Were the Dispute, the Lockout, and the Cancellation of the 2004-2005 Nhl Season Necessary and Inevitable Events?

Were the dispute, the lockout, and the cancellation of the 2004-2005 NHL season necessary and inevitable events?

Executive Summary

On February 16, 2005, National Hockey League Commissioner, Gary Bettman, announced an official cancellation of the 2004-2005 season. The NHL lockout during the 2004-2005 season was the first lockout in major American professional sports history. The NHL and the NHLPA strived to satisfy their own interests on a new collective bargaining agreement and the two sides were severely damaged by the 2004-2005 lockout in the end. The current project will figure out effective negotiation skills and styles so that the two sides can be both beneficiaries from their negotiation.

Background

In 1957, there was the first unionization effort by Ted Lindsay, who was Detroit Red Wing’s captain, to protect players’ right in the National Hockey League (NHL). Even though Ted Lindsay, as the first president of the union, struggled to revise the ownership structure, in which the owners gained all of the money from a television deal, a lack of cohesion among players and failure to overcome intense pressure from team owners caused the union to dissolve after only about a year of operation.

The National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) was established in 1967 with the extraordinary efforts of Toronto lawyer and players’ agent Alan Eagleson. The NHLPA had a great deal of influence in the NHL league thanks to Eagleson’s outstanding management skills. However, he was fired due to financial corruption and his position in 1992, and was replaced by tough negotiator Bob Goodenow, a labor lawyer and an agent.

Under NHL executive director Goodenow’s leadership, players united themselves against the NHL to demand full control of the marketing rights. Following a 10-day strike, from April 1 to 11, 1992, the players were given full control. They were granted the right to choose arbitrators in salary disputes, a reduction in the age for unrestricted...