Current New York Rangers stars will be holding a clinic on Staten Island to benefit one of the area’s hardest hit places. (Photo by Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

We’ll honor Day 60 of the NHL season being held hostage by not discussing the lockout but something more important, the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. This is out of the headlines in most places, but it remains a real problem for many people and, thankfully, some in hockey continue to pay attention.

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A sobering reality: NHL CBA negotiations will resume in New York City, an area that was ravaged by Hurricane Sandy and rightly has more important things than hockey to worry about. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

Should we be excited that the NHL and NHLPA are resuming negotiations again this week? In one sense, yes, of course, because there can be no end to this ill-conceived and ill-considered lockout without talks.

But let’s temper our excitement about the owners and players finally getting back together after two weeks of hard feelings and little communication. Until we get some sustained momentum from the CBA discussions, it’s foolish to think that we have anything but a long road ahead of us.  During the past two months, we’ve periodically had our hopes raised that good faith and reason were about to prevail and that hasn’t happened yet.

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