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Bob McKenzie: Owners, players aren’t “even in the same universe.”

Gary Bettman

National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman speaks to reporters about on going labor talks with the NHL Players Association outside the league’s headquarters in New York, Tuesday, July 31, 2012. The current collective bargaining agreement ends on Sept. 15, and the NHL season is scheduled to open on Oct. 11. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

AP

Wednesday was an eventful day in the CBA negotiations, but we still don’t have a deal.

The players and owners still have some very fundamental differences when it comes to the core economic issues, according to TSN’s Bob McKenzie.

“You can get bogged down with the #s, but all you need to know is NHLPA says won’t take an actual decrease to $ spent on salaries,” McKenzie tweeted, “and the NHL is asking for an immediate and significant reduction in the $ spent on player salaries. Not even in the same universe.

“Maybe that changes at some point but I seriously doubt it. I don’t think any of this is posturing at this point.”

In other words, if you’re hoping that either NHL commissioner Gary Bettman or NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr are bluffing and will blink at the eleventh hour, you might be setting yourself up for disappointment. Based on McKenzie’s comments, it sounds like a lockout is probable, but of course it’s not a 100% certainty until it actually happens.