A sense of what had been described by one source as “cautious optimism” during the midpoint of yesterday’s lengthy NHL owners-players meeting was markedly tempered when the session concluded around midnight.
As such, even after 7 1/2 hours of interaction between six owners and 18 players, the 2012-13 season remains in jeopardy.
“I don’t know … I’ve been optimistic before and nothing has come of it,” a source on the NHLPA side told The Post after the meeting. “I’ll feel a lot better when I actually see what the league is willing to give.”
The parties are scheduled to reconvene this morning before the Board of Governors meets. It is likely commissioner Gary Bettman will present a drop-dead date to the owners if the morning session does not produce measurable progress.
Deputy commissioner Bill Daly and NHLPA counsel Steve Fehr appeared together after the meeting and made brief statements to the press without taking questions.
“In some ways we had a good dialogue; it may have been our best day so far,” Fehr said. “[But] I don’t want to paint too rosy a picture.
“We had a lot of work to do.”
Daly essentially echoed those sentiments, adding, “Everyone wants to get a deal done.”
The six owners representing the league included Pittsburgh moderate Ron Burkle, Boston’s Jeremy Jacobs, Winnipeg’s Mark Chipman, Tampa Bay’s Jeff Vinik, Calgary’s Murray Edwards and Toronto’s Larry Tanenbaum. Jacobs, the NHL chairman of the board, and Edwards had been a part of the league negotiating committee.
The players representing the union featured Sidney Crosby, Brad Richards, Jonathan Toews, Ryan Miller, Shane Doan, Martin St. Louis, Manny Malhotra, David Backes and Kevin Westgarth.
The conference, suggested last Thursday by Bettman as a means of bringing new voices into the mix, commenced at approximately 2 p.m. The sides, which held numerous side sessions and caucuses with their legal and staff representatives, broke for a two-hour dinner break before the talks resumed.
Neither Bettman nor NHLPA executive director Don Fehr were in the meeting, though they were consulted throughout the day. The NHLPA held a conference call with its negotiating committee during the two-hour recess.
It is believed the parties were attempting to determine each side’s bottom line for making a deal that would end Owners’ Lockout III and save the season.
The owners are believed to have moved off at least some of the restrictive contract system demands that the league had previously represented as non-negotiable. But it’s not known how far they moved in that area or whether they were willing to increase their “make-whole” offer.
“A long day,” a second source on the players’ side told The Post. “We’ll try again in the morning.”