NHL owners, players back at bargaining table

The dialogue continued throughout the day until the sides separated for a dinner break. The owners left while the players stayed to have a meal inside the hotel. The owners then returned to the hotel later Tuesday night for another round of talks with the union.

As more and more days pass by, the possibility that the entire hockey season will be lost grows. A lockout forced the cancellation of the 2004-05 season in February, and the belief is the NHL won’t wait that long to call off this already-delayed and shortened campaign.

All games through Dec. 14, along with the New Year’s Day Winter Classic and the All-Star game, have been wiped off the schedule.

The NHL board of governors was expected to discuss the latest developments in the negotiations and perhaps where to go from here if a deal isn’t reached soon. If momentum toward an agreement doesn’t continue, more game cancellations could be announced soon, and an internal deadline for eliminating the season could also be established.

Originally the thought was no one other than owners and players would be in attendance for Tuesday’s meeting, but each side had staff present, as well. The six selected owners were Ron Burkle (Pittsburgh Penguins), Mark Chipman (Winnipeg Jets), Murray Edwards (Calgary Flames), Jeremy Jacobs (Boston Bruins), Larry Tanenbaum (Toronto Maple Leafs) and Jeff Vinik (Tampa Bay Lightning).

Jacobs, considered one of the hard-line owners, and Edwards are the only members of the group of six to have taken part in previous negotiations.

The NHL had no objection for more than six players to take part, so Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews, Shane Doan, Brad Richards, Martin St. Louis, Ryan Miller, Craig Adams, David Backes, Michael Cammalleri, B.J. Crombeen, Mathieu Darche, Ron Hainsey, Shawn Horcoff, Jamal Mayers, Manny Malhotra, Andy McDonald, George Parros and Kevin Westgarth joined the union’s negotiating team.

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