NHL Faceoff following failed Mediation

National Hockey League owners and NHLPA member players will meet tomorrow, resuming labor talks following failed efforts by federal mediators last week. In hopes of reaching a new collective bargaining agreement and ending a player lockout, owners and players will meet alone, face- to-face, without league and union officials or mediators. Some owners attending the meeting have not previously done so which is seen as encouraging. Hockey's labor dispute has already resulted in cancelling more than a third of the NHL regular season, including the Winter Classic and the All-Star Game. It is very unlike the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service to throw up its hands, saying it would be not productive to continue discussions, and that they would rather call the parties back together when they thought the time was right. Seems the parties to this one thought otherwise. We'll see if that move of self-determination ends the dispute or the season. See more in Bloomberg story at http://buswk.co/VpXGCG