For all the good it will do, Gary Bettman and Donald Fehr are skipping the latest meeting in the ongoing NHL lockout.

The NHL commissioner and Players' Association head will let other voices have the floor for a day.

The meeting on Tuesday, December 4 will see a group of players sitting across from a group of NHL franchise owners.

Bettman suggested the meeting last week, and the NHLPA agreed after thinking it over for a few days.


An optimist would suggest that getting fresh voices in the room is worth a try, as there has been no sign of a breakthrough in the impasse that threatens the 2012-13 season.

A pessimist would say it doesn't matter who is in the room if all they do is stick to their assigned talking points.

There have been rumors that the NHL's current bargaining stance reflects the wishes of Bettman and a handful of "hardline" franchise owners.

According to this theory, other owners are more moderate and willing to compromise, but their voices are not being heard.

It's hard to know, because NHL owners and executives are prohibited from commenting on the lockout, a prohibition that comes with the threat of a $1 million fine.

By putting a different set of owners in the room, the league commissioner presumably wants to show that there is no dissension in his ranks, that all teams are united in their support of the Bettman agenda.

But it's worth noting that not all owners will be heard from.

Only six will be in the room on December 4: Jeff Vinik of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Larry Tanenbaum of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ron Burkle of the PIttsburgh Penguins, Mark Chipman of the Winnipeg Jets, Murray Edwards of the Calgary Flames, and Jeremy Jacobs of the Boston Bruins.

Edwards and Jacobs, in particular, are known to be fully on side with Bettman, and have participated in previous bargaining sessions.

The players group had not been finalized according to recent press reports. But it's believed that Sidney Crosby and Jonathan Toews will be there.

Fehr and his negotiating team would not have agreed to such a get-together if they anticipated nothing more than the owners lecturing the players on the error of their ways.

Presumably Crosby, Toews, and the rest will be well-rehearsed, and ready to defend what the NHLPA has framed as its last, best offer.

If that's the case, this meeting will be over in a hurry, with little to show for it.