Posted on 06/01/2005 9:41:04 AM PDT by Major Matt Mason
If the NHL and NHLPA can't work out their labour problems soon, a rival league is in the works.
According to the Toronto Star, players are considering a plan to work with former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and Canadian diplomat Maurice Strong to form the International Hockey Association.
The league would reportedly need to raise as much as $5 billion (U.S) to get the league off the ground, according to a plan reviewed by the paper.
Ted Saskin, senior director of the NHLPA, said the union has been approached by several different groups proposing alternative options for its members.
"Most of these groups have made these proposals on a confidential basis and the NHLPA will not be commenting on them. Our primary focus has always been to reach an agreement with the NHL on a new CBA (collective bargaining agreement)."
With files from the Toronto Star
Wasn't a revival of the WHA already announced?
Plenty of rival leagues are already there, there just needs to be one to step up to the plate and try to fill the void. I think the AHL is the most likely to pull it off.
The longer this goes, the dimmer my memory for hockey gets.
Seems to me that the NHL wanted to prove to me that I don't need hockey in my life. This keeps up and I may start believing them.
Maybe. Something has gotta happen soon or hockey will be just relegated to a trivia question.
Not gonna happen. Remember the NFL replacement games..the players put on?
Yeah, but that doesn't solve the problem of empty arenas in major cities. I live near Hershey, so the Bears are a team that I'm familiar with. But I wouldn't hold my breath thinking that we're going to get a major infusion of talent or replace the Philadelphia Flyers.
And what is this basketball you speak of?
A lot of AHL teams play in the same city as NHL teams, some are even in the same building. Others are in places where the NHL probably should have expanded during (instead of) their southward push. And if the NHL continues its meltdown the AHL teams should see a major infusion of talent, guys gotta work.
You know, Modano even sold his house because of the lockout.
Doesn't the AHL have a limit on how many players may have NHL/European experience? They'd need to repeal that. Having done that, if the NHL self-destructs, then the AHL could become its replacement.
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