Five hours of talks in two sessions between the NHL and the players' association did little Wednesday to move the sides closer to ending the nearly one-month-long lockout. The NHL's top two executives -- Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly -- met in New York with the NHLPA's main negotiators -- executive director Donald Fehr and special counsel Steve Fehr -- for nearly an hour in the morning to assess where the sides were on Day 25 of the lockout, but there was no concrete discussion on the core economic issues preventing a deal.A four-hour session that stretched into evening centered on player health and safety issues along with other miscellaneous legal topics. The sides will meet again Thursday -- which should have been opening day of the NHL season -- but there are no plans to delve into how the sides will split up hockey-related revenue. These were the first negotiations since the sides held an unannounced meeting in Toronto on Friday.
Canadian law doesn't apply, board says • The Alberta Labor Relations Board ruled that the lockout of players from the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames can continue, agreeing with lawyer for the NHL who argued that the league can't be expected to follow two sets of laws, one from Canada and one from the U.S. NEWS SERVICES