The NHL and the players' association will resume talks next week in an effort to end the 78-day lockout and save the season.
After nearly three months of silence on and off the ice, the sides agreed Thursday to meet in Toronto on Dec. 9. If the talks are productive they might continue into a second day.
Those plans were made after players' association executive director Bob Goodenow sent a letter to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on Thursday, inviting the league back to the negotiating table. The letter also said the union was working on a new proposal.
No talks have occurred since Sept. 9, when the union made its last offer.
"There's been a lot of rumblings for the last couple of weeks that they were preparing something and that this might be imminent so I can't say I was shocked," Bill Daly, the NHL's chief legal officer, said. "I hope to be optimistic. We'll see what they have to bring to the table."
The most recent offer by the NHLPA was a luxury tax-based deal that was rejected by the league, and the lockout began one week later. As of Thursday, 334 regular-season games, plus the 2005 All-Star game, have been wiped out.
"I'm glad the union has finally decided to come to the table and we really have to reserve judgment until we see what the offer is," Bettman said. "Hopefully, it will be a good one."
Bettman has said that a luxury tax won't work for the 30 NHL teams, which he claims are losing money at a pace that makes it impossible for the league to survive under the current system. He is seeking ``cost certainty'' for the clubs, which the union says is tantamount to a salary cap -- a solution it refuses to accept.
The players' association said its new proposal should provide the basis for a new collective bargaining agreement.
"Almost three months have passed since the players made their last proposal and we have yet to receive a counteroffer from the league," Goodenow said. "We have been working hard at other creative solutions and believe our new proposal will provide a basis to end the owners' lockout and resume NHL hockey."
The announcement that talks would resume came just hours before the league's general managers were to get an update from Bettman during an informal dinner meeting in New York. Attendance was optional, but 26 teams were represented.
During a usual season, the league's GMs would meet during this time of year. But those talks would center more on trade talk rather than whether their teams would get on the ice.
"We all want to get the game playing, there's no question about that, but we'll have to wait and see what happens," Senators general manager John Muckler said. "As long as we get this thing fixed, we'll all be happy."
The league has been operating under the same collective bargaining agreement since 1995, when the last lockout -- lasting 103 days -- ended and a truncated 48-game schedule was held. That deal was extended twice.
After an agreement was reached on Jan. 11, 1995, the season began nine days later. The process might take longer this time, because there are dozens of unsigned free agents and many playing in Europe. Also, players haven't gone through training camp, unlike a decade ago.
"The calendar is not an issue. It's about making the right deal," Bettman said.
Clubs also might have to restructure their rosters to fit any new payroll restrictions produced by a deal.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but