Contracts, Coyotes, realignment discussed

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This article was published 07/12/2011 (5343 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Very little news came out of Day 2 of the NHL’s board of governors meetings, but here are updates on subjects that were broached:

CBA: The governors were given a lengthy presentation on the collective bargaining agreements reached by the NFL and NBA in the last year.

“We’re not talking about the CBA with the players yet,” said NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. “We won’t start talking to the union until after the all-star game.”

Coyotes crawl: Deputy commissioner Bill Daly gave a brief update on the status of sale talks on the Phoenix Coyotes.

“We have some interested parties in the Coyotes and we continue to work towards finding local ownership to keep the team in Glendale,” said Daly.

Daly was asked if Quebec City and talk there of a new arena would help them in their pursuit of an NHL franchise.

“There are cities that have arenas. Having a state-of-the-art arena is a positive,” said Daly. “But we’re not acting on any backup plans and contractually we can’t until after Dec. 31. But nor would we want to.”

Realignment ratification: Daly said the NHLPA sent the league a letter about a month ago on the issue of realignment.

“We invited their participation and I’ve had two discussions with them in the last week… They were invited to present their own proposal on the subject. They passed. I don’t anticipate there are going to be issues. The time frame is relatively short. We need to get to work on a schedule. I’d say a couple of weeks at the outset.”