SAN JOSE, Calif. — NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says the owners aren’t “looking for a fight” when it comes to collective bargaining negotiations with the players.
The current CBA runs until 2022, but the league and players each have the option this September to terminate it effective Sept. 15, 2020. Bettman indicated Friday at a news conference at All-Star weekend that the owners are mostly satisfied with the last two negotiations that instituted a salary cap and then provided an even split of hockey-related revenues between players and owners.
“There’s no question that the league is healthier now dramatically,” Bettman said. “We wouldn’t be where we are today if we didn’t have a system that corrected some of the ills in the past. We have stability, we have competitive balance and the game is able to grow. That’s good for everyone involved with the game.”
NHLPA special assistant to the executive director Mathieu Schneider agreed that the tenor of discussions has improved in a sport that has had one strike and three lockouts since 1992, but that players want to recoup some of the losses they suffered in the last two negotiations.
Puck and player tracking is coming to the NHL next season.
Bettman announced the long-expected news Friday. The league is partnering with German-based company Jogmo World Corp. to put microchips on player jerseys and inside game pucks. Antennas in all 31 NHL arenas will track data in real time.
The NHL will join the NFL as North American professional sports leagues with wearable real-time tracking technology in games. The NBA and Major League Baseball use sophisticated systems that include radar and cameras.
Players have agreed to the tracking, but the NHL is not yet committing to a firm start date because officials say testing is ongoing. But the league is confident enough in the accuracy of the radio frequency-based system and its application for 1,271 regular-season games and the playoffs.
“This will continue to evolve and be monitored and tested and perfected over the course of the rest of this season and parts of next season,” NHL chief revenue officer Keith Wachtel said. “But this is our opportunity to say that we are far enough along where the commissioner is comfortable with the data and our broadcasters are comfortable and the NHLPA is comfortable that we can go ahead and unleash this, which we’re obviously excited about.”
The six-year effort included what NHL senior vice president of business development David Lehanski called “unforeseen” challenges, primarily with how to make the puck.