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The NHL Players' Association after much thought has given its thumbs up to the NHL's proposed re-alignment plan.

Gary Bettman's 20 years as commissioner of the NHL have been full of ups and downs, writes Scott Burnside, but he's still leading the league to unprecedented heights.

Victoria Matiash updates her defenseman rankings just prior to the start of the season.

Scott Burnside answers the biggest questions for the shortened 2013 season.

Talk for the next couple weeks will be filled with debate over how much collateral damage has been done. Let's get this out of the way quickly: Not much, writes Darren Rovell.

Sure, the NHL and NHLPA have reached a tentative deal and will start hockey soon, writes Scott Burnside. But at what cost?

A tentative agreement has been reached between the NHL and NHL Players' Association.

The NHL and NHLPA appear to be inching closer to a deal.

A federal mediator has finally been able to get the NHL and the players' association back together Saturday for their first face-to-face meeting since talks broke down two days earlier.

The NHL and NHLPA went a second straight day without a formal in-person negotiating session, although the two sides remain engaged in mediation.

A decided lack of meetings has led to speculation that the CBA talks are heading for a rough patch, just when it can least be afforded, writes Scott Burnside.

The NHLPA began another vote to reauthorize the executive board the right to disclaim interest, a source confirmed to ESPNNewYork.com, as the union and league spent Thursday without any formal labor negotiations.

The self-imposed midnight deadline for the NHLPA to file a disclaimer of interest, which would dissolve the union, came and passed Wednesday evening as negotiations continued into Thursday morning.

The NHL and the union's main negotiating teams met for 30 minutes before ending talks for the evening.

It's a game, people, something that most involved seem to have conveniently forgotten over the past months. It's time to play it. Before it's truly too late, writes Scott Burnside.

The NHL and NHLPA resumes informational discussions Sunday, although there was no formal bargaining sessions scheduled yet, a source said.