NHL Lockout: Steve Fehr and Bill Daly "Talk Extensively" on Tuesday

The NHL lockout has been, yet another, horrible experience for NHL fans. While there have been no improvements over the past few weeks, there have been recent reports of communication between the NHL and NHLPA. 

TSN's Hockey Insider Darren Dreger stated via Twitter, "S.Fehr and B.Daly talked extensively on the phone on Tues about a variety of issues. Hopefully it leads to meaningful negotiating."

The key words to take away from this are 'meaningful negotiating.'

The players were extremely discouraged with the NHL's rejection of three proposals, which sent a few more packing for the KHL and other European hockey leagues. 

Now, it seems that talks are slowly coming along, and the month of November will decide the fate of the NHL season. 

If this does spark another round of negotiations, we can only pray that it goes smoother than the previous experiences. 

While communication between the NHL and NHLPA is a breath of fresh air, there are still reasons to be ready for a cancelled season.

The Winter Classic is one of the only reasons the NHL owner's would want to get a deal done before December. 

If the chance to reap the revenue benefits of the Winter Classic die, consider the NHL season dead along with it. 

Steve Fehr, in this video interview with CBC, discusses the fear of players to accept an NHL deal and the issue of 'prominent' players questioning their return to the NHL. 

Sounds like both the NHL and NHLPA are still oceans apart, and improvements don't seem to be on the horizon. 

So, how do we interpret these talks between Steve Fehr and Bill Daly?

Given the facts surrounding these negotiations, it really is just a step, and we can only hope it's in the right direction.