“The game deserves better, the fans deserve better and the people who derive income from their connection to the NHL deserve better,” said deputy commissioner Bill Daly. “We remain committed to doing everything in our power to forge an agreement that is fair to the players, fair to the teams and good for our fans.”

Donald Fehr,

“If the owners truly cared about the game and the fans, they would lift the lockout and allow the season to begin on time while negotiations continue,” said Fehr. “A lockout should be the last resort in bargaining, not the strategy of first resort. For nearly 20 years, the owners have elected to lock-out the players in an effort to secure massive concessions.”

“The Union is not prepared to talk about the most meaningful issues, relating to a fair division of League-wide revenues and other system-related matters. Until we can make progress in those areas, the ongoing discussions in other areas aren’t as time sensitive. That doesn’t mean we aren’t continuing to work on those other areas, or that we won’t schedule further meetings to move things along, it just means that until the PA is prepared to talk about the nature of the overall deal, and perhaps show some indication (any indication) that it is willing to compromise its position, we will remain a long way from getting a deal done.”