from Nick Cotsonika at PuckDaddy,

Amid all the headline-grabbing stuff since NHL labor talks broke down Thursday -- "We're close!" "No, we're not!" -- lost were some of the details. And the devil is in the details.

Here are some key things that went unreported:

• The NHL Players' Association backed off on its proposal that the players' share could not go backwards in terms of dollars starting in Year 2. It had been a non-starter for the NHL.

Basically, under the players' previous proposal, their combined pay would drop in Year 1 as their percentage of hockey-related revenue dropped from 57 to 50. After that, their combined pay would never be less than the previous year, even if HRR went down....

• The NHLPA suggested a mid-level cap exception. The NHL told the union it was a non-starter. It is unclear whether it is still on the table.

I am not sure exactly how it would work. But I assume it would work something like the NBA's, though the NBA's is in a soft-cap system, and here is the philosophy:

more on each of the above points plus additional points...