Lots of stuff to write about right now, and most of it stems from the NHL and NHLPA meetings that took place this afternoon. Unfortunately, there's been nothing to report along the lines of getting a deal done; if anything, an agreement is further away now than it was yesterday. Each group claims that they've got a newfound solidarity, and that they should take a step back from the bargaining table took take a better look at the big picture (read: "our demands are back to what they originally were, so there's no point in talking").

There's also been plenty of feather-ruffling, along with the usual BS. Bobby Clarke reamed out Bob Goodenow just a couple days ago, saying that BG has no respect for the game in Canada, if he has respect for the game at all. Now, it's great that Clarke's going to stick up for the teams north of the border - "...personally, I was sick when Quebec and Winnipeg moved," he said - and I'm certainly not one to stick up for Goodenow. But oh, Bobby. Want to see someone with a profound lack of concern for Canadian teams? Check out the guy who's running things on your end. Gary Bettman had no problem with helping bail Pittsburgh and Buffalo out of trouble recently, but the Jets and the Nordiques both flew south (in both the figurative and literal senses) faster than you can say "southern expansion." He undoubtedly saw two opportunities to take established and respected franchises and move them to untapped markets - like hockey-hungry Arizona (because really, who watches hockey in Manitoba) - and that's just what he did.

This being said, Clarke commented further on Goodenow, saying, "He's done nothing but take from the game...and now he's fighting for power. He doesn't want to lose power, he doesn't want to lose his control over the players. And he doesn't want to lose as much of the control he's had over the game over the last 10-12 years. But when he had that power, he ruined it." Well, that's absolutely true. Though after the 'PA meeting, BG stated that "I don't think (union) solidarity was ever gone," there were clearly several points where it looked like player support for their Executive Director was waning precipitously, beginning way back in the fall when Canadien fourth-liner Pierre Dagenais said that he'd accept a salary cap if it got him back on the ice. Goodenow has surely had a few sleepless nights since this whole mess started, and he hasn't done himself any favours by refusing to play ball with the league; he apparently thinks his bargaining position is better than it is, although his job is probably the least safe out of anybody involved in the CBA process, especially when the players start getting disgruntled again.

Moving right along in the "I Can't Believe You Just Said That" department, Blues defenceman Chris Pronger was approached by reporters after the meeting, and this is what he had to say: "The so-called splinter faction in the union that was supposedly going a different direction has been drummed up by a lot of media members and people hoping a deal gets done....Coming out of the meeting I can unequivocally say everyone is on board and understands the issues better." What? "The so-called splinter faction"??? Who called it that? I even ran a Google search for any pages containing that phrase along with "NHLPA"...nada. But way to make those players who broke ranks sound sinister and conniving! There's a headline for you: "Chris Pronger, Drama Queen." And shame on those "people hoping a deal gets done" who fostered the whole notion of evil anti-union rebels in the first place...I guess they were way out to lunch with that little hope, eh Chris?

...But I digress. All I have left to say right now is that the two people you can trust to know what they're talking about and maintain an objective viewpoint in all this mess are Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky. They're well-respected as two of the most intelligent hockey minds on the planet, and Lemieux is involved with the NHL as both a player and an owner, and while Gretzky doesn't serve simultaneously in those capacities, he still knows how to get things done down on the ice and up in the boardroom. Both the league and the Players' Association have realized this by now, too: to bring some sanity to these proceedings, it's essential that those two be present at as many bargaining sessions as possible. Maybe they can help find a solution to this whole debacle before it gets much worse.