NHL Lockout 2012: Bill Daly prematurely releases statement on negotiations

Just a year after the NFL went through the longest work stoppage in league history due to an owner lockout after the expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the NHL is suffering through the same exact thing. The regular season, which was supposed to begin on October 11, has now been on hold for close to a month.

NHL fans may be more hopeful now, as league officials and members of the players association sat down for the second round of negotiations in four days on Tuesday in an undisclosed location. There is no news whether or not these talks will save the 2012-2013 season, but the league's deputy commissioner has released a statement that basically said they won't make a statement until the sides have continued to talk more.

"Members of the National Hockey League's negotiating committee met for several hours today with representatives of the National Hockey League Players' Association regarding a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The plan is to resume those discussions tomorrow. Out of respect for the negotiation process, we will reserve comment until the subsequent discussions."

The current lockout, which went into effect on September 16, has already caused the league to cancel 327 regular-season games. That includes the always-popular New Year's Day Winter Classic, which was to be played in Michigan this year.

The major issues that the two sides are still battling over are how the league will split revenue with the players, contract lengths, arbitration policies and free-agency changes. The two sides will need to reach a deal on all these issues before the lockout can end and play can resume.