The 2004-05 NHL Lockout

September 16th, 2004 was one of the darkest days in the history of the National Hockey League, as league commissioner, Gary Bettman, announces, “It is my somber duty to report that in today’s meeting, the NHL Board of Governors, unanimously reconfirmed, that NHL teams will not play at the expiration of the CBA [Collective Bargaining Agreement].” This was the start of the 2004-2005 National Hockey League lockout, where all 30 teams were not able to play hockey for an entire season. On the day of the announcement; many fans, players, and staff of the NHL, and their respected teams, were left with holes in their hearts and huge disappointment. There were many hardships during this event, and this lockout ultimately changed the league forever.

There were many reasons for the National Hockey League’s lockout of the 2004-2005 season. One of the most important issue, however, was the creating of the salary cap. Before the lockout the NHL teams were spending about 76% of their revenues, on average, on the players’ salaries. Compared to other pro sports leagues, this was a lot. The NBA team owners, for example, would spend about 58% of team revenues on their players. This was a huge issue and caused many teams to lose extreme amounts of money; some teams, in fact, even had to declare for bankruptcy. The league needed to fix this mess, so they decided to propose a salary cap to the league owners, in order to set a limit of how much money they can spend on their players.

This idea may have sounded assuring to the owners, but to the players it was the complete opposite. In the season prior to the lockout, NHL players were making an average of 1.8 million dollars, and they did not want to see that number go down. The players and the NHLPA [National Hockey League Players Association] hated this idea. “Bottom line,” says Toronto Maple Leaf defensemen and NHLPA representative Bryan McCabe, “if they want a hard [salary] cap, we’ll sit out the rest of our lives.” This may not be a great mindset for the fans of the game, but this just shows how divided, and complicated, the situation in the NHL had gotten in late 2004.

With the players and staff facing the inevitable, their had to be a decision for how they will make money as their league is locked out. To solve this problem many NHL players decided to take their talents to other leagues around the world. One of these players was Scott Gomez, who played for the New Jersey Devils in the NHL at that time. Gomez was raised in Alaska where he harnessed his hockey skills as a kid in the local rinks of Anchorage. To pay tribute to his native state, Gomez decided to play for the Alaska Aces of the ECHL during the lockout. In 61 games, Gomez finished off the season with 86 points, thirteen goals, and 73 assists. “It’s been great for me and my family and friends”, says Gomez, “I wanted to give back to my community, give back to the people who helped me get where I’m at.”

Other players followed in Gomez’s footsteps, and played in other leagues as well. Some of these players included Rick Nash of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Joe Thornton of the San Jose Sharks; both deciding to play in Switzerland for HC Davos of the National League (NLA). Other players decided to opt for playing in the NHL’s affiliate league, the American Hockey League (AHL). Jason Spezza of the Ottawa Senators and Michael Cammalleri of the Los Angeles Kings are examples of those players. Both had spectacular seasons with their AHL teams; with Spezza recording 117 points (32 goals, 85 assists) for the Binghamton Senators and Cammalleri coming out with 109 points (46 goals, 63 assists) for the Manchester Monarchs. Although these players had very successful seasons with their respected teams, they would, no doubt, have preferred to make their marks in the NHL that season; and possibly win a Stanley Cup.

Months and months have passed with numerous failed negotiation attempts between the NHLPA, the Board of Governors and Gary Bettman; but on July 13th, 2005 all that changed. After hours and hours of persuasion, angst, and most likely dozens of cups of coffee; a resolution was finally created. The CBA decided on a $39 million salary cap for the first year after the lockout. This cap will fluctuate, based on the revenue the NHL creates, year to year.

Although it was over, the NHL lockout had a huge effect on hockey for years to come. NHLPA Executive Director Bob Goodenow resigned from his position; with the spot being filled by former senior director of business affairs Ted Saskin. European leagues received huge attention and are now more popular than ever in the hockey community; and now NHL hockey fans are stronger and happier than ever before, ever since Gary Bettman announced in mid-July, 2005, “Our Board of Governors gave its unanimous approval to a collective bargaining agreement (CBA), that signals a new era for our league.”