CBA war over, not battles

CBA war over, not battles

Like the Americans who fought the Battle of New Orleans after the War of 1812 had been settled, the NHL lockout still hasn't ended for Bill Daly, although the fighting long ago stopped.

Promoted to deputy commissioner in the days after the July 22 settlement, Daly has spent the past three months working with the NHL Players' Association to hammer out the final details and interpretations of the new labor agreement.

Or, to answer fans' questions about when they might be able to see the new deal: not yet.

"There are things that come up from time to time we discuss with the union," Daly said. "At some point, probably in the not-too-distant future, we'll make some minor modifications in writing and probably have the document formally printed.

"We're not really having any problems. Things come up and we deal with them. It's kind of like a consensual clean-up."

In 1995, the two sides agreed on a memorandum of understanding to end the lockout, then got about the business of writing the actual document. This time, the owners insisted on a signed, official document, but even that wasn't ready for public consumption.

The NHLPA's Web site promises to have the CBA up "in the near future" -- and has since August. The league's lockout Web site, nhlcbanews.com, redirects surfers to the agreement FAQs on nhl.com.

So far, odd details have leaked out about the deal. A player who reaches his 600th NHL game, for example, is entitled to his own room on the road. ("I think it's the only thing we won in the CBA," Florida Panthers center Chris Gratton told the Sun-Sentinel.)

Other cap implications pop up in unexpected places. When the Philadelphia Flyers needed a replacement for Keith Primeau, they called up R.J. Umberger from their minor league team. Sort of. Umberger played for the Flyers on Sunday, was sent back down to practice with the AHL Phantoms and was back with the Flyers on Wednesday -- all to save $4,594, the amount it would have cost the Flyers against the cap if he practiced with them Tuesday.

It may seem like chump change, but for a team like the Flyers, who are skirting the $39 million cap with a payroll of about $35 million, it matters.

Each day at 5 p.m., the league office compiles each team's cap figure -- the amount spent on player salaries as of that day. Because only money spent matters, teams could end up with total salaries above $39 million after the trade deadline if they spent less to that point.

"We get a lot of questions, tons of questions, every day from the clubs," Daly said. "It's not that dissimilar from how we operated under the old CBA, but the questions are cap-specific now."

As for fans who want their questions answered, they'll have to wait a little longer, until the final skirmishes of the lockout, quiet they may be, are finally finished.