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Bettman on NHLPA proposal: “They didn’t put it together in an hour or two”

Gary Bettman

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman speaks before the NHL All Star Skills Hockey competition on Saturday, Jan., 29, 2011, in Raleigh, N.C. The NHL board of governors holds its All-Star game meeting, with franchise sales and hits to the head likely to be on the agenda. (AP Photo/Karl B. DeBlaker)

AP

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman wasn’t revealing much after receiving the NHLPA’s proposal for a new collective bargaining agreement -- but he did say it was thorough.

“It’s clear to me that they didn’t put it together in an hour or two,” Bettman told reporters following Tuesday’s meeting in Toronto.

The NHL commissioner spoke very briefly after the two-hour discussion and didn’t classify the tone or direction of talks. Bettman said he and the owners needed time to evaluate the proposal and that the two sides would meet again Wednesday morning.

It’s been almost a full month since the NHL made its initial offer to the NHLPA -- a new-look CBA that included a cut in revenue sharing and length of contracts.

As such, the players have had almost 30 days to construct its counter-offer, which isn’t so much a counter-offer as it is a “different kind of approach,” according to NHLPA boss Donald Fehr.

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