TORONTO -- The CFL and CFL Players Association resumed negotiations Friday on a new collective bargaining agreement.
Lance Bouma Jersey . According to a league source requesting anonymity, the two sides began talking during the day and continued into early Saturday morning. The source added no deal was reached but the CFL and union would resume negotiations Saturday. And thats a good sign, considering the CFL and CFLPA last met face to face on May 29, the same day the previous CBA expired. While talks will resume Saturday, players with the Edmonton Eskimos and Calgary Stampeders will also hold their first strike vote as well. Veterans on teams outside Alberta have already voted and are in a legal strike position but the Eskimos and Stampeders were unable to vote earlier due to provincial labour laws. If they vote in favour of a strike, the earliest they could do so is Wednesday night in accordance with the legislation. The CFL exhibition season is scheduled to begin Monday night with the Toronto Argonauts visiting the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, but with players on both teams in a legal strike position, that game could be threatened. CFL Players Association president Scott Flory didnt return a telephone message Friday while a league spokesman said commissioner Mark Cohon wasnt available for comment. The Eskimos and Stampeders will include their rookies in the vote because Alberta law requires all players to participate. Traditionally, first-year players dont vote because theyre not recognized as certified union members, but the players association is allowing them to do so to counter any potential legal challenge from the league. Some other teams in the league will also hold second votes Saturday to include their rookies. The two sides have been negotiating on a new contract since February but reached an impasse Monday when the league rejected the players latest offer. Despite turning down the players offer Monday, the CFL extended the ratification bonus deadline to midnight ET on Friday. Had the players accepted the leagues final offer in that timeframe, veterans wouldve received a $5,000 bonus while rookies would get $1,500. However, a league spokesman said the bonus clause would be taken off the table after the deadline, although the expectation is if the players and CFL do reach an agreement it will include signing bonuses for the players. There has only been one strike since the CFLPA was formed in 1965. Three weeks of training camp were lost in 1974 before a new agreement was reached. No regular-season games were affected. The 2014 regular season is scheduled to kick off June 26. The two sides dont appear to be far apart on financial issues. The CFLPA has requested a $5.2-million salary cap and $4.8-million minimum. The CFL has countered with a $5-million cap. The two sides have agreed on boosting the minimum salary $5,000 to $50,000. After demanding specific revenue-sharing percentages, the CFLPA offer called for a fixed cap for at least two years. After the second, if league revenues increased by more than $18 million -- excluding the Grey Cup -- the two sides would renegotiate the cap or the entire agreement. The CFL offer called for the cap to be renegotiated if its revenues increased by $27 million or more in the third year. Non-monetary issues, such as player safety, practice roster size, eliminating the option year on CFL contracts and practice times, are also sticking points.
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Luc Snuggerud Jersey .Y. -- The Buffalo Bills will head into the regular season short on experience at quarterback after trimming the roster on Friday.RALEIGH, N.C. -- Jim Rutherford stepped down as general manager of the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday, and the team promoted Hall of Fame player Ron Francis to replace him. In a series of moves, the Hurricanes also hired Mike Vellucci as assistant GM and director of hockey operations and promoted Brian Tatum to assistant general manager. Rutherford, who also owns part of the team, will remain in an advisory role as team president. He assembled the teams that won one Stanley Cup, played for another and reached the Eastern Conference final in 2009. The Hurricanes havent made the playoffs since then, the longest active drought in the East. "I look at this as a fresh start," Francis said. "I dont want to just kind of build a team that gets into the playoffs for one year. I would like to build it so that its a very solid franchise and we can do it on a yearly basis." Francis had long been considered the teams GM-in-waiting. The former team captain holds team records with 382 goals, 793 assists and 1,186 games played. He has been the teams vice-president of hockey operations since June 2012. He took over as the teams director of player development in 2006 and was an assistant coach under Paul Maurice from 2008-11 before returning to the front office that June as director of hockey operations. Now that hes running a team for the first time, it remains unclear just how much financial flexibility Francis will have. The four highest-paid players -- forwards Alexander Semin and Eric and Jordan Staal, and goalie Cam Ward --- are coming off subpar seasons.
Patrick Kane Jersey. They made a combined $28 million last year and will do so again in 2014-15. "This year we were at the (NHL salary) cap, I believe. Didnt make a heck of a lot of difference, did it?" owner Peter Karmanos Jr. said. "Well set the budget wherever we think we can have the most competitive hockey team." One of Francis first jobs will be deciding whether Kirk Muller will receive a fourth year as coach. Muller is 80-80-27 in three seasons and the Hurricanes finished 13th in the 16-team East this year with a 36-35-11 record. "In fairness, I think its a decision that kind of needs due process," Francis said. Rutherford, 65, is a former NHL goalie who spent two decades as the clubs GM, and helped shepherd its move from Hartford to North Carolina. He said he and Karmanos casually discussed stepping aside and those talks grew increasingly more serious beginning in January and February and continued through the early off-season. "Twenty years is a long time for me," Rutherford said. "Ive thought about this for a few years, and certainly the time is right now." Vellucci, 47, will oversee the teams scouting and player development after spending the past 14 seasons as head coach and general manager of the Plymouth Whalers -- the Ontario Hockey League team owned by Karmanos. Tatum, 40, is entering his 17th year with the team and has been its vice-president of team operations since 2012 after spending five years as its senior director of team operations.
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