Mediation Breaks Down

Whatever hope fans had of federal mediation helping to put an end to the NHL lockout will be disappointed. Today NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said the following:

“Today, we concluded two days of mediation with FMCS mediators and representatives of the NHL Players’ Association. After spending several hours with both sides over two days, the presiding mediators concluded that the parties remained far apart, and that no progress toward a resolution could be made through further mediation at this point in time. We are disappointed that the mediation process was not successful.”

So onward we go or backward, however you want to look at it, and things do not look good in regards to an actual season happening. TSN’s Darren Dreger tweeted that (NHL commissioner Gary Bettman) proposed to (NHLPA player representative Donald Fehr) an owner-player only meeting. Meaning that no people from the NHL or NHLPA would be present, just players and owners. Dreger later tweeted that “Not all owners would be included in this players-owners only meeting.”

At this point it would be wise for both sides to try just about anything to get a new collective bargaining agreement signed, sealed, and delivered. One bit of advice to fans…don’t hold your breath.

Tune into our podcast tonight at 10:30pm Eastern time for the latest.

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