The lockout in the National Hockey League (NHL) gave new meaning to the old sports adage “Wait till next year.” The aborted schedule of games in 2004–05 set records that the fans would rather not see: the first professional sports league to lose an entire season, the most games lost (1,230) due to a work stoppage, and the longest-lasting shutdown (310 days) in sports history. Moreover, there was no guarantee that there would even be a “next year,” as key issues on the bargaining table remained unresolved. But in July 2005, the NHL and its players’ union finally reached a new collective bargaining agreement, allowing the 2005–06 season to start on time.
Lengthy work stoppages in professional sports are not new. In 1994–95, major league baseball lost 921 games over a period of 232 days from a strike, and the National Basketball Association cancelled
428 games during its 1998–99 lockout. Hockey had a lengthy shutdown in 1994–95 when 468 games
were wiped out during a 103-day lockout. Team owners have increasingly relied on lockouts to put pressure on players to accede to their
demands. Lockouts usually occur before or early in
a season, when players have not received much,
if any, of their pay. However, it is not uncommon
for players to strike late in a season, when they
have received most of their salaries while owners
have yet to take home big payoffs from postseason
television revenues.
