Bettman, Daly and Fehrs to try to revive stalled NHL negotiations

New York - The NHL and NHLPA meet today in New York in an effort to get the puck moving on stalled NHL and NHLPA negotiations. The two sides have yet to produce a truly positive day of talks despite weekly meetings for some two months.

Gary Bettman has said the Sept. 15 expiration of the current CBA - signed after the league locked out its players for the 2004-05 season - will see the league lock players out again if there is no new contract. Player's association chief, Donald Fehr, has said that the players are "not afraid of a lockout" but feel a deal can get done before that date. The two sides appear to continue to be far apart in talks after the NHL made a proposal on July 13 and the players made their counter-proposal on Aug. 14. Two major sticking points are revenue sharing through the salary cap and the length of player contracts. The August 28 talks in New York will feature a pared down bargaining team for each side with just Gary Bettman and Bill Daly at the table for the NHL and Donald Fehr and his brother Steve Fehr negotiating for the NHLPA.