On January 6th 2003 the NHL lockout started. Many players were being underpaid and wanted an increase in salary and health benefits. These increases were due primarily to the many injuries players in the NHL experience in this extremely violent sport. Like most sports (i.e. the NFL and NBA) each team within the league had a salary cap. The players petitioned for the cap to be increased while the owners wanted the cap to be lower. At first both sides wanted to negotiate so that the upcoming season wouldn’t be at risk, but that changed very soon. With both sides wanting very different things the lockout prevented an entire season! The league hired an investigator, Arthur Levitt, to release financial reports for each team. Within his final report it was stated: “If player costs aren’t reduced the NHL will be on a treadmill to obscurity.” The reports also stated that “in the 2002-2003 season only 11 of the 30 teams in the NHL were profitable.” The Union called the report “flawed”. In the end, The NHL and NHLPA reached a deal on July 13th 2005 missing a whole season and disappointing a lot of fans.
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