The NHL labor dispute remained deadlocked Thursday with no new negotiations, but the rhetoric certainly got more pointed.
At a hotel in Manhattan, the NHL Board of Governors gave Commissioner Gary Bettman a unanimous vote supporting his promise to call a lockout when the current collective bargaining agreement expires at midnight Saturday.
"We've been rebuffed at every turn," Bettman said of negotiations with the NHL Players' Association. "If you look at the numbers, we've made very dramatic movement, and the response has been nothing."
Across town at another hotel, the Wild's Zach Parise, one of almost 300 players attending a union meeting, was asked about Bettman's negotiating style.
"He really loves his lockouts," Parise said.
This will be the third that Bettman has called since he became commissioner in 1993.
Dozens of players, including Sidney Crosby, Henrik Lundqvist, Zdeno Chara and Daniel Alfredsson, stood behind Donald Fehr, the union's executive director, as he spoke.
"Less money, fewer rights," Fehr said, summing up the union's view of the league's contract offer. "I think everyone understands why the owners would like that. I think every employer would like that. I have a more difficult time understanding why anyone would expect the players to make an agreement on that basis."
