from Michael Grange of Sportsnet,

Regardless of how the NHL's self-imposed labour mess is finally resolved, the real question that will remain unanswered is what this season could have looked like -- at least from a financial standpoint -- had the two sides behaved in a manner you might expect from a group of very lucky people who absolutely need each other to thrive.

And don't be fooled. While Friday was another lost day to the process, with the two sides talking only through a mediator who shuttled back and forth between the NHLPA's midtown hotel and the NHL offices, chances are a deal will get done.

It could have been already, at least according to some sources.

Multiple sources suggest a deal was at hand Wednesday night with each side moving closer to each other as successive proposals were traded back and forth before things cooled considerably in the wee hours. League sources say it was the NHLPA that "pulled the chute"; the union says it did nothing of the sort.

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