NHL’s Bettman Speaks Up

Representatives from the National Hockey League Players’ Assn. will meet with player representatives from the 30 teams today in what is said to be a routine update on the nearly 7-week-old lockout.

However, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman on Monday may have added another item to the agenda, saying in an interview with the Sports Network in Canada that the season might “slip away.”

“We are still, interestingly enough, in a context where the union is still denying that we have problems,” Bettman said.

“It’s very difficult to negotiate over solutions to problems that everybody in the world except union leadership believes exists.... I think this is a union that is deadline hunting; unfortunately, I think the season may slip away without a deadline.”

Bettman has insisted a new deal have “cost certainty,” which union officials translate into meaning a salary cap, something the players oppose.

Ted Saskin, senior director of the players’ union, said the players have made concessions, including offering a luxury tax in their last proposal.

He also said, “Gary Bettman keeps saying he is not going to compromise. That isn’t a basis to restart negotiations.”

Some players have recently been outspoken about the lockout. Ottawa Senator right wing Rob Ray said over the weekend that he would like to see negotiations restarted and that there were players who would join as replacement players, should the owners go that route.

There have not been negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement since Sept. 9, although Saskin and Bill Daly, the NHL’s chief counsel, have kept in contact.

No new talks are scheduled, however, and in accordance with the NHL’s 45-day period to free up arenas for other events, games have been canceled through mid-December.

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LOCKOUT

* Days...47

* Days of season missed...20

* Games lost Monday...5

* Games missed...127