It seems that the NHL and the PA have been sitting down for some actual discussion about getting hockey played this year. Many are speculating that the NHL will cut itself down to a 64 game season, which doesn't include the playoffs. The reason why so many people believe that shit is actually getting done is because there hasn't been the usual grandstanding after meeting with one another that there has been in the past. ESPN's Pierre Lebrun wrote this last night:
More noticeable, though, was how quiet each side was after what has to be categorized as the most meaningful negotiating session to date.
Well, for starters, they actually stayed in a room and negotiated meaningfully, really, for the first time in this entire process.
The league put out a modest statement afterwards that simply said talks would continue the next day and the league would not characterize how Tuesday's meeting went. The NHLPA didn’t even put out a statement.
So that's a step forward, though I highly doubt everything will get sorted today/tonight. It looks like hockey is slowly rising above the horizon, but it all depends on how well these talks go. The fact they agreed to meet the next day after a 7 hour negotiation is a pretty good sign, though.
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