NHL Lockout Finally Over
Ice hockey fans across Canada and the United States are heaving a collective sigh of relief that the NHL lockout is finally over, which went on for an excruciating 113 days and resulted in the cancellation of 625 regular season games between October of last year and now.
In case you have been living under a deserted ice hockey for the last few months, the lockout was the result of a labor dispute between the owners of the various NHL teams (represented by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman) and the players (represented by the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA)).
Money at the Heart of NHL Lockout
Unfortunately as is the case in most professional sports these days, greed was at the heart of the dispute. In short the team owners sought to reduce the players' guaranteed 57% share of hockey-related revenues, alter free agency rules, do away with arbitration with regards to salaries and introduce contract term limits.
Eventually the team owners and players reached a preliminary settlement involving a new 10-year "collective bargaining agreement," effectively ending the lockout. However, there are still many issues that need to be ironed pout between both parties. The lockout is estimated to have cost the sport tens of millions of dollars each day.
And while there is little doubt that the lengthy NHL lockout has left many hockey fans furious at having to twiddle their thumbs for more than three and a half months, at least they can take some solace in the fact that roughly half the season will still be saved, with games expected to resume in the next week for so.
NHL Oddsmakers Prepare to Post Odds
That means NHL handicappers who have been collecting cobwebs for the past months can start to post 2012-13 NHL season betting odds once again. But while NHL oddsmakers continue to shake off the dust at most land and online sportsbooks, the big hockey news concerns Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo.
You may recall how following the Canucks' disappointing first-round exit to the Los Angeles Kings in the playoffs last year, the team from Vancouver opted to trade Luongo, and make way for Cory Schneider. However, the lockout put paid to any trade plans, which means Luongo may have earned himself a reprieve.
The reason is that because just under half the season is left, the Canucks can do one of two things. The first is to continue with their plans to trade Luongo with the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are in dire need of a decent goalie, and the second is to hang on to Luongo, to hedge their bets in case Schneider gets injured.
2012-13 NHL Winner Betting Lines
Luongo's tweet from Sunday "So (what) do we do now?" indicates that be has no idea which route the Canucks will take, but whatever it is, it will be very interesting to see how Luongo performs this season - regardless of who he ends up playing for. Watch this space for the latest 2012-13 NHL winner betting lines.
