from Michael Russo of Russo's Rants,

Daly still considers formal talks “stalled -- at least temporarily. Hopefully that changes soon, but it certainly does create a much higher risk that camps won’t be opening on time.”

Next week in New York, more than 200 players are expected to arrive for two days of meetings with NHLPA Executive Director Donald Fehr. Also on Thursday in New York, Commissioner Gary Bettman will hold a Board of Governors meeting.

It’s been reported by some that Bettman would seek approval there from the Board to lock the players out if no agreement is in place by midnight Sept. 15. Not entirely true, actually.

“Gary really already has authorization of the Board to lock out. I’m not sure he needs another vote of the Board,” Daly said. “It’s to update the Board on collective bargaining and we’ll see what they have to say.”

The damage is already being done to the business. The league never scheduled games to start in Europe because of the threat of a lockout. Last month rookie tournaments were cancelled. Today, the league scrapped the media tour where high-profile players come to New York prior to the start of training camp to meet with big media outlets and do all sorts of publicity.

Daly also said that just the possibility of a lockout is affecting teams’ ability to do business – i.e. sell tickets, suites, corporate sponsorships, etc.

more