. An even more pessimistic prediction is that two seasons will not take place, at least not without declaring an impasse as discussed below. September 16 is the 259th day of the year (260th in leap years). ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The 2004-05 NHL season would have been the 88th regular season of the National Hockey League. ... For a place in the Oio Region, Guinea-Bissau, see Impasee, Guinea-Bissau Bargaining impasse occurs when the two sides negotiating an agreement are unable to reach an agreement and become deadlocked. ...

A Canadian public opinion poll conducted by Ipsos-Reid in September 2004 found that 52 percent of those polled blamed NHL players for the lockout and only 21 percent blamed the owners of NHL teams. This may be due to the fact that the NHL has put much more effort into the public relations war than the NHLPA has, leading to a large amount of one-sided public feeling on the issue. The NHLPA had not changed its position despite public opinion against them and reiterated that irresponsible big-market NHL owners (such as Detroit and New York Rangers) were to blame for driving up salaries. However, many doubt the sincerity of the NHLPA since union leaders desire a system that allows big-market owners to drive up salaries. Ipsos-Reid is a research company founded in 1975 by Didier Truchot, a Paris-based communications specialist. ... -1... Public relations (PR) deals with influencing public opinion, through the presentation of a clients image, message, or product. ...

In November 2004, Forbes magazine issued a report estimating the NHL's losses to be less than half the amounts claimed by the league, bolstering the union's claims regarding the league's financial data. In response, the NHL claimed that the magazine did not have access to all of the teams' financial data and the Forbes report has had minimal impact on negotiations. 2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December See also: November 2004 in sports November 2004 in science 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 Morgan • 13... Alternate meaning: For the Boston Brahmin family associated with John Forbes Kerry, see Forbes family. ...

Effect on other leagues

As of December 2004, the majority of the NHLPA's membership have not agreed to play in other leagues. The NHLPA is distributing modest lockout pay, and some NHL players have argued that NHLPA members should not take jobs away from other players during the dispute. Despite this, a sizeable minority of NHL players have agreed to play elsewhere. On January 15, 2005, with hopes for a season fading, the NHLPA was believed to have advised its members to seek employment elsewhere and even accept contract offers that extend into the 2005-06 season. 2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Deaths in December • 30 Artie Shaw • 29 Julius Axelrod • 28 Jacques Dupuis • 28 Jerry Orbach • 28 Susan Sontag • 26 Reggie White • 26 Sir Angus Ogilvy • 23 P. V. Narasimha Rao • 23 Doug Ault • 19 Renata Tebaldi • 16... January 15 is the 15th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ... 2006 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Europe

The majority of players who have agreed to play elsewhere were playing in Europe. 388 NHL players played in European leagues during 2005/2006 season. The most popular countries were Russia, with 78 NHL players, Sweden, with 75 NHL players, and the Czech Republic, with 51 NHL players. Russian Elite league team AK Bars, Kazan signed 11 NHL players, including Ilya Kovalchuk and Vincent Lecavalier. Pavel Datsyuk played for Dynamo Moscow. Czech superstar Jaromir Jagr plays for Avangard Omsk. Other Czech players returned to the Czech Republic, including Milan Hejduk, Martin Straka, Ales Hemsky and Martin Rucinsky. Canadians Joe Thornton and Rick Nash signed with HC Davos of the Swiss league. Swedish superstar Peter Forsberg returned to his original club, MODO Hockey, in a move that he had planned before the lockout. Several other Swedes, including Daniel and Henrik Sedin, joined Forsberg at MODO; still others joined other Elitserien sides. Most of the NHL players playing for European clubs have contract clauses allowing them to leave for the NHL once the lockout ends. For the Japanese emperor, see Emperor Kazan of Japan. ... Ilya Kovalchuk (Russian: Илья Ковалчук; born April 15, 1983, in Tver, USSR) is a professional Ice Hockey Left Wing in the NHL, playing for the Atlanta Thrashers. ... Vincent Lecavalier (born April 21, 1980 in Ile Bizard, Quebec, Canada) is a Canadian professional hockey player who currently plays for the Tampa Bay Lightning. ... Pavel Datsyuk (born July 20, 1978, in Sverdlovsk, USSR (now Yekaterinburg, Russia)) is a Russian-born professional hockey player. ... Dynamo Moscow (Dinamo Moscow, Dinamo Moskva, Russian: Динамо Москва) is a Russian sports club, based in Moscow. ... Jaromir Jagr (born February 15, 1972 in Kladno, Czechoslovakia) is one of the top ice hockey players in the NHL. Career overview Jagr currently plays with the New York Rangers. ... Milan Hejduk (February 14, 1976 in Ústí nad Labem, Czechoslovakia) is a professional ice hockey player who currently plays for the Colorado Avalanche. ... Ales Hemsky (born 13 August 1983, Pardubice, Czech Republic) plays right wing for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League. ... Martin Rucinsky (born March 11, 1971 in Most, Czech Republic) is a professional ice hockey player in the National Hockey League. ... Joe Thornton (born July 2, 1979, in London, Ontario) is a professional Ice Hockey Center in the NHL, playing for the Boston Bruins. ... Rick Nash (born June 16, 1984, in Brampton, Ontario) is a professional Ice Hockey Left Wing in the NHL, playing for the Columbus Blue Jackets. ... Hockey Club Davos is Swiss ice hockey club from Davos. ... Peter Forsberg (born July 20, 1973 in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden) is a center/left winger for his hometown team, MODO Hockey. ... MODO Hockey is an ice hockey team in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. ... Daniel Sedin (Born September 26, 1980 in Örnskoldsvik, Sweden) is a professional ice hockey player for the National Hockey Leagues Vancouver Canucks. ... Henrik Sedin (Born September 26, 1980 in Örnskoldsvik, Sweden-) is a professional ice hockey player for the National Hockey Leagues Vancouver Canucks. ... In Sweden, Elitserien is the name of the highest-level league in various sports. ...

North America

As of December 2004, there have been two attempts to form alternative professional leagues in North America during the lockout, but both appear to have failed. 2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Deaths in December • 30 Artie Shaw • 29 Julius Axelrod • 28 Jacques Dupuis • 28 Jerry Orbach • 28 Susan Sontag • 26 Reggie White • 26 Sir Angus Ogilvy • 23 P. V. Narasimha Rao • 23 Doug Ault • 19 Renata Tebaldi • 16... World map showing location of North America A satellite composite image of North America North America is a continent in the northern hemisphere, bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west...

The new World Hockey Association had been planned since 2002 and was to start play shortly after the lockout was expected to begin. Despite having former WHA star Bobby Hull as commissioner, however, the league is not expected to play a game before the 2005-06 season, if ever. A lack of stable financing undermined plans to sign both locked-out players and top prospects such as Sidney Crosby. The old World Hockey Association (WHA) merged into the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1979. ... 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The World Hockey Association (French: Association Mondiale de Hockey) was a professional ice hockey league in North America from 1972 to 1979. ... Bobby Hull on the Chicago Blackhawks Robert Marvin Hull, born January 3, 1939 in Pointe Anne (near Belleville), Ontario, Canada, is regarded as one of the greatest ice hockey players and perhaps the greatest left winger to ever play the game. ... Crosby at the World Juniors, the youngest team member at age 16 Sidney Crosby (born August 7, 1987, in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, Canada) is an amateur ice hockey player in the Québec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). ...

Another league, the Original Stars Hockey League (OSHL), had been established in Canada and was expected to play four-on-four exhibitions games in various Canadian cities, until the lockout was settled. More than 100 players, including Dominik Hasek, signed up to play in the OSHL. However, escalating salary demands by players quickly bankrupted the OSHL after a few exhibition games. The league is not expected to play any further games. The Original Stars Hockey League (OSHL) was formed in 2004 after the National Hockey League enacted a lockout upon the expiration of the leagues collective bargaining agreement with the NHL Players Association. ... Dominik Hašek (born January 29, 1965 in Pardubice, Czech Republic), often called The Dominator, is a professional ice hockey goalie; as of 2004, he plays for the NHL Ottawa Senators. ...

As of the time of this writing, it would appear that NHL players looking for a place to play now prefer stable, established European clubs to upstart leagues that are now being derisively dubbed as "fly-by-night" operations by their critics. A small number of players play for established minor league teams. In particular, Scott Gomez is playing for his hometown team, the Alaska Aces of the ECHL. Minor leagues in the sense intended in this article are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. ... Scott Gomez (born December 23, 1979, in Anchorage, Alaska) is an American professional ice hockey player. ... The Alaska Aces are a minor league ice hockey team in Anchorage, Alaska. ... The ECHL is a professional hockey minor league based in the United States and Canada, generally regarded as being a tier below the American Hockey League. ...

In addition, minor hockey leagues have benefitted from the lack of competition from the major professional league. The Ontario Hockey League is a particular beneficiary, with the coinciding record breaking undefeated streak of the London Knights garnering considerable attention. The lack of the Stanley Cup playoffs also created increased interest in the 2005 Memorial Cup tournament with record TV ratings. A typical OHL hockey game. ... The London Knights are an ice hockey team from London, Ontario, Canada, playing in the Ontario Hockey League, one of the leagues of the Canadian Hockey League. ... The Stanley Cup is inscribed with the names of all the players on the teams that have won it. ... The 2005 Memorial Cup will be held May 21-29, 2005 at the John Labatt Centre in London, Ontario. ...

International hockey

The lockout has already had a substantial effect on international tournaments run by the International Ice Hockey Federation. The most notable effect was in the recent 2005 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Grand Forks, North Dakota and Thief River Falls, Minnesota. With the NHL not playing, the top eligible U-20 players were not playing in that league and thus were available to their countries for the tournament. The country that benefitted most as a result was Canada. The Canadians not only ended a seven-year gold medal drought at this competition, they outscored their opponents 41-7 and defeated Russia 6-1 in the final game. Many analysts believe that the Canadian team was the most dominating ever in this tournament, aided in no small part by players such as Patrice Bergeron who could have expected to have commitments in the NHL. Founded in 1908, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), is a federation of member national hockey associations governing the sport of ice hockey and in-line hockey for both men and women, based in Zürich, Switzerland. ... The 2005 World Junior (Under 20) Ice Hockey Championships was held between December 25, 2004 and January 4, 2005 at the United States. ... Grand Forks City Hall Grand Forks is a United States city located in the state of North Dakota. ... Thief River Falls is a city located in Pennington County, Minnesota. ... This article is about gold medal, as an award or prize. ... Patrice Bergeron (born July 24, 1985 in Ancienne-Lorette, Quebec) is a Canadian ice hockey centre in the National Hockey League. ...

At the time that the 2004-05 season was cancelled, it was not immediately clear how the lockout would affect the 2005 World Ice Hockey Championships. Normally, NHL players from teams that failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs participate in this tournament. Since the playoffs were not being held, theoretically all NHL players could participate. In reality, however, many NHL players declined to participate, and national teams were naturally reluctant to select players who lacked game conditioning. For all of the teams (including the North American ones), the bulk of the national teams' rosters consisted of players currently playing in Europe. The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation since 1930. ... The Stanley Cup is inscribed with the names of all the players on the teams that have won it. ... A playoff in sports (North American professional sports in particular) is a game or series of games played after the regular season is over with the goal of determining a league champion. ... World map showing location of North America A satellite composite image of North America North America is a continent in the northern hemisphere, bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west... A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ...

It is also unclear how the lockout will affect the ice hockey tournament of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. Since the 2004-05 season has been cancelled, it is likely that the current agreement regarding the use of NHL players by the International Olympic Committee will be suspended. However, locked out players could still theoretically participate if the lockout is not settled by February 2006. This is supposedly a large issue being negotiated between the league and the union, the union hoping to play in the Olympics again, while the league is afraid that halting the league for 17 days in the middle of the season will hurt the chances of fans coming back to the game. It has been reported that a deal between NHL and players may involve the participiation in 2006 Winter Olympics, together with the elimination of 2006 All-Star Game, to avoid two stoppages in NHL play. See also: 2006 Winter Paralympics The XX Olympic Winter Games will be held in Turin, Italy from February 10 to 26. ... Location Region Piedmont Province Turin Area   – Total   – Water 130 km&sup2 (50 mi²) ##.# km² (#.# mi²) #.##% Population   – Total (2002)   – Density 857,433 6,596/km² Time zone CET: UTC+1 Latitude Longitude   45°04′ N 7°40′ E1. ... The International Olympic Committee is an organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin in 1894 to reinstate the Ancient Olympic Games held in Greece, and organise this sports event every four years. ...

Repercussions

The NHL, becoming the first professional sports organization in North America to lose an entire season due to a labor dispute, may very well have crippled the little fan base it had. Hockey is considered a distant fourth in the "Big Four" of North American sports (The others being Baseball, Football and Basketball). Fans may feel betrayed due to the lack of effort put in by Bob Goodenow and Gary Bettman, and may not choose to attend games. Others may find it difficult to attend games: with the NHL's ticket prices already being very high, ticket prices may take another increase in order to make up for the money that was lost during the labor dispute. Baseball is a team sport, in which a fist-sized ball is thrown by a defensive player called a pitcher and hit by an offensive player called a batter with a round, smooth stick called a bat. ... An Australian rules football match at the Richmond Paddock, Melbourne, in 1866. ... Basketball Basketball is a ball sport in which two teams of five players each try to score points by throwing a ball through a hoop. ...

NHL teams have also taken great losses. The 2005 NHL Draft had been cancelled, but looks to be rescheduled to a later date, including a draft lottery to determine draft order. The 2005 NHL Draft will be an extremely important draft, due to the eligibility of budding young star Sidney Crosby, who is anticipated to go first overall. Crosby at the World Juniors, the youngest team member at age 16 Sidney Crosby (born August 7, 1987, in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, Canada) is an amateur ice hockey player in the Québec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). ...

Jeremy Roenick of the Philadelphia Flyers recently had choice words to say to the fans of the game that see players as being spoiled. Roenick told these fans to kiss an explicit part of his body, and accused them of being jealous, going even further to tell them not to come to the games and not to watch it. The league had already lost many fans with the nearly 300 day long lockout, and Roenick's comments may have driven out most of the rest of the fans. Jeremy Roenick on the Phoenix Coyotes. ... The Philadelphia Flyers are a National Hockey League team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

Possibility of impasse

Since the 2004-05 season has been cancelled, there is now the possibility that the league could declare an impasse. Under American labor law, the league could proceed to unilaterally impose new work rules and sign replacement players for the 2005-06 NHL season. For a place in the Oio Region, Guinea-Bissau, see Impasee, Guinea-Bissau Bargaining impasse occurs when the two sides negotiating an agreement are unable to reach an agreement and become deadlocked. ... Labor law or labour law is the body of laws, administrative rulings, and precedents which address the relationship between and among employers, employees, and labor organizations, often dealing with issues of public law. ... The 2005-06 NHL season will be the 88th season (originally the 89th season) of the National Hockey League. ...

Such a move would carry legal complications. Declaring an impasse under such circumstances would almost certainly be legal under U.S. labor laws. In Canada, however, labor relations are under provincial jurisdiction and the authorities in many provinces are more favourable to unions. The labor law of many provinces does not recognize an employer's right to declare an impasse, or, in British Columbia and Quebec, even to hire replacement workers. While using replacement players in concurrence with the American teams would not likely be a problem for the two Albertan clubs, the other four teams may run into legal challenges from the NHLPA. Relocation of these four teams is also not an option, due to the potential of labor-related fines. However, it is to be noted that the NHLPA is not certified as a union in British Columbia, while in Quebec, NHL players are not covered under the Quebec labor code. The field of labor relations looks at the relationship between management and groups of workers represented by a labor union. ... This article is about political regions. ... The term jurisdiction has several meanings. ... Motto: Splendor Sine Occasu (Splendour without diminishment) Other Canadian provinces and territories Capital Victoria Largest city Vancouver Lieutenant Governor Iona Campagnolo Premier Gordon Campbell (BC Liberal) Area 944,735 km² (5th)  - Land 925,186 km²  - Water 19,549 km² (2. ... During the 1960s, a terrorist group known as the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) launched a decade of bombings, robberies and attacks on government offices. ... Motto: Fortis et Liber (Strong and free) Other Canadian provinces and territories Capital Edmonton Largest city Calgary Lieutenant Governor Norman Kwong Premier Ralph Klein (PC) Area 661,848 km² (6th)  - Land 642,317 km²  - Water 19,531 km² (2. ... Motto: Splendor Sine Occasu (Splendour without diminishment) Other Canadian provinces and territories Capital Victoria Largest city Vancouver Lieutenant Governor Iona Campagnolo Premier Gordon Campbell (BC Liberal) Area 944,735 km² (5th)  - Land 925,186 km²  - Water 19,549 km² (2. ... During the 1960s, a terrorist group known as the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) launched a decade of bombings, robberies and attacks on government offices. ...

It is important to note that the fact that impasse is not available in Canada means that the pressing issue - as it pertains to Canadian labour law - is the owners' right to use replacement players, not whether there is an impasse. Therefore, many Canadian legal experts believe that the NHL would actually have a much easier time trying to implement a new economic system in Canada than they would have in the U.S., at least in Alberta and Ontario. Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Loyal it began, loyal it remains) Other Canadian provinces and territories Capital Toronto Largest city Toronto Lieutenant Governor James K. Bartleman Premier Dalton McGuinty (Liberal) Area 1,076,395 km² (4th)  - Land 917,741 km²  - Water 158,654 km² (14. ...

Should replacement players be used, the American teams may only use American players while the Canadian teams (if they were to be operational) may only employ Canadian replacement players, due to immigration laws in both countries. This might also mean that Canadian teams would not be able to play against American teams.

The NHLPA is thought to be preparing other contingencies in preparation for a possible impasse. The union has been in close contact with its player agents, who must carry NHLPA certification in order to negotiate on behalf of union members. The union is believed to be in the process of imposing new rules for agents, such as forbidding them from negotiating contracts in leagues where the NHLPA does not have a CBA. The NHLPA may also form a rival, union-run league. Look up Agent in Wiktionary, the free dictionary An agent is an autonomous entity with an ontological commitment and agenda of its own. ... A certification, or qualification, is a designation earned by a person, product or process. ...

Perhaps the most serious caveat to any impasse declaration is how fans would react. If few NHLPA members cross the picket line, the NHL could find itself using replacement players of a substantially inferior skill level to the NHLPA membership. Fans might not accept this "new" NHL, especially if the union starts its own league or the WHA manages to commence operations.

External links

Official sites run by the parties involved

• Everything about the NHL CBA, including latest on current status (run by the league)
• NHLPA website

News coverage

• CBC coverage of dispute
• List of NHL players playing in Europe

Fan viewpoints

• Fans Strike Back
• Free Stanley: Restore the Challenge