NHL Negotiations start anew

The league may use replacement players next season.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wayne Gretzky saw firsthand just how far NHL players and owners were from ending the lockout -- even at the height of frantic talks.
And when the sides get back to the bargaining table, either Thursday or Friday, they will begin anew.
"It seems like they're starting at square one," the Great One said Tuesday.
Being the greatest player in NHL history puts Gretzky in a unique position. For 20 seasons he rewrote the hockey record book, but now as the managing partner of the Phoenix Coyotes he is on the opposite side of the fight.
His club's bottom line is now his top concern. The Coyotes will survive the lockout that already cost the league one year, but the NHL might have to use replacement players to get back on the ice in the fall.
"My honest opinion is I don't like it," Gretzky said. "They're not the Sundins or the Leetches of the world. This is replacement players, and it is what it is. The commissioner has to do what he thinks is best to get the game back on the map and get it going. We're only one of 30 teams, we'll follow suit."
Gretzky and Mario Lemieux took part in the previous negotiation session on Feb. 19, a meeting that failed to force the un-cancellation of the season three days after commissioner Gary Bettman called it off.
"I hope we can get on some sort of same page or some sort of talking terms where they say 'OK, we're inching our way ahead here, let's meet again next Monday,' " Gretzky said. "If you expect these guys to come out with a deal tomorrow, that's not going to happen. I hope it does, but it's going to be tough."