Labour dispute prompts National Lacrosse League to cancel first two weeks of season

Wesley Berg and Garrett McIntosh of the Calgary Roughnecks address the media ahead of their playoff game in May 2018

The ongoing dispute between the National Lacrosse League (NLL) and Professional Lacrosse Players’ Association (PLPA) has resulted in a decision to cancel the first two weeks of the 2018/2019 season including the Roughnecks season opener in Denver.

League officials say the cancellation follows a counterproposal regarding a new collective bargaining agreement from the PLPA that was submitted following an easement of a deadline by the NLL.

“After a thorough review of the PLPA’s counterproposal, it is clear we cannot accept the terms the PLPA has put forward and therefore, have made a decision to reject it,” said NLL representatives in a statement released Thursday afternoon. “We believe those terms would have both short and long term negative consequences on our member clubs and the league which we are not willing to accept.”

In its statement, the league confirmed all games scheduled to be played on December 1, 2018 (three games) and December 8, 2018 (four games) have been cancelled after the PLPA instructed its members to forego training camps and physicals.

The league, which is 12 teams strong, had scheduled a 21 week season for the 2018-2019 with each team playing 18 regular season games. The Calgary Roughnecks' home opener against the Vancouver Warriors is scheduled to be played on Saturday, December 15 (Week 3)