League Franchise Owners confident of Hockey being played after Latest Talks -NHL Update
It came as a last resort option, but seems to have paid off as insiders term National Hockey League (NHL) owners as optimistic as players and fans about kicking off the 2012-2013 regular season within the near future.
Owners of six teams from around North America were in attendance, including the Winnipeg Jets, Tampa Bay Lightning, Calgary Flames, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins.
As of now, there have not been any official confirmations on what actually was gained during the Tuesday night meeting, which lasted over eight hours between players and team owners, but looking at the statements made by Commissioner Gary Bettman seem to
be positive in nature.
Bettman’s briefing the next day was highly looked forward to as some sources even cited reasons for him announcing the end of the work stoppage, but many knew that would be overly optimistic. Nevertheless, it was still a joyous event and fans are on their
feet now for what could be the remaining half of the 2012-2013 regular season.
“We are pleased with the process that is ongoing, and out of respect for that process, I don’t have anything else to say, and I’m not going to take any questions,” Bettman said in a brief statement to reporters. “See you later.”
According to the New York Times, Columbus Blue Jackets’ president for hockey operations, John Davidson, who was hired by the club during this past offseason and held the same position with St. Louis Blues prior to his addition, was optimistic despite not
being part of the meetings.
“We feel good about the information we got,” said John Davidson.
“I’m encouraged. I’ve always been hopeful of having a season till we have one. But right now, we have to leave it in the hands of the people who are talking,” added New Jersey Devils’ President and General Manager, Lou Lamoriello.
A number of top level players were representing the union personally this time, including Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews, David Backes and many others, who obviously came out of the meetings smiling and with much higher expectations for the next round of
talks.
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