from Elliotte Friedman of CBC,

There are two big storylines developing from Tuesday's lengthy labour talks between the NHL and the NHLPA here in Manhattan.

The first is that Steve Fehr, the NHLPA's number two, referred to yesterday as "the best day we've had." The second is the Pittsburgh contingent's effort to end the lockout. Let's take a look at both situations:

For the first time since this epic craziness began, two of its major negotiators (Fehr and Bill Daly) stood together for a media briefing after it was over. And Daly, who sounded horribly pessimistic about the players' efforts as recently as last week, made a point of crediting their work during the short availability.

That's pretty significant. If yesterday's meetings did anything, they changed the tone of the conversation. From the moment the NHL contingent walked into the hotel early Wednesday afternoon, they just had a different, more relaxed vibe than the couple of times I attended in Toronto.

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