None of these averages includes club, premium or suite tickets.

After a four-month lockout, the NHL began play in January and season-ticket prices went up 5.7 percent, according to the recently released Team Marketing Report Fan Cost Index. The average season ticket for non-premium seats is $61.01. As usual, ticket prices were set well before the season.

The NBA’s average ticket went up 3.5 percent to $50.99 and the NFL’s went up 2.5 percent to $78.38. The average MLB ticket for the 2012 season was even at $26.98.

In the previous season, the NHL raised prices by 4.8 percent, while the NBA (1.7 percent), NFL (1.2 percent) and MLB (1.2 percent for 2011 season) had smaller increases.

Increased ticket prices, prior knowledge of a looming lockout and theoretical bad feelings of fans haven’t hurt NHL ticket sales this season. Through games of Feb. 12, the NHL had an average attendance of 17,652, a 1.1 percent increase from last season’s average of 17,455. Last season, the NHL had a 1.8 percent increase in attendance with 15 teams drawing average crowds with 100 percent or higher of capacity.

Team Marketing Report arranges its study through Fan Cost Index prices. The Fan Cost Index is the price to take a family of four to a game, including tickets, drinks, hot dogs, parking and the like. The NHL average this season is $354.82, a 7.9 percent increase from last season’s survey.

As usual, Canadian teams rule the top of the list. The Toronto Maple Leafs have the most expensive average ticket at $124.69 (converted to U.S. dollars), followed by the Winnipeg Jets at $97.84, Vancouver Canucks at $87.38, Edmonton Oilers at $79.27 and Montreal Canadiens at $78.56. according to TMR research.

The Washington Capitals ($79.25), New York Rangers ($72.04) and Philadelphia Flyers ($71.59) are the top American terms in terms of average ticket price. Nineteen teams raised prices by more than one percent, while only three reported decreases.

The Buffalo Sabres reported the largest percentage increase at 26.7 percent, which brings their average ticket to $46.15, the seventh-cheapest ticket.

The post NHL raises ticket prices appeared first on IdealCapper.

Roy, who missed five games with a groin injury, will be available Monday night at Colorado. Nilstorp and defenseman Jordie Benn have been sent to the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League.

Nilstorp’s assignment means Richard Bachman will remain the backup to Kari Lehtonen.

Roy has two assists in four games for Dallas. He came over in an offseason trade with Buffalo. Benn is scoreless with four penalty minutes in eight games for Dallas.

Nilstorp missed four games with a groin injury. He was 0-2 filling in for Lehtonen. Nilstorp appeared in 28 games for the Texas Stars before joining Dallas after the lockout ended.

The post Stars activate Derek Roy, Nilstorp appeared first on IdealCapper.

“What I do on the floor shows my value. At the end of the day, I don’t think my value on the floor can really be compensated for anyways because of the (collective bargaining agreement),” James said Friday head of the Miami Heat’s game with the Indiana Pacers (7 p.m. ET, ESPN).

“If you want the truth. If this was baseball, it’d be up, I mean way up there.”

There is no salary cap in Major League Baseball. James, who took a pay cut to sign with the Heat in 2010, is making $17.5 million this season, which is tied for 13-highest in the NBA. The Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant is first at $27.8 million.

In 2011, when he was asked what it would take to get him to play in Europe during the NBA’s lockout, James speculated that his play might be worth $50 million a year.

In the last several months the Oklahoma City Thunder and Memphis Grizzlies have traded away star players because they were concerned about their salaries being too costly when a new more stringent luxury tax arrives net season. The Thunder traded away James Harden last fall, and the Grizzlies traded away Rudy Gay this week.

James and teammates Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh all took less than the maximum salary when they signed three years ago. That should enable the Heat to keep them together next season, even with the new tax rules. James doesn’t think they have gotten credit for that decision.

“I have not had a full max deal yet in my career — that’s a story untold,” James said.

“I don’t get (the credit) for it. That doesn’t matter to me, playing the game is what matters to me. Financially, I’ll sacrifice for the team. It shows for some of the top guys, it isn’t all about money. That’s the genuine side of this, it’s about winning. I understand that.”

Forbes recently estimated James earns $40 million per year in endorsements and sponsorships, thanks to deals with Nike, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, State Farm and Samsung.

James and Bosh are earning $17.5 million from the Heat this season, while Wade is making $17.1 million. Had they taken max deals in 2010, each could’ve made just under $20 million this season. It would’ve cost the Heat an additional $8 million in luxury taxes this season, roughly $12 million next season and they might not have been able to add players like Udonis Haslem, Mike Miller, Shane Battier and Ray Allen to the roster.

The Heat, however, would be subject to what is known as the “repeater” tax starting in 2014-15 if they keep James, Wade and Bosh together because they would be over the luxury tax for four years in a row. In that case, they would pay a tax rate that is currently more than four times the current dollar-for-dollar rate. James, Wade and Bosh do have opt-out clauses in their contracts in the summer of 2014, however.

“I think teams understand that you need three guys to do big things; the big three thing is pretty cool if you can get it,” James said. “To keep teams like this together you may have to take even less because of the new CBA. I guess we’ll find out.”

The post LeBron James talks contracts appeared first on IdealCapper.

Prior to Wednesday night’s 105-85 loss to the Heat, Evans dismissed the Heat’s title, telling the New York Daily News: “It doesn’t prove nothing. That was a lockout season.”

“Well, I didn’t say it didn’t prove anything. Those were not my exact words,” Evans said during an interview on SiriusXM radio’s “Off the Dribble” show. “I just said they won a championship in a lockout season. That’s what I said. So I never downplayed it or nothing, I just said they won a championship. That was really about it. I guess people just took it out of proportion.”

Evans later said: “One thing about me is like when I’m gonna talk about you, I’m pretty much gonna say it in your face. I’m not gonna go in the media and say it to the media. It was kind of hilarious to me because I think it was blown out of proportion because that’s not my DNA. I don’t throw jabs through Twitter or social media. I don’t do that type of work. It’s cool. I’m not dwelling over it. I just think it was taken way out of proportion and stuff like that.”

Evans also told the Daily News that defending superstar small forward LeBron James was no different than defending Joe Johnson or Andray Blatche. James then proceeded to score 24 points, grab nine rebounds and dish out seven assists, and ripped the Nets power forward, who went scoreless.

“You can’t just come out and say something like that versus a champion,” James said after the game. “No one knows what it takes unless you’ve done it. You can’t sit here and judge and talk about a team winning a championship unless you’ve done it. (Evans) hasn’t done it.”

James later said: “I’m not going to sit here and give Reggie Evans a lot of press, because that is what is going to happen for the next couple days.”

Evans left Barclays Center before he could be questioned about the game by reporters.

James said earlier Wednesday that he wasn’t too impressed by the Nets despite their recent turnaround under interim coach P.J. Carlesimo.

“(The Nets) just picked up the intensity level,” James said. “You can tell that they like to play for P.J. … It sucks that Avery (Johnson) had to take the hit of them not wanting to play at a high level.”

Johnson went 14-14 this season as Nets coach before being fired in late December.

Wednesday’s loss dropped the Nets to 13-5 under Carlesimo.

“That’s his opinion, so I’m not knocking it,” Evans said. “If that’s how he feels, cool.”

The post Reggie Evans talks Heat, LeBron appeared first on IdealCapper.

The team announced Friday that it has officially suspended the 36-year-old veteran defenseman. Despite conflicting reports whether he would return from Russia to fulfill his contractual obligation with the Islanders, he has not yet arrived for training camp.

More From ESPNNewYork.com

Rangers. Islanders. Devils. If you want hockey information, ESPNNewYork.com has you covered. Blog

Visnovsky, acquired in June from Anaheim, attempted to have the trade overruled but an arbitrator ruled in December that the deal was valid.

The Islanders open the season Saturday at home against the New Jersey Devils.

Visnovsky has tried to remain with his European club, Slovan Bratislava, in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League, despite a rule prohibiting that. The NHL and KHL have a memorandum of agreement that any player with an NHL contract must return to his club once the lockout is lifted.

The KHL is complying and won’t let Visnovsky play in Russia now that the lockout has ended.

The suspension was done in order for the Islanders to officially get down to the 23-man roster needed for opening night.

Visnovsky scored six goals and had 27 points — 10 on the power play — in 68 games with the Ducks last season.

In 771 games over 11 NHL seasons with Los Angeles, Edmonton and Anaheim, Visnovsky has 117 goals and 450 points. He was an All-Star in 2007.

The Islanders also announced on Friday that they claimed defenseman Brian Strait off waivers from the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Strait has played in 12 NHL games with the Penguins, notching one assist and four penalty minutes.

Pittsburgh chose him with the 65th pick (third round) of the 2006 draft, but the 25-year-old native of Boston has spent most of his time in the minors. Strait has eight goals and 32 assists in 220 career AHL games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

The post Isles suspend Lubomir Visnovsky appeared first on IdealCapper.

His agent, Neil Sheehy, said he did not know whether Visnovsky will remain with the KHL’s Slovan Bratislava, where he played during the lockout.

Visnovsky issued a statement through Sheehy last week expressing his desire to remain in Europe. The Islanders can suspend Visnovsky for failing to report.

The KHL and NHL have an agreement that all players with NHL contracts are obligated to return to the NHL once the lockout is lifted.

Visnovsky’s case might be the first legitimate test of the sincerity of the agreement.

“The KHL has repeatedly said that they will not permit him to play, so I guess we will have to see what happens,” deputy commissioner Bill Daly said when reached via email.

According to International Ice Hockey Federation spokesperson Szymon Szemberg, the IIHF has not yet received an official letter of complaint from the NHL on the situation.

Should the league appeal to the IIHF, international hockey’s governing body, that probably would be the next step.

The IIHF’s involvement would likely only come should the NHL and KHL fail to resolve the situation on their own.

“Please keep in mind that even before IIHF regulations come into play, the NHL and the KHL have an independent memorandum of agreement drawn up specifically to avoid cases where each other contracts are not respected,” Szemberg said when reached via email. “Bill Daly has repeatedly stated that he expects the KHL to respect their side of the agreement.”

The post Lubomir Visnovsky to miss New York Islanders training camp appeared first on IdealCapper.

Training camps will open on Sunday, and a 48-game regular season will begin next Saturday. The signing of the MOU also paved the way for the NHL to release the long-awaited revised schedule.

Twenty-six of the 30 teams will play on opening day. All games during the season will be played within the two respective conferences.

In all, 720 games will be played over a 99-day regular season. There will be at least one game on each day of the season, which will end on April 27. Again, 26 of 30 teams will be in action that day.

The playoffs will begin on April 30. The latest the Stanley Cup finals will end is June 28.

The trade deadline will be April 3, and free agency will open July 5.

Teams will play 18 games within their division: four games (two home and two away) against two of the teams in the division, five games (three home and two away) against another team in the division, and five games (two home and three away) against the remaining divisional opponent.

To complete the 720-game schedule, clubs will play three games against each of the 10 remaining non-divisional opponents in their conference.

Outside the division, a team will face five clubs twice at home and once away, and play once at home and twice on the road against the other five teams.

It took another lengthy negotiation to end the four-month lockout. The sides worked on the MOU all week, after a tentative deal was reached last Sunday morning — the 113th day of the lockout — and needed all day Saturday to finish it.

The announcement that the deal was signed came several hours after the union easily ratified the tentative agreement that was reached after an all-night, 16-hour bargaining session last weekend.

The more than 700 union members had a 36-hour window from Thursday night until Saturday morning to vote electronically. The players’ vote wasn’t unanimous, as a source told ESPN that 667 players voted “yes,” while 12 voted “no.” The players saw an 89 percent turnout in voting.

The NHL board of governors unanimously approved the deal on Wednesday.

The NHL hoped to open camps on Sunday, and that prospect seemed in jeopardy Saturday until the document was signed at 10 p.m. ET.

The new deal is for 10 years, but either side can opt out of it after eight. The previous agreement was in effect for seven seasons.

While this negotiation was long, the sides were able to rescue at least part of the season. The NHL also played a 48-game campaign following a lockout in the 1994-95 season.

The 2004-05 season was completely canceled because of a lockout. This season’s forced the cancellation of 510 regular-season games, the Winter Classic and the All-Star Game.

No preseason games will be played in the seven days before the regular season gets under way.

The post NHL season to open next Saturday appeared first on IdealCapper.

The 30 governors on hand for the league’s board of governors meeting voted unanimously to pass, completing one half of ratification.

All that is needed for the deal to become official is for the players to vote. The vote, which will be held electronically for the 700-plus membership, is expected to be finished by Friday or Saturday, a source told ESPNNewYork.com. Training camps are tentatively set to open Sunday, the source said, with a 48-game regular season scheduled to start Jan. 19.

Assuming the players ratify as well, the lockout officially will come to a close after almost four months.

In a statement following Wednesday’s meeting in midtown Manhattan, Bettman offered an apology to the fans for the lockout, the third work stoppage during his tenure as commissioner.

“We know no words of apology or explanation will soften the disappointment. I read the letters, I followed the tweets, I read the blogs. We have a lot of work to do,” Bettman said. “The National Hockey League has a responsibility to earn back your trust and support, whether you watch one game or every game. And that effort begins today.”

Bettman said there would be initiatives and campaigns to win back the fans, but said they would be announced at the “appropriate time.”

Despite the resounding support Bettman received in the vote, there was speculation his future could be in jeopardy as a result of the long, bitter battle that cost the league hundreds of millions of dollars.

“It’s nothing more than speculation and it’s nothing more than unfounded speculation,” Bettman said. “I’m looking forward to continuing to grow this game, both on and off the ice as we have over the last 20 years. I think the opportunities are great and I’m glad to be a part of them.”

Bettman said realignment and Olympic participation, neither of which were included in the new (tentative) CBA, will be dealt with separately, and soon.

When asked whether any violation of the league’s agreement with Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League could threaten Olympic participation, Bettman declined to place any blame.

“I don’t want to get into ‘what ifs,’ ” he said. “We’ll see what happens and deal with it in an appropriate fashion.”

New Jersey forward Ilya Kovalchuk’s return to the NHL from Russia has yet to be verified, but Bettman did not issue any threats when questioned about the matter.

“The NHL represents the highest level of hockey in the world,” he said. “We expect that the best players will want to play here.”

Bettman said he hopes to build a relationship with what he called a “stable union with strong leadership” and one that provided the opportunity to create a partnership. He admitted that the 113 days it took to reach a deal with the union was a “long and extremely difficult” negotiation in which “everyone lost in the short term.”

He said he hoped the 10-year deal, pending ratification, would provide stability to the game moving forward.

The memorandum of understanding, the document the players will be voting on, was still being finalized by lawyers on both sides Wednesday afternoon, a source confirmed.

Bettman declined to provide details about the schedule, other than that one won’t be released until after the CBA is signed.

He did acknowledge that, for hockey fans, that day cannot come soon enough.

“The players are ready to play their hearts out for you, the teams are prepared to welcome you back with welcome arms, the wait is just about over,” he said. “Like all of you, we can’t wait to drop the puck.”

The post Board ratifies NHL agreement appeared first on IdealCapper.

The league and union met separately with federal mediator Scot Beckenbaugh during a series of meetings that spanned the whole day Friday and late into the evening. They will continue that process Saturday morning.

It isn’t yet known if the league and union will meet face-to-face Saturday, the 112th day of the lockout. The sides have less than a week to reach a new collective bargaining agreement to save what would likely be a 48-game hockey season.

Few details emerged about the scope or subject matter of those meetings and whether progress was forged, although a source told ESPN that both sides expressed signs of flexibility to the mediator.

With exactly one week left until the league’s self-imposed deadline of Jan. 11 to reach a deal, the NHL and NHLPA have resorted to “shuttle mediation” since the fallout from the last time they met in person Wednesday night.

That negotiating session was marked by the NHLPA’s decision not to file a disclaimer of interest by the midnight deadline, although the hope that a new deal could be close abated Thursday morning after reports of tension between the sides.

The NHLPA was angered by the league’s attempt to change language in one area of the CBA, that which pertains to the penalization of teams that are found guilty of hiding hockey-related revenue.

That issue has since been resolved, a source informed ESPNNewYork.com, although the lack of trust between the sides seemed to resurface.

The NHLPA initiated a vote Thursday evening to provide again the union’s executive board with the authority to file a disclaimer of interest. The 48-hour voting window expires Saturday at 6 p.m. ET.

With no formal negotiations between the sides since midweek, nerves continue to fray with the season hanging in the balance.

All regular-season games already have been canceled through Jan. 14, and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has set Jan. 11 as the deadline to reach a new CBA and avoid the entire season being scrapped.

The sides have traded four proposals in the past week — two by each side — but none has gained enough traction. Getting an agreement on a pension plan likely would go a long way toward an agreement that would put hockey back on the ice.

NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr believed a plan for players-funded pension was established before talks blew up in early December. That apparently wasn’t the case, or the NHL has changed its offer regarding the pension in exchange for agreeing to other things the union wanted.

The salary-cap number for the second year of the deal — the 2013-14 season — hasn’t been agreed to, and it is another major point of contention. The league is pushing for a $60 million cap, while the union wants it to be $65 million with a floor of $44 million.

In return for the higher cap number players would be willing to forgo a cap on escrow.

Both sides seem content on the deal lasting for 10 years, but they have different opinions on whether an opt-out should be allowed to be exercised after seven years or eight.

The NHL proposed last Thursday that pension contributions come out of the players’ share of revenues, and $50 million of the league’s make-whole payment of $300 million will be allocated and set aside to fund potential underfunded liabilities of the plan at the end of the collective bargaining agreement.

Last month, the NHL agreed to raise its make-whole offer of deferred payments from $211 million to $300 million as part of a proposed package that required the union to agree on three nonnegotiable points. Instead, the union accepted the raise in funds, but then made counterproposals on the issues the league stated had no wiggle room.

“As you might expect, the differences between us relate to the core economic issues which don’t involve the share,” Fehr said of hockey-related revenue, which likely will be split 50-50.

The NHL is the only North American professional sports league to cancel a season because of a labor dispute, losing the 2004-05 campaign to a lockout. A 48-game season was played in 1995 after a lockout stretched into January.

The post Mediator hosts NHL sides separately appeared first on IdealCapper.