NHL lockout: Your daily hockey fix for Day 38

Let's see what's new on Day 38 of the NHL lockout. Take a look at what last night's games would have looked like and the great stalemate from last season.

By Brian Stubits

Oct 23, 2012 at 9:55 am ET • 2 min read

NHLLockout This is Day 38 of the NHL lockout, 2012 edition. Every day, we'll serve up some CBA talk and help you get your hockey fix. Let's begin, shall we?

CBA roundup

• The lockout has eaten up a total of 232 games -- 97 preseason games and 135 regular-season games.

• Elliotte Friedman does the math and comes to the conclusion that we could go just a couple of days past Nov. 2 and still fit in a full 82 games. Not much, but there is a little more squeezing that can be done. That's just one of 30 thoughts in what is unanimously considered the best column in hockey. (CBC)

• The NHL and the players' union are as close as they have been at any point in these negotiations, but are they as close as they can get? That's the question. David Shoalts says the answer is yes unless they get some interjection from some folks who aren't walking the hard lines.

Since both sides acknowledge their latest offers show there is a deal to be made, that a 50-50 share of revenue is now the admitted goal, the solution is going to lie with the moderates among the owners and players. They have to start nudging, well, pushing really, the hard-liners among them to a deal. (Globe and Mail)

• All the players talking during this lockout have sung pretty much the same tune over and over: the owners are the bad guys. Many have threatened not to return to the NHL, like Alex Ovechkin did. Jaromir Jagr, though, isn't spreading the company line.

"True, they need us to do the business, but still, they own it. And another thing: hockey is not the main thing for most of the owners. They make their money elsewhere. Unlike us, hockey players. They set the rules, no doubt about that." (Puck Daddy)

• What is it about the lockout and equating players to animals? First it was Red Wings executive Jim Devellano referring to players as cattle. Now Bruins forward David Krejci had this to say.

"We want to play, we're the ones who are doing the show in the NHL, but Bettman thinks it makes him. It is unfortunate that the NHL have such a guy. It's a shame for the entire hockey world. Treats us like animals." (Pro Hockey Talk)

• When looking at the players most affected by the lockout, you have to immediately start with the veterans, such as 37-year-old Martin St. Louis of the Lightning. He's concerned with what lies ahead and the prospect of missing a season.

"It's tough," St. Louis said at the Ice Sports Forum, where Tampa Bay players gather to skate.

"I know I can play a few more years in this league. I don't feel I'm at the end of my rope. But obviously I have to make sure that I keep sharpening my skills, stay sharp with my training. I have to get on the ice somehow." (Tampa Bay Times)

Hockey fix

Maybe the biggest lowlight last season came early on the calendar when the Flyers visited the Lightning. Tampa Bay, with Guy Boucher's 1-3-1 trap, refused to press the puck when Philadelphia had it in the defensive zone. The Flyers refused to move the puck up and into Tampa Bay's trap. The result was one ugly stalemate.