Bettman, Fehr meet in NHL labor talks

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NEW YORK, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- Negotiations to produce a new NHL collective bargaining agreement resumed Saturday with a meeting in New York involving League Commissioner Gary Bettman.

NHL Players' Association chief Donald Fehr said he and Bettman met to discuss ways to overcome the differences between team owners and locked-out players as the possible cancellation of regular-season games looms.

"I spent a few minutes with Gary talking about the overall situation, and we agreed to keep in touch," Fehr said. "I am sure we will talk again tomorrow. I don't know whether we will meet again tomorrow. That remains to be seen."

Fehr said the core issue of reducing the players' absolute share of hockey-related revenues wasn't discussed Saturday. Instead, the talks were about how to define such revenues.

"I am not going to talk about the specifics, but in general we're trying to discuss how do we find a way to make an agreement," he said. "How do we bridge the gap on the major issues that are between us?"

After already wiping out the entire pre-season schedule, the lockout could next derail the scheduled Oct. 11 start of the regular season.