Wednesday, 05 December 2012 05:34

Written by Dave Molinari

For those who made it to bed at a civilized hour (at least in the Eastern time zone), the NHL's labor talks went on until midnight.

The general, don't-use-my-name assessment from people on both sides is that the Penguins did find some common ground and, for the first time in a long time, generated some genuine traction in the talks.

The most compelling indication of that is that while pretty much everyone agreed that Tuesday's meeting represented progress, no one was willing to say exactly where that progress was made.

That suggests the participants realize that the negotiations are in a fragile state, and don't want to do anything to jeopardize it.

By sometime today, we should have a better sense of exactly where things stand, because the sides are supposed to get together around 9 a.m.

That session won't last terribly long before the league has a previously scheduled Board of Governors meeting at 11 a.m., but it's possible the players and owners will reconvene after that wraps up.

Or maybe everyone will decide to get a little sleep.

Regardless, Tuesday probably was the most positive day to this point in the negotiations, and the involvement of Penguins co-owner Ron Burkle in the talks seems to have been a majr factor in getting things rolling.