N.H.L. Labor Talks - Offers Exchanged but Neither Are Embraced - NYTimes.com The N.H.L. on Wednesday continued to move toward its third lockout in 17 years, with each side offering a new proposal that the other called insignificant. Commissioner Gary Bettman proposed a contract that he said would come off the table if the union did not accept it before the lockout deadline at 11:59 p.m. Donald Fehr, the executive director of the players union, said the league's offer meant that instead of the owners taking "an extraordinarily large amount" of money from the players, it was trying to take merely "a really big amount." Bettman's proposal was in response to the union's offer, which he said was "not much different" from its previous offer, "which we indicated was not acceptable." More than 250 players convened in Manhattan on Wednesday for a briefing on the negotiations and their options in the event of a lockout. One option included playing overseas, which close to 400 players did during the last lockout, in 2004-5. The first lockout came in 1994-95. Bettman and Fehr exchanged proposals during a two-and-a-half hour bargaining session at the league office, their first formal talks since Aug. 31. Fehr made the union's offer first, and Bettman responded after he conferred with Jeremy Jacobs, the owner of the Boston Bruins, and Murray Edwards, the owner of the Calgary Flames. Bettman said the league's "time sensitive" proposal was significant. He declined to say what percentage of league revenue it would give the players, but said it was more than the 46 percent the league offered in its last proposal. The union estimated that the players" share under the offer started at 49 percent and ended at 47 percent over the course of a six-year deal. Under the expiring collective bargaining agreement, the players get 57 percent of league revenue. Fehr said the union's latest offer for a five-year deal lowered the players" share to 54.3 percent of revenue the first year, and dropped as low as 52 percent before finishing at 54 percent. "We hope that a dialogue will arise out of this that will push us the rest of the way to try to reach an agreement," Fehr said, but it seems highly unlikely that a lockout can be averted. Some players indicated they might play overseas. Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins has said he may play for his hometown team in Russia, Metallurg Magnitogorsk. The Penguins" Sidney Crosby told Pittsburgh newspapers earlier this week that he might play overseas if a lockout was to drag on. But other players arriving at the Marriott Marquis hotel said playing overseas was not foremost in their minds. "I have a family here, so I'm thinking I'll stick around in case of a lockout," Rangers defenseman Anton Stralman said. Everyone wants to play hockey, but what I'm hearing from most guys is that they'll stay put for a month or so and see how things are working out before deciding to whether to go overseas. Mikael Samuelsson of the Detroit Red Wings said he would not go back to Sweden, "but that's what I'm saying now." However, he said "everyone is focused on getting a settlement here - there are still negotiations going on." In 2004-5, the European leagues made no restrictions on taking N.H.L. players. Earlier this week, the Russian K.H.L. announced its guidelines for accepting N.H.L. players. It said it would accept those who had skated in at least 150 N.H.L. games over the last three seasons; had K.H.L. experience; represented their country in a recent major international tournament; or played in the Stanley Cup finals or won a postseason N.H.L. award. In other developments, the players union and 16 Montreal Canadiens players filed a motion Wednesday with the Quebec Labor Relations Board to have a lockout declared illegal under the province's labor laws. A hearing will be held Friday morning. The players contend that they cannot be locked out because the players" association is not certified as a union in Quebec. If their motion is successful, the Canadiens would have to pay their players and, possibly, allow them to return to work. Bettman called the motion an obfuscating tactic, saying "we don't believe the provincial jurisdiction is something we're subject to." Fehr said the move was meant to resist a lockout "one day at a time and, if you can, one place at a time."