The NHL and the NHLPA resumed their negotiations on Monday after a three-week hiatus during the holiday season. Let me say that with a little more clarity. In the midst of making history as the only “major” professional sports league to forfeit not one, but potentially TWO entire seasons, the two sides decided to take three weeks off of their negotiations.

The big top circus reconvened with more promise and optimism than anything else we have seen to date. The dueling ringmasters deserve some credit though, refusing to lead us all down that hopeful but misleading path. Both Gary Bettman and Donald Fehr refused to comment on the newest deal that the league has sent to the players.

The lengthy proposal submitted by the league was condensed by the NHLPA and tweaked. The players’ counter-offer is the subject of discussion for tonight’s meeting in the league office.

The goal is to reach an agreement so that the NHL can put together at least a 48-game season. That seems to be the magic number of games that Bettman seems to have in his mind. The projected goal would be to start the season by January 19 and run the playoffs deeper in to June to accommodate the abbreviated schedule.

Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages, the clowns have left the big top and it’s now time for the serious stuff. The potential collective bargaining is now walking the tightrope with absolutely no safety net. If a deal is going to happen to save the season, it has to be done in the next week to 10 days.

With a projected “must start by date” of January 19, the teams will need at least a week to put together some type of training camp. Hopefully the advent of a new calendar year has opened the eyes of all parties. Reality and urgency need to rule these meetings. If either side walks away from the negotiation at this point, the 2012-13 season will be dead.