... In other words, the owners are playing full-contact hockey. They are following the template drawn up by attorney/advisor Bob Batterman, who had the NFL following a similar scorched-player policy until Patriots owner Bob Kraft infused the talks with a kinder, gentler approach. Is there a Kraft clone among the Original 30 owners? You can bet your last roll of black tape it’s not Bruins boss Jeremy Jacobs. Two likely candidates would be Ed Snider in Philadelphia and/or Mike Ilitch in Detroit. But for now, the league is following the course of its hired gun, and the players remain united behind the brothers Fehr, Don and Steve. Either someone with a true love of the game steps in between now and mid-January, or this season is fini.

-Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe where you can read about other hockey topics.