1 effect on nhl , nhlpa
1.1 europe
1.2 north america
1.3 international hockey
effect on nhl , nhlpa
nhlpa executive director , general counsel bob goodenow, seen many biggest villain in lockout because of hardline stance against salary cap, resigned position 5 days after agreement ratified amid criticism many of constituents. replaced ted saskin, formerly senior director of business affairs , licensing nhlpa. saskin officially named executive director of nhlpa on november 25, 2005, after players vote of confidence confirmed accounting firm pricewaterhousecoopers.
nhl executive vice president , chief legal officer bill daly promoted deputy commissioner after lockout. both saskin , daly had played key role in brokering current agreement.
the lockout did franchises better manage finances , increase value. combined receiving stable national tv rights deal in united states nbc , versus (which later became sister networks due comcast nbc merger) , launch of nhl network, 26 of 30 nhl franchises saw increase in value since before lockout. leading way pittsburgh penguins, team cited before lockout benefit lockout due financial problems related former team owner howard baldwin deferring player salaries in 1990s (leading team s second bankruptcy in 1998) , former star player mario lemieux (who became team s owner due being team s largest creditor) dictating team cut costs in order eliminate debt baldwin era. since lockout, penguins value increased league-high 161.4%, due in no small part changing financial landscape of nhl winning sidney crosby sweepstakes after lockout ended , construction of consol energy center replace aging mellon arena. teams have lost value before lockout phoenix coyotes (whose financial problems since lockout have been well-documented), new york islanders, dallas stars, , colorado avalanche.
europe
the majority of players agreed play in other professional hockey leagues playing in europe. during 2004–05 season, 388 nhl players played in european leagues. popular countries russia, 78 nhl players, sweden, 75 nhl players, czech republic, 51 nhl players, finland, 45 nhl players , switzerland 43 nhl players. in many cases, players had begun careers in europe returned same teams lockout.
russian superleague (now khl) team ak bars kazan signed 11 nhl players, including ilya kovalchuk, aleksey morozov, , vincent lecavalier while pavel datsyuk played hc dynamo moscow, patrik elias played czech hc jme znojemští orli , russian metallurg magnitogorsk, , czech superstar jaromir jagr played hc kladno , avangard omsk. morozov never returned nhl after 2004 (retiring khl after 2013-14 season), , jagr later play 3 additional seasons avangard.
other czech players returned czech republic, including milan hejduk (hc pardubice), martin straka (hc plzeň), ales hemsky (hc pardubice) , martin rucinsky (hc litvínov).
swiss nationalliga had own nhl stars when canadians joe thornton , rick nash signed hc davos, danny brière , dany heatley signed sc bern of swiss league. lockout major benefit swiss ice hockey.
swedish superstar peter forsberg returned original club, modo (although forsberg had been planning on playing modo if season had been played). returning modo along forsberg canucks teammates daniel sedin, henrik sedin, , markus näslund, of whom drafted modo, while still others joined other elitserien sides. elitserien games being broadcast rogers sportsnet in canada.
finnish sm-liiga had share of players during lockout. notable finnish players included saku koivu (tps, first professional team), olli jokinen (hifk), jarkko ruutu (hifk) , vesa toskala (ilves). teemu selanne made contract jokerit began professional career, injuries prevented him suiting entire season. foreign players included john madden played 2 games hifk, sean avery, had brief stint pelicans, brian campbell played jokerit , hal gill played lukko. sm-liiga featured 3 top goaltenders dwayne roloson played lukko, tomas vokoun played hifk , tim thomas (who had had 3 previous stints in sm-liiga) played jokerit, leading team championship finals , being awarded league s valuable player award. finnish mestis featured nhl talent when sami kapanen , kimmo timonen played kalpa. timonen , kapanen partially owned team , duo joined adam hall played kalpa during lockout.
erik cole, olaf kolzig, , nathan dempsey among notable players go germany play in deutsche eishockey liga.
latvian league club hk riga 2000, played in belarusian extraleague, signed several nhl players. 2 of them latvians karlis skrastins , sergei zholtok , third american darby hendrickson, close friend of zholtok. after zholtok died due heart condition, hendrickson left club, skrastins finished season club.
a number of nhl players went great britain. in elite ice hockey league, coventry blaze signed wade belak, cardiff devils signed rob davison, london racers signed eric cairns , scott nichol, , nottingham panthers signed nick boynton, ian moran, steve mckenna. mckenna used season play adelaide avalanche in australian ice hockey league. in british national league, guildford flames signed jamie mclennan , david oliver, bracknell bees signed brendan witt while newcastle vipers signed chris mcallister. in 2008, mccallister signed vipers second time.
another notable move came karl dykhuis. signed amsterdam bulldogs in netherlands.
chris mason (nashville), scott hartnell (nashville) , travis brigley (colorado) became norwegian champions vålerenga ishockey. in addition, mark bell, @ time playing chicago blackhawks, played norwegian get-ligaen club trondheim black panthers.
several nhl players signed in italian league serie a, including eric belanger bolzano-bozen foxes, craig adams milano vipers, matt cullen sg cortina , fernando pisani scl tigers, among others. calgary flames players steve montador , steven reinprecht won french ligue magnus hc mulhouse.
rob niedermayer , jason strudwick played in hungarian league ferencvárosi tc.
most of nhl players playing european clubs had contract clauses allowing them leave nhl once lockout ended.
north america
there 2 attempts form alternative professional leagues in north america during lockout, both failed. revival of world hockey association had been planned since 2002 , start play shortly after lockout expected begin. despite having former wha star bobby hull commissioner, however, league never got off ground. lack of stable financing undermined plans sign both locked-out players , top prospects such sidney crosby.
another league, original stars hockey league (oshl), established in canada , expected play four-on-four games between 6 teams (ostensibly representing original 6 cities) in various canadian cities until lockout settled. more 100 players purportedly signed play in oshl. league debuted on september 17, 2004 in barrie, ontario, canada. in inaugural game, toronto defeated detroit 16–13. next , last game played in brampton, ontario boston defeating montreal 14–11. jerseys worn players based on original 6 (boston, chicago, detroit, montreal, new york, toronto), had words oshl in white, 3 stars patches on shoulders instead of team logos or cities. however, escalating salary demands players bankrupted league. shortly after first 2 games, oshl president randy gumbley announced league had received firm commitments twenty players, , league folded.
nhl players looking place play preferred stable, established european clubs upstart leagues have since been derisively dubbed fly-by-night operations critics. small number of players played established minor league teams near families , homes, while others chose repay league gave them start returning.
the motor city mechanics of uhl got major boost during first year in existence when lockout officially started. team signed detroit red wings players chris chelios, derian hatcher, , kris draper. happened because derian hatcher knew team playing @ great lakes sports city superior arena played growing up. because of visa problems kris draper never played game mechanics. later on signed bryan smolinski , sean avery , able roll 4 nhl players on opponents. of players had experience or connection area.
the echl gained players. scott gomez played hometown team, alaska aces , won echl s valuable player award, while curtis brown, wife native of southern california, played san diego gulls, , bates battaglia joined younger brother anthony on mississippi sea wolves roster. pair of nashville predators teammates, shane hnidy , jeremy stevenson, both of whom had careers in echl, returned league , found playing against each other in first round of kelly cup playoffs, hnidy s florida everblades faced stevenson s south carolina stingrays in american conference quarterfinals.
some prospects may have never had serious given chances thought never have. undrafted journeyman chris minard had been signed alaska third season in echl when lockout allowed davis payne assign him on same line gomez @ aces. gomez saw gem led 2005 echl all-star game, , top echl player season; pairing led gomez giving minard shot after lockout ended, , played way ahl, , signing two-way contract pittsburgh penguins, receiving in 2007–08 first call-up nhl. minard said experience, s when learned lot being goal-scorer, playing guy can pass puck. pretty cool experience.
in addition, many younger players impact players on nhl rosters stayed down in american hockey league full season – notably jason spezza, won league scoring title , mvp awards – changing aspect of league s entire season. record crowd of 20,103 fans packed wachovia center in philadelphia game 4 of calder cup finals between philadelphia phantoms , rosemont s chicago wolves. wolves, rochester americans, manitoba moose, hamilton bulldogs, , bridgeport sound tigers each saw attendance figures increase on ten percent 2003 2004 in ahl, moose average attendance soaring 24.09 percent previous year. in echl, gwinnett gladiators, san diego gulls, bakersfield condors, , charlotte checkers saw similar gains, atlanta thrashers-affiliated gladiators receiving gain of on 20 percent in attendance previous year.
however, lockout negatively affected many minor-league players, influx of nhl players forced many play in lower-level leagues less money or out of jobs altogether.
in addition, other minor hockey leagues benefited lack of competition major professional league. ontario hockey league particular beneficiary, teams such london knights , saginaw spirit garnering considerable attention. lack of stanley cup playoffs created increased interest in 2005 memorial cup tournament record tv ratings. governor general of canada adrienne clarkson mused publicly possibility of awarding stanley cup best women s hockey team year, idea unpopular instead clarkson cup created. 2005 allan cup in lloydminster attracted elevated national media interest.
in western hockey league, calgary hitmen watched team in north america, averaging 10,062 fans per game. season total of 362,227 shattered whl , chl records , represented 33% increase on 2003–04. vancouver giants experienced massive increase, finishing second in whl 302,403 fans going through turnstiles.
international hockey
the lockout had substantial effect on international tournaments run international ice hockey federation. notable effect observed in 2005 world junior ice hockey championships in grand forks, north dakota, , thief river falls, minnesota. nhl inactive, top eligible u-20 players not playing in league , available countries tournament. country benefitted result canada. canadians not ended seven-year gold medal drought @ competition, outscored opponents 41–7 , defeated russia 6–1 in final game. many analysts believe canadian team dominating ever in tournament, aided in no small part players such patrice bergeron have expected have commitments in nhl.
at time 2004–05 season canceled, not clear how lockout affect 2005 world ice hockey championships. normally, nhl players teams failed qualify stanley cup playoffs participate in tournament. since no playoffs being held, theoretically nhl players participate. in reality, however, many nhl players declined participate, , national teams naturally reluctant select players lacked game conditioning. of teams (including north american ones), bulk of national teams rosters consisted of players playing in europe.
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