THE CANADIAN PRESS
NEW YORK — The NHL and NHL Players’ Association will meet for a fourth straight day in an attempt to salvage a shortened season.
Key negotiators from the league and union, including NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr, met for more than five hours Thursday and indicated talks will continue on Friday.
"I don’t really have much to say," said Bettman. "We met with the players’ association the last three days and we’re planning on meeting again tomorrow. But I’m not going to discuss the negotiations or the substance of what we’re talking about.
"I really don’t think that would be helpful for the process."
Fehr was similarly tight-lipped.
"All I can say is that we discussed a wide range of topics relating to the issues between us," he said. "I really can’t say more than that at this point."
The NHLPA’s proposal on ‘make whole’ sees HRR split get to 50/50 in yr 3, I’m told. #NHL Meetings are ongoing.
— Michael Grange (@michaelgrange) November 8, 2012
Reporters managed to uncover the "undisclosed" location where the talks are being held. The sides have been congregating this week at the midtown Manhattan offices of Proskauer Rose, the law firm where NHL lead counsel Bob Batterman works, and across the street from the building where the 2004-05 CBA was hammered out.
Little is known about exactly where talks stand.
Sources told The Canadian Press that the NHL responded to a pair of union proposals on Thursday and one suggested it was a good sign the sides still planned to keep talking. On Wednesday, the NHLPA tabled new offers regarding revenue sharing and the league’s "make whole" provision, with the union suggesting a system where the players’ share in revenue drops to 50-50 in the third year of the deal.
The "make whole" provision is seen as the fundamental issue left to solve.
With all regular-season games cancelled through Nov. 30, negotiations have reached a critical and delicate stage. Ten days will be needed from the time an agreement is struck until the season starts and there is still hope among the parties that a shortened schedule could begin by Dec. 1.
For that to happen, signs of progress need to emerge soon.
"Every day that passes I think is critical for the game and our fans," said Bettman.
The sides have met for more than 20 hours over the last week, starting with an informal eight-hour session between deputy commissioner Bill Daly and NHLPA special counsel Steve Fehr in Chicago on Saturday. Larger groups that included owners and players spent more than seven hours together on Tuesday and another five hours on Wednesday.
Thursday’s meeting were viewed by both sides as extremely important. Other weighty topics, including revenue sharing and contract rules, were discussed by the NHL and NHLPA earlier in the week and still need to be worked out before the 54-day lockout comes to an end.
The push is clearly on now to see that happen.
Both sides have cleared their schedules and will continue to do so as long as positive momentum exists in negotiations. Daly had been scheduled to travel to Ottawa on Thursday to speak to a committee about sports betting, but ended up calling off the trip.
