Well, there you have it.
The one time I put on my Eklund face, wear a smile and exude bombastic enthusiasm over the fact the two sides had some mini-progress on non-economic issues, it all goes to hell and we're back to extreme Cold War.
Which was my fear all along. That neither side was going to give an inch and so when negotiations resumed today in New York on HRR - hockey related revenue _ and broke up pre-maturely, it reinforced in my mind how far apart these two sides are.
I am sticking by my belief that the NEXT move here needs to come from the NHLPA - not the NHL _ in these talks.
By that, I mean, the union has to put forth a new CBA proposal. The league already pulled its offer off the table when the lockout began.
The puck is in Donald Fehr's end and I want to quote him from weeks ago when he said the union wouldn't stand idly by on merit and allow days to just pass without discussions.
Do something, Donald. Make another offer. If Gary Bettman rejects it outright, like he did the last time in September, then you can make a public case that the Commish has no real intention to "bargain" in these talks but instead, is looking for a complete surrender by the union.
So far, the union continues to say that the league won't sit down for negotiations on core issues unless the players surrender to salary rollbacks up front.
Let's see if that holds true with another proposal from the union.
Meanwhile, look for the first 2 weeks of the season to be cancelled either Wednesday or Thursday afternoon.
Here's some more Flyer stories and what happened with the Phantoms/Albany game today at Skate Zone:
click here 
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