Breaking the ice
Game on for Dallas Stars, who could be back on the ice as early as next week
Loui Eriksson and the rest of the Dallas Stars could be back on the ice the weekof January 14.
Dallas Stars CEO Jim Lites is excited that the NHL Lockout finally appears to beover.
Since September, U.S. Hockey fans had to depend on international and minor league teams to see some action on the ice. But the pro game is finally coming back to America. The National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players’ Association reached a tentative collective bargaining agreement on January 6. Unless something goes wrong, there will be an NHL season.
When the 2013 season will start isn’t clear yet, but it should be soon. At a press conference, Stars CEO Jim Lites said that the league’s board of governors will meet on Tuesday to ratify a deal. Lites said that a schedule would likely be released after ratification by both parties, but he believes a season could start the week of January 14.
“I’m happy to say we’re going to be playing,” Lites said. “It’s game on. We’re fired up for the opportunity.”
“[Dallas has] the best fans in the world,” said Stars CEO Jim Lites. “We have to do as much as we can to improve this game, win back their trust and try as hard as we ever have to build our fan base.”
Lites said the team spent Sunday contacting season ticket holders and preparing for what will be a rush to prepare the front office and the American Airlines Center for hockey.
Lites said the team planned to be price-sensitive, be good to existing fans and season-ticket holders and “say yes as much as possible.”
“[The fans] have done nothing but give to us here in Dallas,” Lites said. “They’re the best fans in the world, and we have to do as much as we can to improve this game, win back their trust and try as hard as we ever have to build our fan base. We can take nothing for granted.”
The Stars had to cancel 41 games due to the lockout. Those cancelations were through January 14.
Lites estimated that half of the team’s players were with other teams abroad and would probably be returning to Dallas soon. It took the NHL and the NHLPA 113 days to come to an agreement. The NHL locked out the players on September 16, a move that triggered the league’s fourth work stoppage in history.
According to multiple reports, the agreement is for 10 years, though there is an opt-out clause after eight. It divides revenue evenly between the league and the players. It also provides two “amnesty buyouts” for the 2013-14 season, which would allow teams to shed large contracts without penalty. The NBA provided its teams a similar provision in its recently negotiated CBA.
