NHL, players’ association meet deep into night

After the league countered with another offer Tuesday night, Bettman said the new proposal addressed specific areas the union requested.

“There were certain things that the players’ association asked for that we agreed to. There were some things that we moved in their direction, and there were other things that we said no,” he said. “That’s part of the process.”

But it’s a process that has limited time to be completed.

The NHL is the only North American professional sports league to cancel a season because of a labor dispute, losing the 2004-05 campaign to a lockout. A 48-game season was played in 1995 after a lockout stretched into January.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.