NHL Talks Recess With Players and Owners Getting No Closer

After inching toward common ground on several issues, negotiators for the NHL and its players’ union backed off Friday and met for only an hour at a Chicago hotel before recessing until Monday.

The talks broke off after players, who have agreed to a rookie salary cap and to restricted free agency for one “franchise player” per club, contended they have made more compromises than owners. In response, owners downplayed the financial impact of those compromises and claimed the union is stalling in order to pressure them into an unfavorable, last-minute agreement.

“We didn’t have anything more to provide to each other,” said Bob Goodenow, executive director of the NHL Players Assn.

Said a union source: “I get the feeling we’ve bent all we can. A lot of guys think we’ve given up too much. From what I can tell, we’re the ones doing all the bargaining.”

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said time is short for making a season-saving deal.

“I hope both sides are cognizant of what the downside of this is,” said Bettman, who has mentioned 50 games as the minimum for a meaningful schedule. “I told the owners early on when they decided to go down this road that one of the possibilities they had to prepare for was the possibility of no season.”

Edmonton General Manager Glen Sather likened the union’s concessions to “throwing a pebble into a hurricane.” He added, “I’m sure we could get a deal if we spent two days in a board room together, bantering back and forth, showing some trust. We have nothing agreed to. . . . We’re chiseling away at it.”