"Never" Finally Arrives: NHL Players Agree to Salary Cap

"There will never be a salary cap," said Bob Goodenow last fall. "(The lockout) may last a year, it may last two or three years, but we will never accept a salary cap."

But according to media sources in Canada, the executive director of the NHL Players' Association has finally backed down. The players and the league have signed off on a salary cap, and are ready to move on to other issues in the negotiation of a new collective agreement.

The Toronto Globe and Mail reports that the cap is tied to team-by-team revenues, with a floor of $22-$24 million per team and a ceiling of $34-$36 million. How the system accounts for the wide variation in revenues across the league is not clear. But it is said to include a payroll tax to redistribute some of the wealth.

Assuming the report is accurate, it's the most tangible evidence yet that the players need the game a lot more than the owners do. Brendan Morrison of the Vancouver Canucks acknowledged as much today.

"I guess it boils down to what's best for the game - and what's best for the game is to get back on the ice and play," Morrison tells the Vancouver Sun. "So if that means us maybe taking the brunt of the sacrifices, it looks like that's what we're willing to do."

"I guess hindsight is always beautiful and it's easy for people to now say, 'Why weren't you guys just resigned to this deal at the beginning of last year?' Well, nobody knew it was going to play out this way."

But it's a little early to count this as a big win for the owners. Until we know all the details of the new salary structure and see it in action for a couple of years, it's impossible to tell whether this is a hard salary cap, or another system filled with loopholes the players can take advantage of.

Update, June 9 - Response to the Globe and Mail report is mixed: