According to the Ottawa Citizen and pile of sources on Twitter, the NHL and NHLPA are to resume secretive talks on Saturday:
Deputy commissioner Bill Daly is scheduled to meet with Steve Fehr, the NHLPA’s special counsel, at an undisclosed location on Saturday, according to a source.
It will be the first time the sides have sat down together since Oct. 18.
The talks are set to restart in a private setting so that “they can focus on bargaining,” according to the source. Daly and Fehr have been speaking informally by phone throughout the week.
Read more at the Ottawa Citizen.
UPDATE:
According to various sources, the meeting went late into the night and covered a lot of ground. Form the Ottawa Citizen:
“We met on and off for most of the day and covered a lot of ground,” Daly told The Canadian Press via email. “We plan to meet again early in the week.”
Daly and Fehr got together on Saturday afternoon at an undisclosed location to avoid the glare of the media spotlight and find a way forward in negotiations. It was the first meeting between representatives of the league and union since Oct. 18 and followed a series of informal phone conversations between the men that offered a hint of where things might be headed.
Read more at the Ottawa Citizen.
Similar reports in:
Talks are to resume early this week.
UPDATE #2:
On Sunday afternoon the NHL released the following statement on NHL.com confirming the talks and confirming that the parties plan to meet early in the week:
Representatives from the National Hockey League and National Hockey League Players’ Association met face-to-face Saturday for the first time since talks toward a new Collective Bargaining Agreement broke off more than two weeks ago.
NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly and NHLPA Special Counsel Steve Fehr met for several hours in an undisclosed location and left with plans to meet again.
“We had a series of meetings over the course of the day and had a good, frank discussion on the most important issues separating us,” Daly said. “We plan to meet again early in the week.”
“I agree with what Bill said,” Steve Fehr said in a statement. “Hopefully we can continue the dialogue, expand the group, and make steady progress.”
The meeting Saturday was the first between the NHL and NHLPA since their last formal bargaining session Oct. 18 in Toronto. The NHL locked out the players Sept. 16 due to the lack of a CBA.
The NHL has already cancelled the 2012-13 regular season through Nov. 30. The League has also cancelled the 2013 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich. and the SiriusXM Hockeytown Winter Festival at Comerica Park in Detroit.
