The NHL and NHLPA have both halted the negotiation process, after a new round of talks failed to make any headway, with communication over the phone also stopped.
"No, we have not communicated today," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told The Associated Press on Wednesday in an email. "No meetings scheduled, and no plans to meet."
There was a series of meetings to come to a new collective bargaining agreement. The talks were based on some common points, but both sides were not ready to yield on players' contract issue. The negotiation process came to a halt Friday night, only to be resumed Sunday. Involved parties again failed to resolve the contract issues and the process ended after just 90 minutes.
The players have asserted they want to restart talks soon. "The players remain prepared to resume negotiations at any time," players' union's special counsel Steve Fehr said.
It has emerged again that there is a bitter disagreement between the NHL and players on sharing hockey related revenue. The players want an equal share, while the league is hesitant. When the NHL representatives sent a revenue sharing proposal to the players, the players' union came up with a set three counter proposals.
The league rejected them and scrapped games through November. The New Year's Day outdoor Winter Classic was also cancelled. Both the sides discussed the same issues again last Friday and found themselves at two different points and thus, the negotiation process broke down.
Both the sides have different vested interests and point-of-views regarding players' contracts. The league is in favor of limiting the contracts to five years and also want to restrict free agency until players complete 28 years of age or they have eight years of experience of playing in the NHL seasons. Players are not ready to accept these rules and say both players and the owners must get an equal share in revenue.
The NHL has already cancelled 327 games and if both the sides don't reach to an agreement soon, then more games are likely to be scrapped. To start the remaining games from Dec. 1, it is necessary for the league and players to reach to an agreement by next week.
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