| According to Gary Bettman, the prevailing NHL | | | | players' union emphatically denies that the |
| hockey commissioner, during a recent | | | | owners have any financial difficulty at all. |
| interview with TSN, the Canadian cable sports | | | | Given this, it is hard for both sides to come |
| network the NHL hockey season is just | | | | to a unified solution when everyone on the |
| slipping away. He is not confident that a | | | | face of the earth knows, except for the |
| settlement between the players' union can be | | | | players' union, that the NHL is in serious |
| reached soon. Bettman maintains that the NHL | | | | financial trouble. Bettman says, "If at any |
| needs a strong economic system and the owners | | | | point in time the union is interested in |
| will wait until such a pact is secured that | | | | resuming formal negotiations, all they have |
| ensures the league's viability. | | | | to do is let us know and we'll be happy to |
| | | | re-engage." |
| Furthermore, Bettman reiterated to TSN the | | | | |
| NHL league's dismal financial position. Both | | | | And the NHL hockey season just keeps slipping |
| the owners and players argued whether or not | | | | away. |
| the financial troubles indeed exist. The | | | | |