{"id":45091,"date":"2012-08-29T10:23:13","date_gmt":"2012-08-29T15:23:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/?p=45091"},"modified":"2020-08-24T21:18:33","modified_gmt":"2020-08-25T02:18:33","slug":"college-hockey-has-eyes-on-hopes-for-nhl-collective-bargaining-negotiations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2012\/08\/29\/college-hockey-has-eyes-on-hopes-for-nhl-collective-bargaining-negotiations\/","title":{"rendered":"College hockey has eyes on, hopes for NHL collective bargaining negotiations"},"content":{"rendered":"
Hockey has a distinct hierarchy and whatever happens at the top affects everyone else in some way. One needs to look only at the results of the 2004-05 NHL lockout that brought sweeping changes to hockey’s entire landscape.<\/p>\n
In addition to new on-ice rules, there were many changes to how players’ contracts could be structured, when players could sign and how much they could be paid on entry-level deals within the new collective bargaining agreement. As a result, the NHL got younger in a hurry, which has had a lasting impact on college hockey.<\/p>\n
“When they made the last agreement, they felt the rule that they put in place was going to benefit college hockey, but unfortunately it didn’t do that,” Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves said. “It definitely hurt our game because players are leaving earlier and there was a higher turnover ratio.”<\/p>\n
“I think when the CBA came out the first time around, the general managers tried to think about college hockey and they thought it would actually be a benefit,” Miami coach Enrico Blasi said. “In reality it hasn’t been a benefit. You just don’t know the consequences until you dive into what exactly the process is and all the stuff that’s going on.”<\/p>\n
Among the unintended consequences, the NHL’s entry-level contract structure made it more appealing to sign players younger and also made college free agents more attractive to sign. Additionally, the NHL shortened its draft from nine rounds to seven, which left more college players without draft rights tying them to a team and thus made for even more college free agents available.<\/p>\n