With the deadline less than three days away, there are growing signs an NHL lockout may be unavoidable.
No progress was made in New York yesterday when the league the players' union met for the first time in 12 days.
Although each side tabled an offer dealing with the major issue of money, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said there's ``very little movement, if any'' in the union's proposal.
Bettman meets in New York with the league's Board of Governors Thursday afternoon.
It's expected he will be given a mandate for a lockout that would start at midnight on Saturday.
It would be the NHL's fourth work stoppage in 20 years, and the third in Bettman's tenure as Commissioner.
Bettman says no one wants to make a deal more than he does.