TORONTO, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- Negotiations to end the NHL work stoppage are to resume this week amid rising optimism a deal can be struck, the Toronto Star and ESPN reported.
Donald Fehr, executive director of the NHL Players Association, and his brother Steve, the union's special counsel, were expected in New York Tuesday for a face-to-face session with league officials, the Toronto Star reported.
The NHLPA negotiation committee was also set to conduct an internal conference call Monday in the run-up to the New York session, ESPN reported, citing unnamed sources.
The activity comes after the union and NHL officials met face-to-face Saturday for the first time since talks to hammer out a collective bargaining agreement broke off last month, resulting in an owners' lockout.
"I think that's the first positive sign that there's some movement towards trying to find a solution, that maybe something could be done without costing the season," Buzz Hargrove, former president of the Canadian Auto Workers and ex-ombudsman of the NHLPA, told the Star.
The lockout has prompted the NHL to cancel all 2012-13 regular season through Nov. 30 as well as the NHL Winter Classic at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich.
