Apr 3, 2012; Buffalo, NY, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs left wing Clarke MacArthur (16) scores a goal during the third period against the Buffalo Sabres at the First Niagara Center. Buffalo defeats Toronto 6 – 5. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

The lockout has officially ended with Donald Fehr and Gary Bettman announcing the reaching of a deal to the press early Sunday morning.

While most of North America was enjoying the kickoff to the NFL playoffs, the NHL and NHLPA were grinding out the afternoon and late night hours to materialize a new deal.  Representatives met for a grueling 16-hour session into the late hours of Sunday night and broke with the news hockey fans have been waiting for since the summer, when negotiations began.  The so-called ‘frame-work’ of the deal has been agreed upon, but the specifics of the deal still need to be put to paper.

“We have to dot a lot of I’s and cross a lot of T’s,” said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. “There is still a lot of work to be done, but the basic framework has been agreed upon.”

The fact of the matter is hockey in 2013 has been given the green light.  The league has stated that it aims to begin a 48-game season on January 19.  The 10-year deal has an opt-out clause after eight years.

As for the specifics on the core economic aspects of the deal, those were released by TSN’s: Darren Dreger, Pierre LeBrun and Aaron Ward.  These include the expected 50/50 split in revenue sharing between the owners and players over the 10-year period.  The previous deal had the players collecting 57 percent.

The salary cap in Year 1 will be $60 million, with teams able to spend up to $70.2 million.  The cap floor is to be $44 million.

Another leading issue during the negotiations has been contract variance.  The new deal will limit players’ contracts to vary 35 percent and 50 percent between their highest paid year and their final year of the contract.

Sidney Crosby joined TSN’s James Duthie via satellite last night and the frustration was apparent.  Though he was obviously excited to return to hockey, the left-over disappointment of the process was clear.  He said he was just looking forward to competing again.  This lockout has been especially hard on him with his injuries in the last couple seasons that limited his playing time.

“Everyone is obviously relieved that it’s over and done with, for all intents and purposes, and we’re able to kind of move on to what we kind of enjoy doing a lot more than this,” said Phoenix Coyotes captain Shane Doan.

The deal also includes taking the iron fist away from NHL Disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan.  The process for on-ice discipline will go through Shanahan and eventually make its way through Bettman.  Any suspension of six or more games will be determined by a neutral third party for its official sentencing.

An interesting twist to future entry drafts, all non-playoff teams will be included in the lottery for the 1st overall pick.

As for the schedule, the league has already cancelled a total of 510 games, including all games through January 14.

This fantastic news comes as a welcome surprise especially to Canadians who were left with a bitter taste in their mouths just a day earlier.  Team Canada failed to medal at the World Junior Championships, losing in the semi-finals to the Americans.  They followed suit in the bronze medal game, losing to the Russians in overtime, thus ending their 14-year medal streak.

Nonetheless, the lockout is over.  So get those flags and jerseys out folks, hockey is back!

The Tuesday meetings went late into the night, lasting roughly eight hours, and when they broke, both sides were looking forward to further talks today.  TSN reports that 18 players took part yesterday along with six NHL owners.  Following last night’s session, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly commended the players for their determination to get a deal done.

“I appreciate the efforts of the players, in particular we had 18 players in there (Tuesday) and six of our owners,”  said Daly. “I think everybody is working hard. I think everybody wants to get a deal done, so I think that’s encouraging.”

Appearing alongside Daly before the press was NHLPA Special Counsel Steve Fehr, who said this was the best day of the lockout so far.

“I thought it was a constructive day, we had a good dialogue,” Fehr said. “In some ways I’d say it might be the best day we’ve had, which isn’t to paint too overly optimistic of a picture. There’s still a lot of work to do and a lot to be done, but we will be back at it (Wednesday) morning.”

Most hockey fans will probably roll their eyes upon hearing ‘optimism’ or ‘progress’ in reference to the lockout.  But the fact of the matter is, the two polarizing figures in the stalemate were removed from discussion for the first time.  Also, these meetings were the longest string of talks since the negotiations began.  Nearly eight hours of discussion has to be a good sign, right?

TSN’s Bob McKenzie said the length of the meeting does not necessarily mean progress.

“The first law of covering the CBA is not being seduced by the length of the meetings,” said McKenzie on Insider Trading last night. “Whether they can meet for ten minutes or ten hours, they can hit a road block and come out all angry at each other.  But there’s no way you sit in a meeting for over five hours and not get past the basics.”

McKenzie says the removal of Bettman and Fehr from negotiations could have sparked a new sense of direction in the room.  But he also said it could just very well be the desperation factor.. that time is running out and only now are both sides truly willing to concede to the other.

ESPN’s Insider Pierre LeBrun mentioned that this approach was really “the final attempt.”  The two sides have exhausted every other avenue of negotiating.  He said the the urgency is evident, especially on the side of the NHL due to the legitimate threat of NHLPA decertification.

The players present yesterday were reported to be: Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, Chicago captain Jonathan Toews and teammate Jamal Mayers, Buffalo goaltender Ryan Miller, Vancouver forward Manny Malhotra, St. Louis forwards Andy McDonald and David Backes, Florida’s George Parros, Rangers center Brad Richards, Tampa Bay veteran Martin St. Louis and teammate B.J. Crombeen, Los Angeles forward Kevin Westgarth, Phoenix captain Shane Doan, Pittsburgh’s Craig Adams, Winnipeg defenseman Ron Hainsey, Edmonton’s Shawn Horcoff, Calgary center Michael Cammalleri and Mathieu Darche.

TSN’s Darren Dreger also notes that if progress isn’t evident by the end of this week, we can expect the league to cancel more regular season games.

Progress is apparent, but until its fruition becomes evident, I warn against becoming too optimistic.  Instead, look forward to the World Junior Hockey Championships in a few weeks.  At least we know that’s a definite go.