Second Meeting Scheduled for Thursday

NHL collective bargaining agreement talks lasted almost five hours on Wednesday and lead to a second meeting in as many days as the two sides attempt to come to an eleventh-hour agreement.

With the season on the verge of cancellation, NHL Players’ Association president Trevor Linden requested a small-scale meeting at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport on Wednesday. Linden, along with NHLPA senior director Ted Saskin and outside counsel John McCambridge represented the NHLPA while Calgary Flames’ part-owner Harley Hotchkiss, NHL executive vice-president Bill Daly and outside counsel Bob Batterman attended on behalf of the league.

Neither NHL commissioner Gary Bettman nor NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow were present.

Wednesday’s talks were described as “a good, candid dialogue” by Daly.

“I thought the atmosphere was good,” Daly told reporters after the meeting. “But I don’t want to add any other than that. We want to continue the process.”

“There was dialogue and communication, and that’s what I set out to accomplish,” Linden stated.

In his only statement of the day, Hotchkiss said, “We credit Trevor Linden’s initiative in requesting this session, which was informal, open and professional and which resulted in a constructive exchange of viewpoints.”

The groups will meet again in Toronto on Thursday to continue discussions.