With the NHL lockout heading into its ninth week, a new issue has cropped up at the negotiating table.
In addition to sorting out the division of revenue and player contracting rules, the NHL and NHL Players' Association must also decide how to deal with the financial implications of playing a shortened schedule once an agreement is reached.
"It has an impact [on talks]," NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr acknowledged Friday night.
That hadn't been a concern as recently as late last month, when the league believed an 82-game season could still be squeezed in.
Now, it's looking like the best-case scenario is a regular season beginning Dec. 1, which would likely see each team play just 68 games.
If that ends up being the case, a total of 210 games - and the accompanying revenue - would be lost. Coupled with the undeniable damage another lockout has inflicted on the NHL's overall business, it's clear that whatever can be salvaged of the 2012-13 season won't generate anywhere near as much as the record $3.3 billion US brought in last year.
The issue reared its head this week when the sides exchanged offers, not to mention some harsh words, while failing to gain any real traction during five straight days of meetings. That included an informal session over lunch Saturday that attempted to move the process forward following Friday's heated exchange across the bargaining table.
