NEW YORK -- Prospects of playing the National Hockey League season remained alive even as the owners' final deadline of noon Eastern Standard Time (8 P.M. in Moscow) Tuesday passed without a labor agreement.


"In an effort to save the season, the discussions will continue past 12 noon," NHL vice president Arthur Pincus said, reading the league's first official statement since negotiations began Monday at 11 A.M. in New York. Commissioner Gary Bettman planned a conference call with the NHL's Board of Governors on Tuesday afternoon to apprise them of the status of collective bargaining, Pincus said.


Pincus added that Bettman and NHL Players Association head Bob Goodenow would continue negotiating.


A general manager, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the conference call would not be to vote on a contract proposal.


"I can definitely say that a deal isn't done," he said.


The general manager, a union official and an agent familiar with the talks all suggested that the free agency issue remained the major sticking point in negotiations. That has been the case since about midnight Monday.


But Ottawa Senators owner Rod Bryden told CBC Newsworld in Canada on Tuesday that, while final details were to be worked out, he felt the deal was done.


"I do not feel this is a big win for ownership," he said in a television interview from Ottawa. "I think it is an essential change for the sport of hockey."


Most of the issues -- including salary arbitration, a rookie salary cap and the right to reopen the contract -- apparently were resolved during the more than 20 hours of talks, leaving free agency as the trouble spot.


The Canadian Press reported Tuesday that an agreement could include a draft age of 19, a sliding free-agency scale from 32 to 30 years of age and a one-time lump sum of retroactive pay to each team.


However, Edmonton Oilers owner Peter Pocklington said there could be a problem with unrestricted free agency dropping to 30.


"If that's the case, we will have a heated hour on the telephone," Pocklington told Canadian Press, referring to the conference call. "We (the Oilers) don't have a chance if it's 30."


The agreement, CP reports, is also believed to include a reopener clause that would allow the league to renegotiate with the union before the 30-year-old plateau is reached. "I could live with that," Pocklington said.


Owners last proposed that players become unrestricted free agents at age 32; the union wanted it to be 30.


The agent said he was not surprised that finishing the deal was not easy but said he did not think free agency would be a deal breaker.


Eric Weinrich of the Chicago Blackhawks liked the idea of a compromise on free agency. "That would be fair," he said. "I'm not speaking for everyone, but the general consensus is that there should be some common ground. I think 100 percent of the players want the season to start, but not for the wrong reasons."


At one point early Tuesday, CP said, negotiations hit a snag when Bettman pulled back some earlier concessions in an attempt to get the players to budge on the age requirement.


Bettman's move caused the talks to lose their momentum. The NHL then began working the telephones, CP said, with vice president Jeff Pash calling player agents, asking them to apply pressure on Goodenow to get things back on track.


The marathon session bridged what had been significant gaps in the arbitration, rookie cap and reopener issues.


Bettman and the owners have said the season must start by next Monday if each team is to play 50 games followed by four full playoff rounds. Goodenow went into the negotiations saying that he felt that date was firm.