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Cleary “cautiously optimistic,” thinks next two weeks are critical

Dan Cleary

Daniel Cleary #11 of the Detroit Red Wings shoots during warmup before NHL action against the Toronto Maple Leafs at The Air Canada Centre January 7, 2012 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (January 6, 2012 - Source: Abelimages/Getty Images North America)

Detroit Red Wings forward Dan Cleary has already lost an entire season to a lockout and back in September, he thought that the current work stoppage might end up costing him 2012-13 as well.

“I think people don’t think it can go a year,” he said at the time. “As players, we think it can. Maybe longer.”

At times that gloomy warning has looked potentially prophetic, but recently the tone has changed. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly and the NHLPA’s Steve Fehr had a marathon negotiating session on Saturday that they both felt covered a lot of ground. The meetings are expected to continue this week and the NHL plans to say very little publicly, which should be taken as a positive sign.

All that has made Cleary “cautiously optimistic” going forward, according to The Detroit News.

“Any time Steve (Fehr, players association executive assistant) and Bill (Daly, NHL deputy commissioner) are saying the same thing, it’s a positive thing,” Cleary said. “For sure there’s some optimism, there’s some light. There’s a ton of time to get a deal done.

“We said all along we’ve agreed to get to a 50-50 revenue split, which is important for them. Honoring contracts is pretty important for us.

“This is a good step. But I would hate to say this looks great and there is going to be a season. There’s too much at stake right now.”

Cleary thinks we’ve entered a critical stage and the next two weeks might save or signal the beginning of the end for the 2012-13 campaign. The pressure is on, but we might finally be seeing some light at the end of the tunnel.