Canadian Press

9/20/2006 5:57:34 PM

TORONTO (CP) - Players will be getting a nice little bonus early in the NHL season.

The NHL Players' Association informed its membership Wednesday that the league's 700-plus players will receive all of their escrowed payments plus interest as well as additional "shortfall" payments of between 3.5 to 4.5 per cent.

Once the final accounting was done on the 2005-06 season it was determined players didn't take up their full share of the 54 per cent of league revenues coming their way under the terms of the new collective bargaining agreement.

Players pay into escrow accounts throughout the season as insurance for owners in case salaries eat more than 54 per cent of revenues. Last season escrow payments on player paycheques began at 12 per cent before dropping to four per cent in January when both the union and league agreed revenues would surpass initial projections.

Turns out they did even better than that. Not only will players get all of their escrow payments back, but with interest as well as an additional 3.5 per cent to 4.5 per cent. How much a player receives depends on his salary. A US$1-million player will get between $115,700 to $125,700 by late October and will have received between 103.5 per cent to 104.5 per cent of his 2005-06 salary.

Because it's nearly impossible to predict league revenues in advance, either the players or the owners will have to pay up at each season's end depending on which side of the 54 per cent the numbers end up. For this upcoming season, the players' escrow payments will likely begin around 12 per cent to 14 per cent.

Union officials told members Wednesday they are confident there will be continued revenue growth and expect some escrow return again next season.