Crosby - "It's Not Looking Great" - NYTimes.com N.H.L. players are bracing for the league's fourth work stoppage. Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby says "it's not looking great" for the season to start on time Oct. 11. Crosby was among more than 280 players who attended union meetings that ended Thursday in New York. N.H.L. owners also met ahead of the expiration of the labor contract at midnight Eastern on Saturday night, and Commissioner Gary Bettman is planning to call for a lockout if there is no deal by then.