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Welcome To October 15th. Negotiations FINALLY Getting Real. UPDATED 10am

October 15, 2012, 9:35 AM ET [339 Comments]
Eklund
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Update 10am.

Just talked to another source and things are DEFINITELY heating up this morning. We may have real news today/this week finally to report on.

I will say I am a 8 out of 10 on the optimism meter today....

The spin today is out...the talking points have been sent to the pundits and it goes something like this: The NHL is prepared to cancel another block of two weeks on (most likely) Thursday, possibly Wednesday, depending on tomorrow's meeting...and while no one would come right out and say it I believe it is dependent on the whether or not the PA is bringing a proposal with them on Tuesday or not...

So why would I put my optimism at an 8?

For the last month my daily ritual in the morning is I call sources on both sides and either speak with them or leave a message to set up a time we can spend a few minutes speaking later in the day. Some days I hear very little and turn to secondary sources for clues...On those days my blogs are delayed well into the afternoon...

But not today.

Today was the first morning in this entire process where I had long conversations with both sides and got a sense of new found seriousness. It's almost as if something has clicked in with the lockout exactly one month old.

To put it another way...up until this point there has been a maddening sense (as I'm sure you can tell by my writings) that neither side was grasping the seriousness of the situation. When games are being cancelled and the sides STILL claim to be meeting on "non-core" issues you can't help but feel the NHL and NHLPA are out of touch with any sense of reality. The fans have had every right to be furious at the lack of respect it has shown them. As my wife actually put it, "If they care this little about playing in October why don't they just start in November or December every year?"

This malaise of the sides has been the biggest challenge so far when it comes to covering this lockout. Hearing the complete lack of desperation from both sides it is hard to balance out with the logic that both sides are trying WAY too hard to appear calm. Each side feels they must not show any signs of weakness. The person in me who loves the game wants to slap them senseless, while the reporter covering a lockout has to remind myself what this really is....what it ALWAYS is when it comes to negotiations of any kind.

Nothing gets done until the situation becomes completely desperate

Both sides accepted long ago that this wasn't going to get desperate until mid October. We've been hearing for over a year now the new CBA talks wouldn't get "real" until the middle of October came around. Until the players miss their first paychecks...

So let me be the first to welcome the NHL and the NHLPA to October 15th. We hope you have enjoyed your flight and that you NEVER choose to fly this airline again.

THE NcHL (Non-Core Hockey League) pre-season continues tonight!

Ever wonder who would win between the All-Time Leafs and the All-Time Red Wings? How about how many goals can be scored in a game featuring the Best of the Oilers and the Best of the Penguins? Or the Kings and Rangers... These next few days you may just get a chance to find out..

Stay tuned...
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