NHL Lockout is Over

At 5:03 this morning the Denver Post's own Adrian Dater out-scooped the hockey media in New York and broke the news that the NHL's 113 day lockout had come to a tentative close.

adater ‏@adater

Deal is done! per@denverpost.com

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Although we will know more about the contents of the Collective Bargaining Agreement in the coming days, here is a breakdown of some of the bigger issues, courtesy of Hockey Night in Canada's Elliotte Friedman:

• 10 year CBA with opt out after 8 years.
• Salary Cap of $64.3M in 2013-14. Floor will be $44M
• Contract lengths of 7 years for any player and 8 years re-signing your own players.
• Each team can use up to two amnesty buyouts prior to 2013-14 season. These do no count against the cap, only the players' share.

Many in the hockey world believe that training camps will open later this week, with a 48 or 50 game conference-only season, beginning by January 19th. The NHL will likely make further scheduling announcements later this afternoon. Until then, it is safe to assume that the Avs will play home and away series with the Central and Pacific Divisions (20 games) and at least a 6 game series with their 4 divisonal rivals (24 games). So, while we anxiously await news on contract variance, player discipline, and pensions (because we're all so curious), we can take solace in the fact that a season will be played, and at least one Avalanche forward is ready to drop the puck. Here is Paul Stastny just moments after the announcement:

21mPaul Stastny ‏@PaulyWalnuts26

Go Avs Go

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Here's to a safe flight home for Paul Stastny, Matt Duchene, Semyon Varlamov, Ryan O`Reilly and any other Avs making their way back to Denver. See you all on the ice.

And Go Avs Go