The NHL players' association will present a collective bargaining agreement update to agents next Wednesday, one day after meeting with its union members.
The gathering of agents in Toronto with union executive director Bob Goodenow will be the second such meeting since the lockout that wiped out the entire NHL season began over five months ago.
The players' association held a six-hour information session with 62 agents in Chicago in November, and everyone seemed to be unified then. The dynamics of the upcoming meeting are expected to be similar.
"It's an update to give the specifics of what's happened in the CBA negotiation landscape," agent Pat Morris said on Wednesday. "We'll all be brought up to date, for those that aren't aware of exactly what's happened, not being a party to those negotiations.
"It should be a good update and really a view of where things go from here," he said.
Next Tuesday will also be a big meeting day as players will gather with union leadership in Toronto while the NHL board of governors get together in New York.
Commissioner Gary Bettman announced the cancellation of the season on Feb. 16, but the NHL and the players' association took one last chance at saving the season with a negotiating session last weekend in New York.
Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux were at the bargaining table for the first time, but that still wasn't enough to make a deal and reverse the cancellation. There were no new proposals presented by either side, and barbs have been traded by the league and the players' association since -- blaming the other for the failed meeting.
There was even disagreement as to which side requested the session.
The bottom line was the NHL couldn't remove the stigma of being the first major sports league in North America to lose an entire season to a labor dispute.
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