Rift Appears to Widen as NHL Heads Into Final Day of Season

The sides seemed further apart than ever as the NHL strike went into its fourth day on Saturday.

NHL President John Ziegler met with Bob Goodenow, head of the NHL Players Assn., in Toronto, and the union said that a “new proposal” was handed to Ziegler to take back to the board of governors.

Ziegler didn’t agree. A statement issued by the NHL said:

“As of noon today, Mr. Ziegler has received no new proposals from the association.”

Ziegler was not happy about the way Goodenow conducted himself Friday.

“Mr. Ziegler was kept cooling his heels for 12 hours,” said Bill Wilkerson, a spokesman for Ziegler. According to Wilkerson, Ziegler had been ready to talk to Goodenow at 8:30 Friday morning, but had to wait until 8:30 p.m. before they met.

The NHL board of governors will meet Monday in New York to decide the fate of the Stanley Cup playoffs, scheduled to start Wednesday.

Nine more games were called off Saturday, bringing the total to 20 since the strike started. The final 10 games of the regular season are scheduled to be played today.