NHL talks on a downward spiral again

SAY WHAT you want about Sidney Crosby, but every hockey fan - yes, even those in this town - can get behind what the Penguins' captain said this week about the NHL's 2-month-old lockout.

"There's no reason we can't figure something out," the NHL Players' Association's most visible player told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "If it keeps going like this, everybody's going to lose."

For the fourth straight day Thursday, the NHL and NHLPA had no meeting planned. After what seemed like productive sessions over the last 2 weeks - including seven daylong bargaining meetings in a 9-day stretch - there is little silver lining.

The entire process seems backward at this point. After an entire week at the table, Sunday's final hourlong bargaining in New York was the shortest meeting between the sides, and reportedly the most hostile.

Where do they go from here?

A mediator has not been brought in. Deadlines are rapidly approaching. Players would have received their third paycheck of the season on Thursday. The league has canceled games through Nov. 30, but another cancellation could be on the way if a deal is not brokered before next Tuesday.

To have a Dec. 1 start date for a 68-game season, some 200-plus players would need to return from Europe for an abbreviated, weeklong training camp.

Considering that the two sides aren't even meeting - and don't have another session scheduled - Tuesday seems like a longshot. Sports Business Daily reported that the next set of games canceled would run up until Dec. 15. After that, the entire season could be on the chopping block, even though the league didn't cancel the 2004-05 season until February.

Crosby is right: A deal is out there to be made. One report quoted NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly last week saying that the sides already agreed on 14 out of 17 issues on the table. The economics of the deal - the revenue share between players and owners - is the biggest hurdle. The sides are closer than ever on economics.

Once an accord is reached on the economics, such contracting issues as front-loading, 5-year term limits, free agency and arbitration will be on the table.

In 2005, after agreeing to the salary cap, the NHL largely gave in to players on contracting issues. The NHLPA was expecting something similar this time around. Yet, even after beginning bargaining aggressively in July, commissioner Gary Bettman made it known last week he is still driving a hard line on those issues, as well.

Bargaining is give-and-take. The owners are taking a larger share of the revenue pie, which is shrinking with each game they cancel. It would be wise to compromise on contracting issues, just so players can feel as if they are actually winning something.

Bettman promised his owners a home run with this lockout. There's no shame in returning with a sacrifice fly. A close win still counts. Right now, everyone is losing.

Wayne Simmonds' European adventure is over - for now, at least.

Simmonds, 24, left the Liberec White Tigers in the Czech Republic, citing family reasons in Canada, the team announced in a news release on Tuesday. He collected six points in six games with Liberec, in the same league as Jaromir Jagr's Kladno team, during his brief stay.

Simmonds' traveling partner and close friend, St. Louis Blues forward Chris Stewart, also left Liberec on Tuesday to return to the team they first joined in Crimmitschau, Germany. Stewart did not fare as well in Liberec, with one assist in five games.

Both Simmonds and Stewart skipped the team's exhibition game in Switzerland recently, and a rough translation of the news release suggests they did not exit on good terms. They reportedly were signed for the entire Extraliga season - or whenever the NHL lockout was settled, whichever ended first.

Simmonds could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. It is unclear whether he will return to Europe should the lockout continue. He racked up 20 points (eight goals, 12 assists) in 15 games combined in the Czech Republic and Germany.

Defenseman Andrej Meszaros, recovering from surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles' tendon suffered in August, skated in full equipment for the first time on Tuesday in Voorhees, N.J. . . . The Phantoms announced on Wednesday that they will become the Lehigh Valley Phantoms after moving to Allentown in 2014 . . . Brayden Schenn netted a natural hat trick on Wednesday for the Phantoms, playing against the Los Angeles Kings organization for the first time since his trade in 2011. The Phantoms (6-6) won, 4-1, over Manchester. Schenn leads the Phantoms with 14 points in 10 games . . . Matt Read remains day-to-day with an ankle injury after blocking a shot in Sweden over the weekend for Sodertalje SK. He was joined by Flyers teammate Nicklas Grossmann, who signed a four-game contract with Sodertalje, his former club. Grossmann, coming off knee surgery and a $14 million extension from the Flyers, previously had a hard time obtaining affordable contract insurance . . . Claude Giroux (19 points) and Danny Briere (18 points) have both climbed into the top five in scoring in the German Elite League . . . Max Talbot made his debut in Finland (Ilves Tampere) this weekend . . . Ilya Bryzgalov was scratched as the third goaltender again on Wednesday for CSKA Moscow.

" @DNFlyers

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