Just when you though it might be safe to pull your jersey out of the closet the NHL labor talks appear to have broken down again. The meetings between the six NHL owners and a group of NHL players had taken positive steps on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Thursday’s meeting, however, had no owners present, though the union kept in touch with the NHL throughout the day.

When the Wednesday meeting adjourned late Wednesday/early Thursday there was optimism from each side that progress was being made.

While it is understood that there were not full proposals exchanged by each side, areas of contention from the previous failed offers were discussed. There was a concern from both sides that a partial representation could cause fractures in each party, but in the end it looks like the same old story.

No announcements were made as to when the sides would reconvene, and things are starting to look bleak. The thinking from commissioner Gary Bettman was very much outside the box, which is something these negotiations obviously lacked.
All the promise of the first two days has completely been washed away as the “meeting” that took place Thursday afternoon lasted all but an hour.

Union head Donald Fehr received a voicemail from the league office rejecting the latest NHLPA proposal and stating that there would be no need to continue negotiations on Friday.  The memo also went on to state that “some things or everything” negotiated by the league is now off the table.

Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly are expected to address the media at some point on Thursday, but time is clearly running out.

Conventional wisdom suggests that Bettman and Fehr will never strike a deal simply because of sheer ignorance and disdain for one another. The thought that valid negotiations could exist without the two of them seemed too good to be true, and obviously was.

Stay tuned….