The Czech Ice Hockey Association has decided not to sign the IIHF’s player transfer deal with the NHL after the 14 hockey clubs in the Czech Extraliga voted in favor of ending the current deal immediately. This likely means there will be no regulations surrounding the transfer of players between the European teams and the NHL next season.
The existing NHL-IIHF player transfer agreement was originally supposed to last until 2011, but the Euro nations in the agreement demanded it be reopened in December 2007. In order to gain time to negotiate a new, long-term agreement, the IIHF and NHL have been working to arrive at a one-year extension of the existing agreement.
Support for the one-year extension agreement has recently been secured from five of the six main European countries, but the NHL requires that all six European countries support the arrangement. The Czechs were in a position to decide the situation, with the matter placed in the hands of the 14 clubs in the Czech Extraliga.
"Our league has decided not to join the NHL-IIHF-deal,” said Martin Urban, general secretary of the Czech Ice Hockey Association. “A majority of the clubs decided to refuse the NHL agreement.”
The Hockey News: Headlines: IIHF transfer agreement falls apart after Czechs opt not to extend deal
IIHF transfer agreement falls apart after Czechs opt not to extend deal 
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