from Chris Johnston of Sportsnet,

Virtually every candid conversation with a member of the group — either past or present — is bound to include a laundry list of complaints about its effectiveness. Formed during the 2004-05 lockout, the competition committee was envisioned as a collaborative way for voices throughout the NHL to help shape its future.

Reality has yet to come close to meeting that ideal.

However, with the assurance of labour peace for a long time to come and a handful of new faces set to attend Tuesday’s meeting, there was at least a small hint of optimism that better times may be ahead.

“I always keep hoping it will be constructive,” one participant, who requested anonymity, told sportsnet.ca on Monday. “I wish we could talk more real common sense hockey. We should be figuring out what the game needs.”

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