NHL Sides to Meet; Optimism Grows

Against a backdrop of growing optimism, representatives of the NHL and the NHL Players’ Assn. today will begin three days of meetings in New York, hoping to build on momentum from recent sessions.

They will meet in a small group this week, and while there remain issues to work out, multiple sources said that significant progress has been made and a tentative agreement could be in place within two weeks.

“This is the first time that the two sides are working together, moving toward a deal,” a source familiar with the union side of the negotiations said.

The sides have already resolved several differences, the source said. The players are still unwilling to agree to a 24% across-the-board rollback of salaries unless the NHL honors contracts from the 2004-05 season, but that might not be a deal-breaker. The union may use that as leverage to gain concessions in other areas, such as qualifying offers.

Union chief Bob Goodenow has been less involved in the current negotiations, the source said, adding that Vancouver’s Trevor Linden, Detroit’s Brendan Shanahan and Dallas’ Bill Guerin, players on the NHLPA executive committee, have had increasing influence. Former player Mike Gartner, director of business relations for the NHLPA, has also had a greater role.

But Goodenow’s input is expected before a deal is consummated.

While the sides worked out plans for this week’s meetings, executives from NHL teams watched the first day of experiments on rule changes.

A three-day research and development camp opened in Toronto, with former junior and college players who were not drafted testing rules that could be implemented when the NHL resumes play.

Also this week, the league is likely to begin the voting process to approve the sale of the Mighty Ducks to Henry and Susan Samueli. The $75-million sale by the Walt Disney Co. could be completed as early as Monday. A league source said the NHL and Disney still have issues to resolve before the league can approve the sale.