NHL Strike

Essay by EssaySwap ContributorCollege, Undergraduate February 2008

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As of 12:01 AM on September 16, 2004 the National Hockey League (NHL) owners were forced to lock-out their players for the first time since the 94-95 season (the 94-95 strike lasted 103 days and the season was shortened from 82 games to 48 games, which consisted of games played solely in each conference). This is the third time that the NHL has gone into lock-out/strike mode and there is no foreseeable end. Several leagues have popped up for the true hockey fans, including a resurgence of the old and nearly forgotten World Hockey League (WHL).

As a result of the strike, there will be several new leagues created so that players can play, and fans won?t miss their stars too much. The main new league behind the recreation of the WHL and the continuation of the American Hockey League (AHL- which is the next level of hockey below the NHL, think of it as the AAA level like in Major League Baseball) is the Original Stars Hockey League (OSHL).

The OSHL will consist of six teams named after the ?Original Six? (Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Montreal, New York, and Toronto) Most teams have optioned their players they still ?own? to their respective AHL affiliate (every NHL team has one). Players who had their contracts expire because of the lock-out or that were free agents come the end of last season have been signing one year contracts with the new leagues and mainly the Elite League (EL) of Europe. Peter Forsberg (most recently of the Colorado Avalanche) has signed with Modo of the EL. Following in Forsberg?s steps to Modo were the Sedin twins (Henrik and Daniel) and Markus Naslund of Vancouver, Mattias Weinhanl of the NY Islanders, Pierre Hedin of Toronto, and Montreal?s Niklas Sundtrom. Joe Thornton is also playing...