NHL teams
Katie Strang, ESPN.com 11y

Labor talks continue via telephone

NHL

NEW YORK -- The NHL and NHL Players' Association will return to the negotiating table Tuesday after the two sides hold a conference call Monday night, a source has confirmed to ESPNNewYork.com.

Although the league opted not to meet Monday and instead requested a day to review information internally following three straight days of negotiation, the two sides will speak via phone about pension issues.

Tuesday's in-person bargaining session will focus on hockey-related revenue.

Tuesday's meeting will be a continuation of Saturday's session, when the NHL and NHLPA spent several hours trying to codify the current definition of HRR and what that definition encompasses.

Although those discussions touched on at least one economic issue that divides the two sides, the actual division of shares was never discussed.

Since the lockout went into effect, the league and union continue to talk but have not swapped any formal proposals since the days leading up to the work stoppage.

The league has repeatedly expressed its expectation that the onus is on the union to make another proposal before such substantive discussions are to resume.

The union's negotiating committee held a conference call Monday afternoon to brief players on the current situation with the lockout, a source told ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun.

With little by way of meaningful progress, the league was forced to cancel the entire preseason. Now into the third week of the lockout, the league is expected to begin canceling regular-season games this week.

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