NHL wants `labour certainty´ before going forward with World Cup for 2020
(The Star Movies)

The NHL is gunning for a World Cup in the fall of 2020, but says it needs to have a deal for it in place with NHL Players Association by the end of January.That’s where things get tricky.The current collective bargaining agreement expires in 2022, but both sides have a right to open it in 2020. Each side has to tell the other its intentions by next September, but the league says it needs word sooner than that for World Cup purposes.Read more:Bobby Orr would be ‘surprised’ if there isn’t another NHL lockoutDamien Cox: The NHL seems to have forgotten the international gameNHL players feel ‘united’ with labour strife possibly looming“Our position is we don’t want to hold it if there is labour uncertainty,� said NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly. “We need labour certainty to be comfortable.�If the CBA is reopened early, the league could face a strike or the players could face a lockout in 2020. So the league is reluctant to go ahead with any planning or marketing of another World Cup unless it has assurances from the NHLPA the event won’t be affected by labour issues.“I understand the timing from their standpoint,� said NHLPA executive Donald Fehr. “If there’s a way we can get all that done, certainly we’ll try.�The two sides have been talking, with Fehr suggesting a commitment to the World Cup is “severable� from CBA talks at large.“You can play a World Cup without having an agreement on a CBA. But it’s not an irrelevant consideration.�Daly was in town for Monday night’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony and for Tuesday’s meeting of the league’s general managers.There will be an update on expansion to Seattle, likely to be approved at a price of $650 million (U.S.) on Dec. 5 when the board of governors. The new Seattle team will have the same advantages Vegas did in terms of selecting players, with existing teams ...