NEW YORK -- The NHL put the course of
ongoing labor negotiations back in the hands of the players'
association, and left union head Donald Fehr with "some things to
consider" Friday night.
The fourth straight day of negotiations
provided few details, and the sides broke up in the early evening
without knowing if they would reconvene later Friday, during the
weekend, or at some other point. The lockout has lasted 55 days and
there is still uncertainty whether there will be a hockey season.
Players made a pair of proposals
Wednesday, and the NHL responded with one Thursday. No new official
offers were exchanged Friday, but there was give and take during
discussions throughout the day. The last of three sessions was believed
to have centered on the core economic issues keeping the sides apart,
and it broke up after about two hours.
Fehr and his associates left the offices
of the NHL's lawyers, where the negotiations took place, to conduct a
conference call with the players' association executive board and
negotiating team.
"We've got some things to consider and need to talk to our membership," Fehr said, without taking questions.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said the
league is available to continue talking as soon as the union is ready.
Neither side ruled out getting together again Friday night or over the
weekend.
"Whatever it takes. We're available,"
Bettman said. "It's always better to be together and talk when there is
something to talk about. I am not getting into the specifics. When
you're in a process like this, you're really not watching the calendar.
I'm not sure I can tell you what day it is."
That could change soon if a deal isn't struck.
The league has already called off 327
regular-season games, including the New Year's Day Winter Classic in
Michigan, and said a full season won't be played. The NHL is in danger
of having a lockout wipe out a full season for the second time in seven
years.
Bettman declined to say if these talks have moved the sides any closer to an agreement.
"I am not going into the details of
what takes place in the room," he said. "I really apologize but I do not
think it would be constructive to the process. I don't want to either
raise or lower expectations. I won't be happy until we get to the end
result, and that means we're playing again."
Bettman is scheduled to attend Hockey
Hall of Fame inductions Monday night in Toronto, but developments in
negotiations could prevent that.
"That's my plan (to attend), but if
there is a reason to be doing something else, as much as I enjoy the
Hall of Fame inductions, if there is something else that is pending,
that would take precedence."
The lockout began Sept. 16 after the
collective bargaining agreement expired, and both sides rejected
proposals Oct. 18. The belief is that the players' association has
agreed to a 50-50 split of hockey-related revenues, but that division
wouldn't kick in until the third year of the deal.
During a second consecutive day of
marathon negotiations Wednesday, the players' association made an offer
on revenue sharing in which richer teams would help out poorer
organizations, and another proposal regarding the "make-whole" provision
that would guarantee full payment of all existing multiyear player
contracts.
Revenue sharing and the make-whole
provision are major hurdles. Both sides have made proposals that
included a 50-50 split of hockey-related revenues. The NHL has moved
toward the players' side on the "make-whole" provision and whose share
of the economic pie that money will come from.
Along with the split of hockey-related
revenue and other core economic issues, contract lengths, arbitration
and free agency also must be agreed upon.
The union accepted a salary cap in the
previous labor pact, which wasn't reached until after the entire 2004-05
season was canceled because of a lockout. The union doesn't want to
absorb the majority of concessions this time after the NHL had record
revenue that exceeded $3 billion last season.
