Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly terms Latest Meeting to have “Covered a lot of Ground” -NHL Update
Without letting out too many details or saying anything he might of regretted later on, National Hockey League (NHL) deputy commissioner, Bill Daly, has said that the highly secret meetings on Saturday and Sunday, have “covered a lot of ground”.
This has raised the ears for all stakeholders involved, but who were not part of the under the radar meeting later Saturday night and early Sunday morning. It definitely seems to be encouraging in all aspects, showing the willingness and seriousness of both
sides, but nothing can be said for final until the details are released or a new deal miraculously comes into play.
“We met on and off for most of the day and covered a lot of ground. We plan to meet again early in the week,” Daly said, according to The Canadian Press.
Surprisingly, Steve Fehr, special counsel to the NHL Players’ Association who was also present at the meetings, also reiterated Daly’s statement and is hopeful of meaningful progress in the days to come to finally get the puck to drop.
"Hopefully we can continue the dialogue, expand the group, and make steady progress," added Fehr, according to the Calgary Herald.
Mid-October was the last time both stakeholders got together and at one point, it really did seem like the league and Players’ Association would reach consensus at the right time to save the 2012-2013 NHL regular season and also as significant, the Winter
Classic. It unfortunately did not work out that way but continued to get even worse with the deadlock growing stronger as both sides backed out, until now.
While the Winter Classic is out the window, for now, there is still much hope around the fan base that a regular season will still go on. It has been eight weeks now ever since the previous collective bargaining agreement came to an end on September 15,
2012, and most people are just fed up with how things have turned out up until now.
It will be interesting to see how the league and Players’ Association work out their differences on an emergency basis.
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