The NHL lockout has dragged into its third month and until this past week, things were looking dire for both sides to save the season.
Talks broke down two weeks ago, but on Wednesday the two sides made progress after the NHLPA made two offers to the league. The sides were expected to continue talking on Thursday, after which the league is expected to respond to the offers.
According to ESPNNewYork.com: A source told ESPN.com that the NHLPA's "Make Whole" proposal would see the players' share drop to 50-50 of revenues by Year 3 based on "regular" growth, meaning there is a "phase-in" element.
The two sides have been in talks for the past three days and have "bargained for about 13 hours over two days this week at an undisclosed site in New York," according to ESPNNewYork.com.
The two offers made include one involving revenue-sharing and another dealing with the "Make Whole" concept, which allows for existing player contracts to remain in full.
Economics have been the large sticking point between the two sides in the lockout.
According to ESPN.com, "it is believed that the league has shown a willingness to bend on the "Make Whole" mechanism and absorb some of the financial commitment. It remains unclear, however, how much the league would be willing to shoulder with respect to the damage incurred because of the lockout."
The league generates $3.3 billion in yearly revenue, 57 percent of which goes to the players based on the last agreement. The league previously wanted the players to lower the number to between 49 percent and 47 percent.
The league has cancelled hundreds of games so far and has also called off the Winter Classic last week that was supposed to take place on New Years Day. According to ESPN, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said "$720 million in revenue had been lost when the league was forced to cancel all regular-season games through Nov. 30."
This is the third lockout that commissioner Gary Bettman has overseen in his tenure.
In 1992 the players missed 30 days, while the 1994-95 lockout had 468 games lost. The lockout in the 2004-05 lost the entire NHL season and resulted in 1,230 games lost. During the last stoppage, the two sides did not meet to start bargaining until three months into the lockout.
Many players have decided to play overseas while the lockout has gone on, including New Jersey Devils' star Ilya Kovalchuk, who signed a contract with SKA St. Petersburg and superstar Evgeni Malkin, last season's MVP award winner, who signed with Mettalurg of the Kontinental Hockey League.
If the two sides come to an agreement, it is likely that an 82-game season would be played. A previous deal by the NHL preserved the season in full, but the lockout has dragged on for too long to make that a reality.
Even if the full 82-game schedule is not played, it is important for the NHL just to get back to business, even if there are fewer games. Fans and season ticket holders were frustrated in 2004 when the league was forced to lose a full season and were finally starting to trickle back to arenas around the country.
The NHL has lost some of that momentum with the latest lockout and it's unclear how pronounced that absence will be once games start again.
According to ESPN, the NHL is expected to make a response to the deals as early as Thursday night.
