9°c Partly cloudy
19°c Variable cloudiness
Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
CBA now a done deal: We have NHL liftoff
Owners and players officially end lockout
Winnipeg Jets Captain Andrew Ladd speaks to reporters after skating with Jets players and local pros Friday the MTS Sportsplex. Tim Campbell story (WAYNE GLOWACKI/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Winnipeg Free Press Sept. 28 2012
IT lasted for 113 days, most of them frustrating, and then carried on with nearly another full week of limbo before the NHL and NHLPA were able to officially put the lockout behind them.
The green light on the 2013 NHL season came mid-evening Saturday when the league and its players union put ink to paper on a memorandum of understanding. They had agreed on the terms of a new collective bargaining agreement in the wee hours of last Sunday morning.
The MOU was reportedly a hefty legal document several hundreds of pages long that will provide the platform for the league's restart.
The Jets' schedule was announced late Saturday night.
A version of it appeared on Twitter on Friday but was not correct, only a draft.
A 48-game season opens Saturday, including an afternoon contest featuring the Ottawa Senators at the MTS Centre against the Winnipeg Jets at 2 p.m.
Winnipeg's first road game is one week from Monday, an afternoon game in Boston.
The NHL's owners endorsed the labour agreement last Wednesday, 30-0.
The players began voting on it late Thursday and wrapped up the electronic balloting Saturday morning. The NHLPA tally was 667 yes, 12 no, giving it a 98.2 per cent approval among those who voted. Eighty-four players among the NHLPA's 763 did not vote.
"I don't think there are any surprises," Jets captain Andrew Ladd said. "You saw by the amount of guys headed back to their cities and getting ready to play that most guys were going to be in favour of ratifying it.
"I think it was just more of a formality, making sure everything was good, that everything that was agreed upon was in the agreement."
Most teams, including the Jets, have been holding informal practices or on-ice workouts, where the players run matters by themselves or with fitness trainers but without their real NHL coaching staffs.
Today will be the first day NHL coaches are permitted to do 100 per cent of the jobs with their teams.
"Everyone's excited to get playing now and focusing on getting this game back where it needs to be," Ladd said.
The Jets and the NHL confirmed that Winnipeg's Southeast Division games will include five each against Washington and Florida and four each against Tampa Bay and Carolina.
The Capitals have three games of their five vs. the Jets in Winnipeg -- including a concession by the NHL to allow a double-header here March 21 and 22 -- while the Jets have three of five at Florida.
That's 18 games, and the other 30 are made up by playing each of the other Eastern Conference teams three times apiece.
Among those opponents, the Jets drew two home games and one road game against Boston, the Islanders, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Toronto.
The season will end April 27 (April 25 for the Jets) and the Stanley Cup playoffs begin April 30. The league's trade deadline is expected to fall on April 3.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 13, 2013 B3
More Local
- Back to Top
- Return to Local
More Local
(1 of 50 articles for this week)
Athletes could sit under new school rules
1:00 AM 0School-switching star athletes won't be forced to sit out a year of varsity sports -- until at least the fall ...
Poll
Most Popular Local
- Flood money paid for CEO's romantic trip
- Crash claims two young women, RCMP say
- First Nation celebrates groundbreaking on city's first urban reserve
- Housing a little more expensive in Manitoba: RBC
- Lake St. Martin reserve close to getting new home
- Some good news, some bad news from weatherman
- Manitoba senators weigh in on scandal
- 'I told them, "I think that guy downstairs is dead"': teen witness at murder trial
- Drug dealer sentenced to 3½ years in prison
- Jockey club launches $350-M civil suit against province
- Charleswood deaths being investigated as domestic incident
- Man charged, victims identified in double homicide
- Man dies after being pulled from vehicle submerged in Winnipeg retention pond
- Flood money paid for CEO's romantic trip
- Crash claims two young women, RCMP say
- Developers to unveil plans for bold downtown tower
- Police identify slaying victims
- Apple trick on Ellen falls short for city woman
- Aboriginal leader Elijah Harper dies
- 'Responsible Winnipeg' ads appear on sign run by mayor-owned Goldeyes' baseball park
- Hundreds pitch in to dig out houses damaged, destroyed by Ochre Beach ice floe
- A child-custody catastrophe
- Charleswood deaths being investigated as domestic incident
- Man charged, victims identified in double homicide
- Co-worker 'sick' today? Maybe it's the $17M flu
- Man dies after being pulled from vehicle submerged in Winnipeg retention pond
- '2 minutes after I read the winning numbers, I retired': Winnipeg lotto winner
- Parents, community relieved and elated as missing boy found safe
- No threat from bag found at Winnipeg Square
- Man missing since 2009 found safe
- Baby steps toward empathy
- Flood money paid for CEO's romantic trip
- U of M president targets low tuition
- City chiropractor guilty of beating, sexually assaulting ex-girlfriend
- Drug dealer sentenced to 3½ years in prison
- New units to help keep invasive aquatic species out of province
- Housing a little more expensive in Manitoba: RBC
- Jockey club launches $350-M civil suit against province
- New provincial restrictions on buying cigarettes
- Bethania board puts CEO on leave amid probe
- Developers to unveil plans for bold downtown tower
- Crushing blow for amateur sport
- Aboriginal leader Elijah Harper dies
- Fishing for fashion
- Famous city grocer loved job, customers
- Core grocer a challenge: expert
- Grocer Joe Cantor dies at 88
- Newly minted MD a beacon for kids in youth program
- North End proud
- Power restored to Linden Woods after goose collides with lines
- Hundreds pitch in to dig out houses damaged, destroyed by Ochre Beach ice floe
- Mental-health patients get own ER
- A child-custody catastrophe
- An uncommon phenomenon
- Steen invests $1M in family entertainment centre
- Earls on Main going, but new one coming
- Province introduces changes to rules governing landlords, renters
- Developers to unveil plans for bold downtown tower
- Crushing blow for amateur sport
- Boost same-sex curricula: union
Ads by Google
You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.
Have Your Say
New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.
The Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010.