from Michael Grange of Sportsnet,

Even after a day in which Fehr, the NHLPA executive director, a swath of NHL players - including stars like Sidney Crosby and Jonathan Toews - made it sound like it was game over (sorry) there is plenty of room for hope that an 82-game season is within reach.

The two sides holding the fate of a multi-billion industry built on the passion and wallets of fans certainly aren't playing games as the negotiation officially hit their brinksmanship phase.

But they are following a script. Looked at that way the torturous, boring, occasionally dramatic back-and-forth discourse between the two entrenched parties is going and it becomes a lot easier to take. They're not being idiots; they're simply bad actors sticking to their lines and hitting their marks, building up to a rousing finish.

After that the wave of optimism that swept ashore on Tuesday when the owners made an offer to the players that wasn't insulting for once, you knew the NHLPA was going to have to put on their sad clown face. And they did, right on cue.

Now, granted, it would be a better story if it weren't weighted down by numbers. As plot devices go, they’re kind of a drag.

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