More Labor Talks Scheduled

Negotiators for the NHL and the players’ association agreed to reconvene today and Thursday in small groups, even though there was no apparent movement during a large-scale, 3 1/2 -hour meeting in New York on Tuesday.

The decision meant that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and union Executive Director Bob Goodenow scrapped plans to fly to Austria for the end of the World Hockey Championships. A league source said players who participated in Tuesday’s session pressured Goodenow into staying in New York, but a union source disputed that. “Bob suggested the further small group meetings, at an earlier date than they were originally scheduled for,” the source said.

Either way, there is little reason to believe a new collective bargaining agreement is in sight. “I can’t report any progress, but we are continuing to work hard at this,” said Ted Saskin, senior director of the NHLPA.

Bob Daly, executive vice president and chief legal officer of the NHL, said the league had requested the additional sessions to discuss “a variety of sub-issues that need to be addressed in connection with a new CBA.”

The sides differ on the range of a proposed club-by-club payroll and the extent of a luxury tax that would severely punish clubs for exceeding the payroll limit.

“The league has not given us anything of significance,” said a player familiar with the negotiations. “They keep saying they’re going to make offers, but we’ve really seen nothing that we can work with. The cap is too low, and the luxury tax numbers are not good.”

When the NHL returns, Wayne Gretzky might be coaching the Phoenix Coyotes -- if there’s a new labor agreement.

Gretzky’s personal assistant, Rick Minch, said the NHL’s all-time leading scorer is “still working on a new deal” with the Coyotes that might include changing his role from managing partner to coach. General Manager Mike Barnett told a Toronto radio station that a report in the East Valley (Ariz.) Tribune saying Gretzky would be introduced as coach this week was “a little bit erroneous,” and added that there’s no announcement pending.

“The last several months he’s been considering coaching,” Minch said. “I don’t know the percentage he thinks yes and the percentage no. I think he still has an interest, but he has said he won’t think about it if it means coaching replacement players.”