This is not the NHL versus the NHL Players Association all over again, is it?
NHLPA voting to ratify the 2013 Collective Bargaining Agreement ended around 8 this morning, we don’t know the results of that vote at this time but it’s safe to assume the CBA was ratified. With the NHL Board of Governors having ratified the CBA on Wednesday, it looks like everything is aligned and we can get on with the release of schedules and official player movement can take place, right?
Well, not quite. The lockout cannot be lifted and the league can’t get back in gear until the actual paperwork is done and a Memo of Understanding has been signed. From Kevin Allen of USA Today:
The MOU is the memo of understanding, which contains all of the major points of the CBA. Both sides need to sign off on that before the NHL can officially lift the lockout and announce schedules, etc.
Legal language, it’s hard enough to understand… Think about the job it takes to write it all out!
So, once again, we’re in a holding pattern… That, or more aptly, we’re listening to the Final Jeopardy theme song. The problem is, this likely won’t only last 30 seconds… But it will be shorter than a four-month wait we’ve endured to get to this point, that being the verge of a new Lightning season.
