According to my sources the NHL is hopeful that the NHLPA will agree to discuss core issues in these talks this week. Two sources at the NHL told me they responded to the last offer from the PA and now it is the PA's turn to respond...noting "each time we (the NHL) have made an offer they (The NHLPA) allow weeks to pass, yet each time they made an offer we have almost immediately countered...the last offer they gave we actually responded in a few hours to it.."

The NHLPA's reluctance to put another offer on the table is tied to past experience where they feel the NHL has "taken a mile whenever we gave an inch." The most famous being the salary reduction concession last time around...The offer was made as an alternative to a salary cap and ended up being include with a cap.

All that said, I continue to hear rumblings of the PA preparing an offer which will "change the argument, a game changer." One source called the offer "a fresh new way of approaching the situation. Unlike any offer to date by either side."

What continues to be even more frustrating is the general acceptance of a 50/50 deal working for both sides...The sides just seem unable to find their way to this inevitable solution. So they miss seasons, hurting everyone in the process...

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