NHL Lockout Update – Nov. 30

By Kenton Wolfe

Two days of mediated meetings between the NHL owners and NHL Players’ Association ending Nov. 29 has led to no progress between the two sides in the ongoing labour dispute.

Neither the NHL nor the NHLPA have been willing to make concessions in their proposed collective bargaining agreement offers. The uneasy and fruitless relationship between the two sides has dragged the lockout into its eleventh week, pushing U.S. federal mediators John L. Beckenbaugh and John Sweeney into the deliberations.

The pair proposed that the leadership group from both sides should step aside in the negotiations and elect a secondary group to confer.

The lack of progress has sparked rumours that Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby, who is widely regarded as the best player in the game and the face of the NHL, will consider playing overseas.

“I’m trying to still be optimistic and hopefully that’s something that will maybe be a turning point,” Crosby told ESPN.com. “It’s something that at least forces both sides to be in a room together and at least talk. That in itself hasn’t been easy to do lately. I’m hoping (mediation) makes a difference.”

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