Banner days

The Panthers are scheduled to raise their first team-related banner since 1996 on Opening Night against the Lightning. Florida’s division-title banner is expected to hang near the 1996 Eastern Conference championship flag originally raised at Miami Arena.

Before winning the division championship last season, the Panthers had missed the playoffs for an NHL-record 10 consecutive seasons over a span of 11 years.

“We had some sort of success last year and we’re anxious to get back and start where we left off,” said center Stephen Weiss, who was drafted by the Panthers in 2003. “It is disappointing. But that’s the nature of this business sometimes. These things need to be done and we’ll be patient and make sure we’ll get a deal that makes sense for both sides so we don’t have to keep doing this every four or five years.”

The NHLPA came up with a unique proposal, one that caught the NHL by surprise. The players’ union would reduce its share from NHL revenues with that money being put into a franchise-assistance fund which commissioner Gary Bettman would be in control of.

That money could help out franchises which need a little extra financial boost. While there is revenue sharing — the Panthers are thought to have cashed league checks in each of the seven years of the CBA — it is a complex system that teams cannot count on to be there from year to year.

The NHLPA’s plan, however, would let teams know that money — as much as $25 million per season — would be there for them in the future.

Salary slash?

The NHL, which has rejected the NHLPA’s proposals outright, says the union’s projections for continued revenue growth at seven percent is too high and says teams like the Panthers will be fine if only from paying less salary.

The union feels there should be a better revenue-sharing system, with the big money franchises sharing more of the wealth. Teams like the Rangers and Bruins don’t seem keen on helping out the likes of the Panthers and Hurricanes any more than they already are. That, the union says, is a problem.

“Our proposal is for us to partner with the high-revenue teams to help out the teams which are hurting financially,” said Mike Weaver, the Panthers’ defenseman who serves as the team’s union representative. “Giving them a little help financially and from a business standpoint gives the whole league structure. We gave up some concessions to do this. We’re not telling the high-revenue teams to foot the entire bill. We’re partners. We’re willing to help out.”