Cleary confident ahead of talks

Over the past few months, there have been many, many "crucial days" in the lockout that lead to further disappointment: deadlines passing, weeks of games being canceled, speculation that there could be no 2012-13. Welcome to the latest crucial day in the NHL lockout. Coincidentally, it comes on Election Day. The two sides will meet today for a bargaining session, with the meetings in NY being kept secret although rumored to start for 3 p.m.
 

At least one player sees something positive happening. "There's a lot of optimism I think, for sure; anytime Steve [Fehr] and Bill [Daly] are saying the exact same thing I think it's positive,'' Red Wings right wing Danny Cleary. "We'll see today, but for sure there's some light. As a player, just talking amongst the guys today, definitely excited about seeing what's going to happen today. There's a ton of time to get a deal done, I still think there's a deal to be made." We'll see if he and other players feel that way by the end of today.


Larry Brooks (New York Post) "Is this now or never? Maybe not, but it’s difficult to envision a settlement if talks this week collapse, and it is impossible to envision a settlement if talks collapse because of an absence of trust between the parties."


•Aaron Portzline (Columbus Dispatch) is concerned about who could retire if there's an entire year lost, the same way some legends left after the 2004-05 lockout. "Ottawa's Daniel Alfredsson, Anaheim's Teemu Selanne and Dallas' Jaromir Jagr, all future Hall of Famers, might have played their last NHL games if this season gets canceled. And there could be others," he said.


•David Shoalts (Globe and Mail) "In his last offer, before the previous round of talks broke off on Oct. 18, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said teams would no longer be allowed to count player bonus money on their payroll in order to get to the [salary] floor," he said. He also proposed "all player salaries above $105,000 ... even those on a team’s minor-league roster, would now be included under the salary cap." That would have an effect on AHL players, who would have their salaries capped. It's also, as Shoals pointed out, a problem for owners with "razor-thin margins" who would have to spend more money in order to reach the salary floor.