NHL Sides Are Further Apart on Free Agency : Hockey: Strike continues as owners reject players’ proposal and counter with another one of their own.

Day 6 of the NHL strike began with high hopes Monday.

But it concluded just as the previous five had, with no end in sight.

The league’s Board of Governors, meeting in New York, dismissed a contract proposal by the players Monday, countering with one of their own. The owners said their proposal will be presented to the players committee this morning.

That’s the first time the owners have budged since they presented what they called their “final offer” on March 28, before the first strike in the league’s 75-year history.

But that wasn’t enough to brighten the outlook of Bob Goodenow, executive director of the NHL Players Assn. He expressed disappointment at the day’s developments, saying that the sides had moved even further apart in the area of free agency.

“We felt, with what we presented to the owners, we would have the basis for an agreement,” Goodenow said at a news conference covered by the Associated Press.

Not even close, NHL President John Ziegler responded.

“No votes were taken on it (because) none (of the new proposals formulated by the players over the weekend) went to the key issues,” Ziegler said.

“(The players’ proposals) were helpful, but they were something that wasn’t going to help the owners’ position. Driving toward an agreement, it wasn’t high-octane gas.”

Goodenow said that Ziegler had made an alteration in one of the owners’ proposals on free agency that set the negotiations back.

“This clarification statement (by Ziegler) renders a different interpretation of what we thought we had already agreed to,” Goodenow said.

Free agency isn’t the only sticking point. The sides are still far apart in the area of licensing, particularly concerning the money derived from hockey cards.

The revenue from those cards will be $16 million this season.

Although the players receive 68% of that money, Ziegler said Monday he didn’t see hockey-card revenue as something to which the players have a legal right.

“Then we have a serious problem, no question,” Goodenow said when informed of Ziegler’s remark.

Until now, Goodenow and the negotiating committee were handling the talks, but, underlining the seriousness of the situation as the chance for the playoffs gradually slips away, the league’s 22 player representatives were in New York by Monday. The Kings’ Marty McSorley was accompanied by teammate Wayne Gretzky.

Goodenow said it was an informational meeting to bring the player representatives up to date.