NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said the North American league planned to play a full 84-game schedule with Stanley Cup playoffs. He said the owners wanted to start the season with a new contract but would consider playing if substantial progress had been made at the bargaining table.
It was likely if the start of the season was pushed beyond Oct. 15, games would be lost, the commissioner said.
"I'm hoping that the players mean what they said yesterday, that they want to negotiate in good faith and make a deal," Bettman said. "Here's the opportunity. Let's do it."
"What we're saying is let's start negotiations now and see where we are in two weeks,'' Bettman said. In two weeks, he said he hoped the owners and players either had a new agreement or that owners would be in "a better position to assess" the players' latest offer.
The NHL Players Association said it would comment on Bettman's announcement later in the day.
On Thursday, the union pledged to play the upcoming season without striking provided the league dropped its lockout threat and restored contract givebacks imposed before the start of training camp.
The NHL Board of Governors considered the union's no-strike offer during a 2 1/2-hour conference call Thursday night.
Sources said the mood among the owners was running against accepting the players' offer, but that there were indications the owners might come up with another proposal or some other type of compromise.
The NHL and the players' union have been without a collective bargaining agreement since before the 1993-94 season. Salary limits have been the main issue in negotiations.
Also Thursday, Chris Chelios of the Chicago Blackhawks had apologized for his threatening remarks about NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. He telephoned NHL vice presidents Brian Burke and Jeff Pash and said he regretted his comments. He also apologized to Blackhawks owner William Wirtz.
The 32-year-old defenseman wasn't available Thursday to explain the remarks he made to reporters Wednesday after practice in Chicago.
"If I was Gary Bettman, I would be worrying about my family, my well-being," Chelios said at the time. "Some crazed fan or even a player, who knows, might take it in his hands and figure if they'd got him out of the way, then this thing might get settled. You would hate to see something like that happen but he took the job. The main thing is he doesn't know anything about hockey. That's obvious."
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