And here we are again… what’s new to report on?  NHL labour talks, of course!

So…  they had SECRET meetings today in Toronto.  Good.  I hear they had a joint news conference.  AWESOME.  They both acknowledge they are going to start making compromises.  FANTASTIC!

What changed?  Was it the players going over to the KHL and playing games?  Nope.  Was it the league losing millions due to cancelling pre-season and now regular season games?  Not a chance.

The fact is the KHL signing North American TV deals has changed the whole situation for the owners.  They absolutely do not want the KHL getting ANY kind of coverage in North America so it’s actually added more of a push on the owners to really start making compromises.  It does give the players more of an upper hand at this point but honestly I don’t care.  I want to see NHL games again.  I want to see my Leafs “make improvements” and then lose… I want to see my Sharks dominate then choke in the playoffs…

I am a little optimistic at this point… this is the first sign of progess I’ve seen this year.

Lockout League Results
Florida 4 vs. Tampa Bay 3
Philadelphia 3 vs. Pittsburgh 1
Columbus 2 vs. St.Louis 3 (Over-Time)
Vancouver 3 vs. Colorado 4
Boston 5 vs. Buffalo 3
Washington 6 vs. Winnipeg 4
Phoenix 1 vs. San Jose 4
Edmonton 1 vs. Minnesota 3
New Jersey 2 vs. NY Islanders 3
Detroit 0 vs. Chicago 7
Montreal 2 vs. Toronto 5
Anaheim 2 vs. Dallas 4