from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN,

The players’ negotiating committee and executive board (plus other players who want to join) held another conference call Thursday, one of many they’ve had throughout the labor talks process to update members.

I heard from two players who were on the call. Obviously they requested anonymity, but here was their recap of the call:

Player 1 said the call reaffirmed the union's willingness to stick together and hang tough, feeling that NHL is trying to wait and see if players crack, etc.

Player 2 said that the overwhelming feeling on the call was that players want NHLPA leadership back in the bargaining room with the NHL to explore what kind of flexibility from the league’s part there exists on key issues.

It was expected NHLPA No. 2 man Steve Fehr would reach out to NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly sometime Thursday to see if they could agree on perhaps resuming/scheduling bargaining talks.

read on for some mediation talk...