TORONTO -- NHL collective bargaining talks were cancelled Wednesday after top executives from the league and players' union held an impromptu morning meeting to discuss the status of the negotiations.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly spent about two hours with players' association executive director Donald Fehr and his brother Steve Fehr, the union's No. 2 man.
"I think more than anything else it was to review where we are in the process, where we've come from, where we are with the various proposals and to determine how to move the process forward in the best way possible -- hoping and understanding that both sides are committed to using the time left to making a deal as quickly as possible," Daly told The Canadian Press in an interview.
The clock is ticking. The current collective agreement is set to expire Sept. 15 when the NHL says it will lock out the players if a new deal hasn't been reached.
Formal talks between the two sides were slated to resume at 1 p.m. Wednesday but they have now been postponed until Thursday morning.
The private meeting between the four main players was kept quiet as media gathered at the NHLPA head office in anticipation of the afternoon talks.
Daly said the two sides will discuss some key issues Thursday.
"I think system-related proposals and economical proposals are the most critical issues and probably the issues where we have the widest divergence of views currently," said Daly. "I'm all in favour of spending as much time as possible trying to bridge those gaps."
Donald Fehr said he didn't "know what's going to happen for sure tomorrow."
"You get up in the morning and you try and work that day to see if you can make progress," he added. "If you don't find an agreement that way you do it again the next day and you keep doing it until you find a way."
There is a significant gap between the two sides' proposals.
The union put forth an offer last week that includes a smaller percentage of revenues for players over the next three seasons in exchange for an expanded revenue sharing program to help struggling teams. The NHLPA estimated that players would be giving up US$465 million in salaries if the league continued on its pace of seven per cent growth each season.
The league's proposal called for a 24 per cent decrease in player salaries -- accomplished by lowering the union's share of revenue -- while introducing new contract restrictions, including a five-year cap on contracts.
Beyond the monetary issue at the heart of talks, each side has prioritized a secondary cause.
The NHLPA has made it clear that it would like to see an increase in revenue sharing and proposed the creation of an industry growth fund that would see $100 million contributed each year for struggling teams. It would be part of a wider plan totalling $250 million in annual redistributed funds and Bettman would be given the chance to decide how the money from the industry growth fund is spread around.
The NHL is largely happy with the current economic system, but has made no secret of the fact it would like to see the end to heavily front-loaded, long-term contacts. As part of its proposal, deals would be capped at five years and would be required to pay the same amount each season.
