As deadline approaches...

Friday, 04 January 2013 16:04

Written by Shelly Anderson

A week remains before a deadline imposed by the NHL arrives. The league wants a minimum 48-game season and has said that the season would have to start no later than Jan. 19 for that to happen. There needs to be time for a short training camp, so the lockout would have to end within a week.

The way things have been going this week -- progress, followed by cooling-off periods, all smothered in distrust -- it seems at the moment that if there is to be a settlement on a new collective bargaining agreement, it probably will go down to the wire rather than happen in something measured in hours.

"As players, you hope it doesn't come to that [the last minute]," Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik said today after skating at Southpointe. "You want to get a deal as quickly as possible."

Orpik was joined by eight teammates for the practice: defensemen Deryk Engelland and Ben Lovejoy, and forwards Pascal Dupuis, Chris Kunitz, Matt Cooke, Craig Adams, Joe Vitale and Sidney Crosby.

"We've been patient this long," Orpik said. "We want to play. But if you can be patient this long, you can afford to be patient another seven days or so."

Not that he is advocating for negotiations to stretch to the 11th hour.

"In a perfect world, you could potentially get something done and start [training camp] even earlier than the 12th," Orpik said. "Why does it have to be 48, and why does it have to be the last hour? That's just how it's played out.

"I think everyone has that end date in mind. I think we'll be relieved just to know if we're playing or not. Obviously, we'll be greatly disappointed if we're not. You get that unknown taken care of [in case] guys want to go to Europe or do other things. It's not hanging over your head."