NHL, union to meet for fourth straight day NHL, union to meet for fourth straight day ADVERTISING NEW YORK — The best that can be said about the ongoing NHL labor negotiations is that they are still going, and will
NHL, union to meet for fourth straight day
NEW YORK — The best that can be said about the ongoing NHL labor negotiations is that they are still going, and will continue for at least a fourth straight day.
The league and the locked-out players’ association got back together Thursday and accomplished enough over five-plus hours to make plans to meet again Friday.
“I am not going to discuss the negotiations or the substance of what we’re talking about,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said Thursday on a wind-blown street corner. “I really don’t think that would be helpful to the process.
“We have work to do, and my hope is that we can achieve the goal of getting a long-term, fair agreement in place as quickly as possible so we can play hockey.”
Players’ association executive director Donald Fehr didn’t rule out talks stretching into the weekend, too.
“All I can tell you is we have been meeting, and we will be meeting again (Friday),” he said. “I can’t say more than that. We haven’t talked about (the weekend), but if there is something to talk about then I expect we will be.”
The lockout reached its 54th day, and this week is considered critical for the season to be saved. The work stoppage is threatening to force the second cancellation of an NHL season in seven years.
No. 8 Seminoles rally to beat Hokies 28-22
BLACKSBURG, Va. — E.J. Manuel hit Rashad Greene with a slant pass that Greene took 39 yards for a touchdown with 40 seconds to play and No. 8 Florida State survived a scare to beat Virginia Tech 28-22 on Thursday night.
The Seminoles (9-1, 6-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) won their fourth straight and moved within a victory against Maryland on Nov. 17 of securing a spot in the ACC championship game Dec. 1.
The Hokies (4-6, 2-4) lost for the fifth time in six games and will have to beat Boston College and Virginia in their final regular season games to qualify for a bowl game for the 20th straight year.
The Hokies had gone ahead 22-20 on Cody Journell’s 21-yard field goal with 2:19 remaining. The kick capped a 52-yard drive that stalled when Logan Thomas ran for 2 yards on third and 3 from the 6-yard line.
Martinez hired as Marlins’ hitting coach
MIAMI — Tino Martinez has been hired as the Miami Marlins’ hitting coach and will work with new manager Mike Redmond.
Martinez, a first baseman in the majors for 16 years, has been a New York Yankees special assistant and worked an analyst for the YES Network. Martinez had a career average of .271 with 339 home runs for the Yankees, Mariners, Cardinals and Rays.
Redmond landed his first big league managerial job last week when he was hired to replace Ozzie Guillen. The Marlins this year batted .244, the worst average in franchise history, and scored the fewest runs per game since their first year in 1993.
Eduardo Perez was the Marlins’ hitting coach in 2012. Perez will be Houston’s bench coach next season.
Tillman expects to play against Houston
LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Chicago Bears star cornerback Charles Tillman says on Twitter that he will play Sunday against the Houston Texans, after all.
Tillman’s status had been up in the air after he told Chicago radio station WSCR-AM that he might not be available because his wife, Jackie, is due to give birth.
But in a message to ESPN Radio’s “Mike & Mike In The Morning” show, he wrote “god, family, football… Baby is coming Monday don’t worry I’ll be there Sunday.”
From wire sources
