Attorneys Meet as NHL Goes Nowhere

With only about a week left to save the season, attorneys for the NHL and its players’ union met informally Wednesday in New York.

The session was designed to clear up issues that bogged down previous sessions and to set guidelines for future talks involving full delegations. A meeting is scheduled for today.

Commissioner Gary Bettman and union chief Bob Goodenow spoke by telephone but aren’t expected to meet before Friday.

A league source cautioned against reading anything into the lack of full-scale talks. However, a management source said Wednesday’s meeting didn’t accomplish enough to warrant summoning all the negotiators today.