If you work hard and give 110 percent, you will learn there are cliches for every situation. One of the most common in terms of negotiating is that things are going well when it's quiet.
Well, the NHL and NHL Players' Association shot that to h-e-double-hockey-sticks the last few months because, except for a few rare moments, they haven't said much to anybody (including the other party). But today is going to be quiet time, at least for a little while.
The sides are set to negotiate in New York late this afternoon, and they've announced they'll keep the location secret. Manhattan has a lot of buildings, so the search for the site of the talks will be difficult.
(If I were doing the planning, I'd pick Katz's Deli, the Chrysler Building, Birdland Jazz Club, Carolines on Broadway or the Gapstow Bridge.)
The NHL will not have media availability following the talks, according to ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun, but the NHLPA will talk. The talks, which are the first since the sides angrily split at union headquarters Oct. 18, could go a long way toward determining whether the NHL will return in December.
---John Vogl
