Step One Done

Yesterday in Toronto the National Hockey League Players' Association overwhelmingly approved the new collective bargaining agreement reached with owners last week. This clears the way for the Board of Governors' meeting this afternoon at 1:00 (simulcast on NHL.com). The Board is expected to rubber stamp the deal and approved several rule changes designed to bring an infusion of offense. At 3:00, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman will hold a news conference to discuss the deal and whatever rule changes were approved. At 4:00, the NHL will hold the draft lottery -- broadcast live in select American markets, of which Philadelphia is one, on Comcast Sportsnet -- to essentially determine who gets the prize that is Sidney Crosby. *I apologize for not getting on this sooner, but I was waiting for this to become official before I committed to it. **Also, there have been a number of good posts around the blog-world the last couple of weeks. Expect links and recaps shortly.

Yes, there is still hockey to talk about.

TSN's Bob McKenzie checks in with a piece letting us few hockey fans left know that it's okay to start holding our breath waiting for the announcement of a new CBA. For the first time in this tortured process, we can now measure what's left of the lockout in days as opposed to weeks or months. Canadians can celebrate Canada Day on Friday and Americans, the small minority that actually like hockey that is, can have their Fourth of July celebration on Monday, reasonably secure in the knowledge that the long-awaited agreement is within sight. The sense is it should be finished sometime next week, with an outside chance it could carry over into the week of July 11th, but in any case, we're talking a small number of days. Either way, the countdown is now on, it's almost over. Meanwhile, Manny Legace -- who, once upon a time, was a goalie for the Detroit Red Wings -- sounds off on the NHL Players' Association Executive Committee for caving on the salary cap issue. ''We hurt businesses downtown, we hurt fans, we hurt everybody - for nothing. I feel bad for those people. I could understand if we were still sticking to a cause. What reason did we sit out for? It doesn't make sense.'' Finally, James Mirtle links to an article in the Toronto Sun about when an announcement might come, speculating that if the league were smart it would make the announcement on July 11 or 13 -- the days before and after the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.