from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN,

Then Friday came, and you knew it wasn’t going to be pretty because sources on both sides of the aisle were privately predicting "negative vibes" before the big group even got together.

A source on each side told ESPN.com that it got more than a little unfriendly by the end of Friday’s session.

Oy.

One NHL player who was on the players’ internal conference call, which followed that disappointing bargaining session, said the mood was heated on the call and players were all riled up, the consensus being that the league’s stated desire in Friday’s meeting was to not give an inch on any of its player contracting demands.

"Everyone is disturbed on lack of movement on contracting rights," said the player via text message. "That’s really hurting the process."

Truth is, I believe the league will relent on some of those contracting issues but only if and when there’s agreement on the Make Whole solution.

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