This was to be NHL Opening Night. Instead, more stars are examining playing in Europe as the owners’ lockout heads toward Monday night’s one-month anniversary with little to show for it.
At last count, 131 NHLers had signed in Europe for the duration of the lockout, yet only 38 are North American. The word among agents is that difficulty in obtaining full injury insurance is a major reason many stars have remained home.
Those 7-10 year contracts so popular in the recent past appear to be a hurdle, with premiums prohibitive — if available at all — for fully-insuring high-salaried players against career-ending injury. Among names believed still hesitating on moves overseas are Henrik Lundqvist, Martin Brodeur, Zach Parise and Steve Staios.
The Rangers had one scare with Rick Nash’s Sept. 28 minor shoulder injury. Elsewhere, Calgary’s Jiri Hudler and Philly’s Jakub Voracek are already sidelined from injuries suffered overseas.
Fears remain that malicious play could occur, prompted by resentments that the NHLers are displacing — and only temporarily — locals on European rosters.
Those concerns also give NHL owners reason to worry about their locked-out overseas players, fearful that injuries might leave them without their stars when the NHL finally resumes play. Devils GM Lou Lamoriello went a half-season without Patrik Elias, who contracted hepatitis while playing in Russia during the last lockout.
The NHL and its Players Association yesterday made little progress toward ending the lockout. The two lead negotiators from each side met in the morning in midtown while larger negotiating teams convened in the afternoon, discussing mostly side issues such as medical treatment protocols.
Until the lockout prompted cancellation of the season’s first two weeks, all three metropolitan teams were to have opened tomorrow. The Rangers were to have been in Los Angeles, the Devils in Washington and the Isles in Pittsburgh.
Meanwhile, the Players Association was rebuffed by the Alberta labor board in its contention that the lockout there is illegal because the union is not certified in that province. Similar actions in Ontario and Quebec have also failed to halt the lockout in those provinces.
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Devils’ top prospect on defense, Michigan’s Jon Merrill, is expected to be out 6-8 weeks with a cracked vertebra in his neck.