The New York Post recently reported the NHL Players Association expects the NHL's salary cap to rise again.

"Slap Shots has learned that the Players Association - with input on the number from the NHL - projects revenues to reach $2.575B this season, an 11.1-percent increase over the 2006-07 Hockey Related Revenue (HRR) of $2.318B. The cap should increase at a slightly higher rate because the players' share of the gross increases from 55.5 percent to 56.333 percent at the $2.5B revenue threshold. It assumes the players will once again exercise their option to approve a five-percent inflation bump."

The PA expects the cap to reach $56.3 million for next season, with the salary cap "floor" to be $40.3 million.

For big market teams like New York, Detroit, Toronto and Philadelphia, and for once-struggling Canadian franchises now benefiting from the stronger Canadian dollar, this isn't a problem. In fact, it's an opportunity, giving them more cap space to retain their best players and bid competitively for restricted and unrestricted free agents.

For teams in weak hockey markets or those with ownership unable to keep pace, it's a problem.

They'll have to spend over the cap floor, as mandated in the CBA, but some struggled to do so last season and could find it tougher to spend over a $40 million cap floor and retain their best players and retain their free agents.

And the Post suggests the rise will continue.

"If HRR continues to increase annually by approximately 11 percent, the players' share will increase to its upper-limit of 57 percent at $2.7M, then the team cap will hit approximately $62M in 2009-10, and $68M in 2010-11."

Which means that the cap floor in 2009-10 will be $46 million, and for 2010-11 $52 million.

To sum up:

Next year's minimum cap base will be higher than the cap ceiling of the 2005-06 season.

The 2009-10 cap floor will be higher than last season's salary cap of $44 million.

The 2010-11 cap floor will be higher than this season's cap ceiling of $50.3 million.

That also means that next season, the maximum salary a player can earn (20% of his team's salary cap, provided his team spends up to the cap ceiling) will be $11.2 million.

In 2009-10, it'll be $12.4 million, and in 2010-11, $13.6 million.

Someone tell me again how the players "lost" the season killing lockout of 2004-05.